MEAT Sector Analyse

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Meat Sector Study slaughtering. In other words a big part of the increased local pig production is based on increased imports. Mainly subsistence farmer keeps sheep and goats and just around 5,000 holdings can be considered as commercial small ruminant farms. As people are moving to urban areas fewer people are interested to work with small ruminants, especially in transhumance. The price level is still high for sheep and goats and will not allow further substantial increase. Similar issues could explain the situation with cattle; there are few commercial dairy farms in Albania and even less cattle fattening farms; so most animals are kept by small holders for auto-consumption. Regarding the two main production opportunities – milk and meat – farmers often chose the milk production as it enables a small but continuously income whereas meat production requires one year minimum to get a well-fattened cattle and often farmers do not have the funds to bridge such a long period without income. In addition, the meat processing sector shows a very inconsistent picture. Under the former government the agricultural policy did not focused on meat production and therefore there have been very limited slaughterhouse capacities and meat processing companies. After the collapse most companies closed down – before and after the privatisation - and as a result there are not many slaughterhouses left in operation. Due to missing enforcement of appropriate veterinary inspections slaughtering of animals takes place all over the country except in slaughterhouses. The few remaining operating slaughterhouses do not generate profit as they are working far below their capacities and therefore no investment takes place. Experts are convinced that almost all the existing slaughterhouses – regardless if in operation or already closed – will not be upgraded to EU standards simply as a Greenfield investment would be cheaper. However these investments are not taking place yet as the law is not enforced and if farmers and butchers have the choice between official inspected slaughterhouse and an illegal slaughter point in the backyard of the farm or the butcher shop then they prefer the cheaper solution – in the backyards. In other words under the present circumstances slaughterhouses cannot be a profitable business. The situation is different with meat processors; all the big 8 – 10 companies depend almost exclusively on imported deep frozen meat from Brazil, Canada, USA and the European Union. This meat is very cheap and processing it enables a sound return on investments. The bigger companies are often close to EU standards and just need minor improvements. Exports towards the EU member countries but also other neighbouring countries do not take place because of the missing veterinary inspections in accordance with the EU regulations. Nevertheless these processing companies are willing and able to invest further into upgrading the standards so that they might export as soon as the legal environment will enable that. Potentials and obstacles From the point of self sufficiency there is room for increased production in all livestock farms except sheep and goats as Albania is almost self-sufficient in this category. As described above there is a big potential for new slaughterhouses – which should be build right from the beginning according to EU standards – as all the existing ions are outdated in respect of technology but more important hygiene, animal welfare and food safety. The most advanced stakeholders in this supply chain are the meat processing companies as they need just little further investments to fulfil EU requirements. There are several reasons why the listed potentials are not used (yet). The farming sector is too much struggling with subsistence farming and there are not many commercial farmers. Many older subsistence farms will come to an end as soon as the old owners will die and the young ones will move to urban areas to find better paid jobs. As soon as a sound cadastre Meat Sector Study, page 65
Meat Sector Study system will be in place transfer of agricultural land either by purchase or rent will increase. This will give motivated small holders the chance to increase their production and to make the step from subsistence to market oriented farming. Bigger farms will encourage a more commercial acting. Beside the size of agricultural holdings also their premises such as stables will need some upgrading and here IPARD funds will have a big impact as soon as they will be available. Furthermore it will be important to have well trained farmers who have a clear focus and good commercial understanding. The public extension service and private experts will face new challenges to overcome the actual deficits. As IPARD funds will require from farmers also a fulfilling of at national and soon of EU standards it will be