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Rural poverty in Albania Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe. The effects of the transition from a centralized economy in a rigid communist state to a free market economy in a democratic republic have weighed heavily on Albania’s people, and particularly on its poor people. Despite the economy’s robust growth in recent years, almost one quarter of the population lives below the poverty level of US$2 a day. The poorest of the poor, who comprise about 5 per cent of the population, struggle to put adequate food on the table each day. The income gap in the country is relatively small. Because of low incomes and a low employment rate most people’s average incomes hover close to the poverty line. This makes many of them vulnerable to the effects of downturns in the economy. It also means that well-directed pro-poor policies can potentially benefit large numbers of people. As in many countries, the incidence of poverty is highest in rural areas, where an estimated 57 per cent of Albania’s people live and where most of them depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Poverty is 66 per cent higher in rural areas than in Tirana, the capital, and it is 50 per cent higher in rural areas than in other urban centres. The agricultural labour force is heavily underemployed, and about half of all farm labourers work only part time. For rural Albanians, non-farm employment and the opportunities it offers are a potential means of rising out of poverty.
Who are the rural poor?
Poverty in Albania weighs particularly on women and young people. Women, who were guaranteed employment under communism, were disproportionately affected by the mass unemployment that set in when state-owned farms and enterprises closed and people found themselves with no alternative source of income. Faced with a lack of wage-earning jobs, women took a more active role in subsistence farming to support their households. Yet women who are heads of households cannot maintain living standards as high as those in households headed by men. Discrimination and violence against women are serious problems. Almost half the poor people in Albania are under 21 years of age. Larger families tend to be poorer. Fifty per cent of families with seven or more members live below the poverty line. The effects of poverty among women and young people in Albania are closely related to the problem of human trafficking across national borders. Where are they? Rural, northern and mountainous areas are the poorest areas in the country. The incidence of poverty is highest in the north-eastern districts of Kukes and Dibra, where almost half of the population is poor and 80 per cent of families’ income comes from social protection schemes, economic assistance and disability payments.
Why are they poor?
Despite recent years of economic growth, poverty persists in Albania as a result of continuing low employment and low-income levels, particularly in rural mountain areas, and it reflects the unequal pattern of economic growth. Many small-scale farmers lack access to market outlets for their produce, particularly in mountain areas. Without outlets, farmers cannot increase their incomes and standards of living. Their problems are compounded by a scarcity of market information, lack of compliance with food hygiene and safety standards and inadequacies in packaging and labeling, which make their products uncompetitive. Many farmers, asserting reactive, post-communist individualism, are skeptical of the potential benefits of more formal business collaboration, such as member-run marketing and trading associations. Farm production and productivity are hindered also by limited technical knowledge, obsolete equipment and limited availability of inputs. Markets are distant, there is a lack of financial services and the ageing farming population is composed mainly of women because men migrate in search of employment. Unless processing industries are stimulated to act as catalysts in supply networks, opportunities for Albanian farmers will remain underexploited, and commercially oriented farming will remain a sporadic and unorganized activity.
Source: IFAD |
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