From Income Support to Territorial Development
Key Message
Poverty in Albania remains underestimated when
measured primarily through income indicators. Territorial disparities, rural
decline, and emerging urban vulnerabilities reveal a deeper and more structural
form of exclusion. Addressing this requires a shift from fragmented social
assistance toward integrated, community-led territorial development approaches.
The Problem
Albania is classified as a middle-income country,
yet this classification masks significant internal disparities. Poverty is
unevenly distributed across territories and increasingly manifests in three
interconnected forms:
- Deep
rural poverty,
particularly in areas such as Selenicë, characterised by depopulation,
limited access to services, and weak economic opportunities
- Underutilised
development potential in areas like Dimal, where resources exist
but lack structured support and coordination
- Growing
urban vulnerability, driven by rising living costs, housing
pressures, and unequal access to services
This multidimensional reality is insufficiently
captured by conventional income-based metrics.
Why Current Approaches Fall Short
Existing policy approaches face three key
limitations:
- Over-reliance
on income-based measures, which fail to capture territorial and
structural exclusion
- Fragmented
and reactive social policies, focused on short-term assistance rather than
long-term development
- Limited
local governance capacity, constraining the ability of municipalities
to design and implement integrated solutions
As a result, poverty is managed rather than
reduced.
What Needs to Change
A shift in perspective is required—from treating
poverty as an individual condition to recognising it as a territorial and
systemic challenge.
This implies:
- Moving
from people-based to place-based policies
- Empowering
communities as active agents of development
- Integrating
economic, social, and environmental interventions
- Strengthening
multi-level governance coordination
Policy Recommendations
To operationalise this shift, the following actions
are recommended:
1. Develop place-based anti-poverty
strategies at
municipal level, tailored to territorial specificities
2. Strengthen local governance
capacity,
including planning, implementation, and financial management
3. Pilot community-led development
models,
building on participatory approaches and local ownership
4. Improve poverty measurement
systems,
incorporating territorial and multidimensional indicators
5. Align national and EU funding
instruments with
local needs and priorities
Pilot Opportunity: A Territorial Approach in
Practice
A combined pilot approach could demonstrate the
effectiveness of territorial development models:
- Selenicë: Focus on addressing
structural rural poverty through integrated livelihood, service access,
and community resilience initiatives
- Dimal: Leverage agricultural and
local economic potential through coordinated development strategies and
value chain support
- Urban
areas:
Introduce targeted interventions addressing cost-of-living pressures,
service access, and social inclusion
This combined model offers a scalable framework for
national policy and EU-supported programmes.
Conclusion
Poverty in Albania is not simply a matter of
income—it is a reflection of territorial imbalance and institutional gaps. A
transition toward community-led, place-based development is essential to
achieve sustainable and inclusive growth.
Such a shift requires not only financial resources but also a renewed policy vision that places territories and communities at the centre of development.
Key words: #poverty,#territorial inequality,#social exclusion,#Albania,#Eurostat,#community development,#spatial development