Ilia Daka, is one of more than 6,000 agribusinesses that benefited from the Albania Agribusiness Support Facility (AASF). The “AASF’s Champion”, who owns 8.7 acres of greenhouses for vegetables production in Salce, Kozare in Berat benefited from the financial assistance through AASF and the IPARD scheme between 2017 and 2020.
Although having more than 20 years of experience working in agriculture, Mr. Daka was able to start its own agribusiness only in 2017. Immediately, he saw success and strong market demand for his products, so he decided to expand his business. In 2020, after winning an IPARD grant, and in cooperation with AASF’s Partner Financial Institution Intesa Sanpaolo, he was able to build his second greenhouse segment, dedicated to tomato production.
“In order to increase our production capacity, we have built a new greenhouse. This investment could only be realized with the support of AZBHR and Intesa Sanpaolo through AASF. We have planted mainly tomatoes and peppers for export purposes. The production has been increasing and is of a very good quality.” – said Mr. Daka.
AASF and the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (AZHBR) have support Mr. Ilia Daka through financial and technical assistance to expand its production capacities and to provide better quality service for its customers. Through AASF, the agribusiness was enabled to access loans up to 65,000 Euro and expand the production and improve distribution of its products.
More than 6,000 farmers and agribusinesses in Albania so far have benefited from AASF, a financing framework developed by EBRD in cooperation with and support from the Government of Albania, which started its activity in 2016.
The “AASF Champions” are selected agribusinesses, which received technical and financial support under AASF that enabled them to increase their productivity, resource efficiency or value addition. Hence, they can serve as representative best practice examples of how AASF contributes to sustainable economic development of the Albanian agricultural sector.
Ilia Daka Farmer Salcë, Kozare, Berat