Behind every sack of dried sage or oregano lies months of hard work, patience, and hope. Today’s visit to Laç offered a closer look at how strategic investments are helping protect that effort and turn it into greater value for rural communities.

CNVP Albania, together with representatives from the Embassy of Sweden in Tirana, visited two of the country’s leading medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) exporters, Agroherbal and Filipi Company, both supported through the Local Economic Development (LED) project. The visit offered a close look at how co-investments in modern drying facilities are strengthening one of Albania’s most important agricultural sectors.

Albania’s MAP sector has long been a vital source of income for rural families. Thousands of farmers depend on the cultivation and collection of plants such as sage, oregano, thyme, and lavender. Yet for years, one critical challenge has remained: drying the harvested plants quickly enough to preserve their quality and market value.

Without proper drying, months of hard work can lose value in just days and this is where CNVP’s work has made a real difference.

Through the LED project, funded by Sweden, CNVP Albania has worked to improve the MAP market system by addressing bottlenecks that directly affect farmers and exporters. By co-financing modern drying infrastructure with private sector partners, CNVP has helped introduce faster, more efficient, and more sustainable processing solutions.

At Agroherbal and Filipi Company, these new drying facilities are already reducing post-harvest losses, improving product quality, and helping producers meet strict export standards for EU and US markets. But the impact goes beyond technology.

Better drying means better prices. Better prices mean stronger incomes for farming households.

This is a true value of development, not only investing in infrastructure, but creating opportunities that ripple through entire communities. From exporters to small-scale producers, every improvement in the value chain creates new economic possibilities.

Today’s visit reaffirmed the importance of partnerships between development actors and the private sector. Sustainable rural development happens when investments respond to real market needs and generate long-term value.

Through the LED project, CNVP Albania continues to prove that supporting local businesses means supporting farmers, families, and the future of rural communities.