Driving sustainable rural digital transformation in Albania
Agriculture is a cornerstone of the Albanian economy; approximately 41% of the population live in rural areas and nearly half of the jobs in the economy are directly or indirectly reliant on the broader agricultural and food system.
Many factors influence the long-term sustainability of agriculture and rural areas, including climate change, access to land, governance, public infrastructure, knowledge and technologies among other factors.
The Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is supporting the implementation of the “Digital Agriculture and Rural Transformation” (DART) programme, a groundbreaking joint programme leveraging digitalization to advance Albania’s sustainability goals with interventions targeted at smallholder farmers. It bridges the gap between vision and impact, propelling Albania’s agricultural sector towards a digital sustainable future while contributing to the SDGs.
Funded by the Digital Transformation Window of the Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund, the initiative aims to develop a national digital agriculture strategy and action plan aligned with the European Union’s legal framework, improve the delivery of digital public services, and develop digital capacities among small-scale farmers, students, technical vocational and educational training schools and centres, and public sector employees.
“Robust ICT infrastructure is essential to drive progress across all economic sectors, including agriculture. Through this project, we aim to provide the expertise and resources needed to enhance rural connectivity and support rollout of a ‘building blocks’ approach to develop and deliver public services more effectively,” said Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.
About the Digital Agriculture and Rural Transformation (DART) programme
By 2027, DART aims to increase agricultural productivity and competitiveness in food systems, advance socioeconomic growth, gender equality and human rights, and enhance rural livelihoods through comprehensive farmer-centric policy development in Albania.
BDT is supporting the implementation of the initiative with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the lead agency, along with the United Nations’ Resident Coordinator’s Office for Albania, International Labour Organization (ILO), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Albania.
This is an ITU Development #DigitalImpactUnlocked story
About the project
Project number: 2ALB24003
Project title: Digital Agriculture and Rural Transformation in Albania (DART)
Description: Digital Agriculture and Rural Transformation in Albania” (DART) is a Joint Programme by FAO, ILO, and ITU that harnesses the potential of digitalization to address sustainability goals with systemic interventions targeted to public workers and small-scale farmers, particularly those who are placed in situations of vulnerability by different factors (e.g. those living in underserved rural areas, young rural women and men, rural women and more so elderly women, elderly farmers, farmers with disabilities).
Visit the project page for more details.
