AI-powered quality innovation boosts Albania’s competitiveness

21 October 2025- UNIDO’s AI-enabled Smart Quality initiative is transforming how Albania’s Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) sector manages quality, compliance, and access to international markets. By integrating artificial intelligence into field-level quality management, UNIDO helps producers meet EU certification and traceability requirements, strengthens trust with global buyers, and advances the country’s sustainable industrial development.

The newly installed Smart Quality Stations continuously monitor temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and pest activity. This real-time data allows producers to detect issues early, take corrective action, and maintain product integrity throughout the production process. The system turns daily operations into an active quality assurance framework-aligned with Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP), GlobalG.A.P., and EU Organic standards. Nine enterprises, including women-led and certified organic SMEs, are participating in the first pilot phase, during which they are receiving AI-powered equipment, software, and specialized training provided by UNIDO.

By creating a digital backbone for compliance, the system enables early risk detection, reduces non-conformities, and optimizes resource use, cutting fertilizer and pesticide inputs while maintaining yields. Each production batch becomes fully traceable- from field to export- ensuring transparency and verifiable proof of compliance. Predictive analytics help stabilize product characteristics such as purity and moisture content, ensuring consistency demanded by premium European markets. Beyond technology, the pilot fosters a culture of data-driven quality governance. Producers now take ownership of their compliance data, accelerating certification renewals and strengthening Albania’s global reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality, traceable MAP products.

Through the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP), supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), UNIDO is strengthening Albania’s medicinal and aromatic plants sector by capacitating local actors, enhancing quality, certification, and sustainable practices, thereby enabling producers to meet EU standards, boost exports, and increase international competitiveness.

For more information, please contact:

Dorina Nati (d.nati [at] unido.org)