Alkis Alexandrou is the General Manager at Piraeus Bank, overseeing the Agribusiness sector. He speaks with Qorus about the current state of Greece’s agricultural sector and how the bank supports its farmer clients.
Could you briefly tell us about the agricultural banking landscape in your region, highlighting any unique challenges the sector needs to deal with?
The agricultural sector is a crucial component of any economy. It plays a vital role in ensuring the population’s nutrition and food security, while also being a key supplier for many manufacturing and trade industries. More specifically for Greece, the country's geographic location and favorable climate provide substantial advantages in the production of certain agricultural products, such as olive oil, peaches and cotton. It is worth highlighting that Greece is the EU’s main cotton grower, with 80% of European cotton area. According to Eurostat, the output of the agricultural industry in Greece, valued at current prices, was €15.2 billion as of December 2024.
However, like most of the EU countries, Greece faces challenges. The main difficulties are the moderate educational level of farmers and the small scale of farms. Greece’s farming population is getting older. The farmers have limited training and are mostly adhering to outdated practices and mindsets. Based on the most recent data from Eurostat for the year 2020, only 0.7% of farm owners in Greece had completed a full agricultural education. Thus, enhancing farmers’ education will result in the adoption of new technologies like AI tools and smart irrigation systems, enabling farmers on smaller plots to be more productive.