crucial that farmers are aware of these standards related to occupational health and safety, environmental issues, food and feed safety, animal health, animal welfare and others. Actually fodder costs are too high. Also the fodder production is not as good as it could be and on the almost 200,000 ha there is a lot of room for improvements. Fodder must be produced in a larger scale to decrease the production costs. Then also the locally produced fodder like alfa-alfa, maize silage and others will become competitive towards the imported one. Investments in agricultural holdings as enabled by the upcoming IPARD programme will push the sector. The investments which will not be eligible under IPARD must find cofinancing in national support programmes. The same is valid for the meat processing sector and the investments will have to focus on newly established slaughterhouses and hopefully a rendering plant. The meat processing companies will also benefit from the IPARD programme but most likely the big ones will find their way also without support programmes like in the past. It should be mentioned that the enforcement of better waste disposal will find broader acceptance if co-financed by IPARD. Final recommendations in order to target the specific investments The farming community is urgently waiting for the IPARD support, at least the kind of farmers who are trained and motivated to make their living out of commercial farming. These farmers will find their way to pre-finance their investments under IPARD and will therefore benefit from the new support scheme. The majority will not be willing or able to do more than subsistence farming and will on the long run stop their farming activities. Concerning the meat processing sector the slaughterhouses must be newly build and managed by the private sector under strong monitoring by the NFA. Without prospering slaughterhouses the Albanian farmers will not find access to the meat processing sector. To make slaughterhouses profitable the NFA must stop all illegal animal movements and slaughtering as soon as possible. Then these slaughterhouses will be a bottleneck and will enable an improved veterinary control scheme. At the same time they will provide sufficient quantities in different certified qualities to the processing industries. The meat processors, especially the bigger ones, are doing fine and will not face many difficulties fulfilling EU standards. They also do not worry about more expensive imported meat as long as all competitors have to use the same raw material. It will be the big challenge for MAFCP to improve the livestock sector and to increase the food safety by channelling all animals to slaughterhouses. Having better local fresh meat – for fresh meat consumption but also for processing – the industry will make use of it. Meat Sector Study, page 66
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SMEI II Inception Report page 1 THE
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CONTENT ABBREVIATIONS Meat Sector S
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Map 1: Land use in Albania Meat Sec
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ABBREVIATIONS Meat Sector Study ADA
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Meat Sector Study The livestock hus
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Meat Sector Study • Silage handli
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1 Livestock 71460 86633 90101 86882
Page 15 and 16: II. Producers/Farmers Cattle Meat S
Page 17 and 18: Meat Sector Study Financing for agr
Page 19 and 20: Meat Sector Study A milk sheep coul
Page 21 and 22: Meat Sector Study A family can make
Page 23 and 24: Meat Sector Study The three big fod
Page 25 and 26: Meat Sector Study 11. Tirana Tirana
Page 27 and 28: Meat Sector Study around 80 % of th
Page 29 and 30: Meat Sector Study cattle are gettin
Page 31 and 32: 1. Building a new slaughterhouse 2.
Page 33 and 34: Meat Sector Study The milk farmer s
Page 35 and 36: Meat Sector Study Farmers in Albani
Page 37 and 38: Meat Sector Study (Source: INSTAT (
Page 39 and 40: Meat Sector Study Note: Agro-food t
Page 41 and 42: Meat Sector Study There has been so
Page 43 and 44: Meat Sector Study After the 1990s,
Page 45 and 46: Meat Sector Study laying hens, of p
Page 47 and 48: Meat Sector Study Currently, export
Page 49 and 50: Meat Sector Study The investments o
Page 51 and 52: Manure handling Feeding Bigger farm
Page 53 and 54: Meat Sector Study SHEEP & S - Stren
Page 55 and 56: PIGS S - Strengths W - Weaknesses I
Page 57 and 58: POULTRY S - Strengths W - Weaknesse
Page 59 and 60: Meat Sector Study SLAUGHTER- S - St
Page 61 and 62: Meat Sector Study MEAT S - Strength
Page 63 and 64: Meat Sector Study The above SWOT an
Page 65: • Computer training. X. Outcome O
Page 69 and 70: Meat Sector Study • IT hardware a
Page 71: Meat Sector Study UNDP Albania; The
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