In Albania, between seventy and one hundred thousand rural households are engaged in the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants sector. Women make up a significant share of this workforce. They harvest, cultivate, dry, and process MAPs. Yet for years, their contribution remained largely informal, underpaid, and invisible.

Through the Local Economic Development – LED project, implemented by CNVP Albania with financial support from Sweden, women’s inclusion was not treated as an add-on. It was built into the core of the intervention.

One of the most concrete results comes from contract farming. The project negotiated directly with buyers to ensure that at least thirty percent of contracts were signed with women farmers. This shifted women from unpaid family labor to recognized economic actors with formal agreements.

With secure contracts, women gained direct access to markets and predictable income streams. In several cases, improved quality standards and stable purchasing agreements led to income increases of twenty-five to thirty percent.

Beyond income, women strengthened their position in decision-making. Having contracts in their own names increased their financial autonomy and bargaining power within their households and communities.

The project also organized targeted trainings, awareness activities, and buyer-seller meetings. These actions improved women’s technical knowledge, market connections, and visibility in a sector where they were previously underrepresented in formal transactions.

While technologies such as improved drying facilities benefited entire households, women experienced direct gains through higher product quality, reduced losses, and stronger integration into the value chain.

The result is measurable: more women with formal contracts, higher and more stable income, increased participation in market systems, and stronger recognition of their role in Albania’s MAPs sector.

This is not symbolic inclusion. It is structural change, creating economic space for women to lead, negotiate and build sustainable livelihoods.