Rural regions in Western Balkans, like much of Southeast Europe, face persistent challenges, including high depopulation rates and comparatively low quality of life indicators (Copus et al., 2020; Burger et al., 2020). This organized session will explore rural outmigration as a critical threat to rural resilience, examining its drivers, multidimensional impacts, and implications for local development.
Migration in the Western Balkans is primarily fueled by limited economic opportunities, inadequate public services, and aspirations for a better quality of life. While remittances are widely recognized as a as a key economic lifeline - helping to alleviate poverty and mitigate income risks - their broader effects on household well-being and rural sustainability remain underexplored.
While remittances provide critical financial support, migration also brings social and emotional trade-offs. The prolonged absence of family members, particularly parents, can negatively affect child development, mental well-being, and social cohesion. Furthermore, migration poses a serious challenge to the agricultural sector, exacerbating labor shortages and farm succession difficulties, ultimately threatening the long-term competitiveness of rural economies.
This session will provide a platform for discussing these complex dynamics, bringing together perspectives on how rural outmigration reshapes livelihoods, local economies, and social structures across the Western Balkans. It aims to:
• Analyze the implications of outmigration on rural labor markets and the link between migration, farm succession challenges, and the risk of land abandonment. A special focus will be put on the rural youth.
• Identify key drivers of migration intentions and assess their policy implications for rural development initiatives.
Migration and Farm Succession: Migration (especially among the youth) is a predominantly leading factor contributing to a shrinking rural workforce and jeopardizing the sustainability of local labor markets. Migration also has profound implications for agriculture, particularly in terms of farm succession. When younger family members migrate, farms are left without successors, leading to land abandonment and a decline in agricultural productivity. This trend threatens food security, rural landscapes, and local economies. This contribution will examine solutions and incentives for young farmers, focusing on how to sustain the long-term viability of rural farming systems.
Migration intentions: Understanding the motivations and intentions behind migration is critical for designing effective policies to mitigate rural outmigration. Limited access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities, couples with aspirations for better living standards, are key drivers of migration. This contribution will explore both push and pull factors driving migration decisions and consider policy interventions that address the root causes of rural outmigration.
