What are the effect of rural to urban migration?

Answer 1

As countries pursue development and industrialization drives, the need to build urban centres become certain. It is in this pursuance that leads to somewhat neglect of the no urban centres. This calls for people in the rural areas desiring to move to the urban centres. Every man wants a standard of living better than where he is now thus; the drive to move to the urban centres becomes obvious. In the developing countries, this passion becomes so great that the movement becomes rampant. The purpose of this piece is to reflect on the serious problem of excessive rural-urban migration and rising urban unemployment and underemployment in developing countries and how to restore a proper balance between rural economic and social opportunities to curb rural-urban migration. <br /> Rural areas are isolated areas of an open country with low population density. Occupation by the rural folks is mostly primary in nature. For instance, farming, lumbering, fishing, quarrying etc. are the major activities offered by the rural people. Most of the industries are being concentrated in the urban centres. It becomes relatively hard for the rural folks to make ends meet. Since the available occupations in the rural areas are mostly primary, they offer a low profit capital and the few elite are not motivated because of the primary nature, and fewer wage offered by the jobs in the rural areas, not much to be desired. The seasonality of the primary job or the agricultural activity which they are engaged in results to seasonal unemployment and the small scale business industries are been wiped off by the demand for the technological products from the urban centres thus causing structural unemployment. This leaves much people in the rural areas unemployed in most part of the year. Rural areas are characterized with chronic food insecurity widespread and livelihoods are more vulnerable. Rural folks have limited access to basic social services, safe water, roads that are accessible year round, and electricity and telephone services. Poverty is most severe among rural farmers, who are mainly traditional small-scale producers. About six in ten small-scale rural farmers are poor, and many are women. Women bear heavy workload in addition to their domestic chores, they are responsible for about 60 per cent of agricultural production. More than half the women who head households in rural areas are among the poorest 20 per cent of the population. The fate of the youth and students in rural area is not promising. They are mostly at disadvantage to their counterparts at urban areas who have easy access to quality education, internet facilities, employment opportunities, better health care and opportunities for advancement. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the rural folks are facing, they enjoy certain advantages. For instance, living in a rural area allows residents to enjoy the natural environment instead of having to go to recreational sites. In addition, rural people do not have to struggle with the daily stresses of urban life such as being stuck in traffic, dealing with higher rates of crime, and in many cases, paying higher taxes. These absences of stressors can have a great effect on the overall quality of life and as one researcher notes, "People living in rural and sparsely populated areas are less likely to have mental health problems than those living in urban areas and may also be less likely to relapse into depression or mental illness once they have recovered from these in more densely populated areas" (J. W. Combs 1960). The big question is, are these advantages much enough than the disadvantages to motivate those there (rural folks) to stay there? The big response to the big the question is "NO" since its disadvantages outweigh that of the advantages. These phenomena is the main push factor causing the rural folks to move to areas (urban areas) having comparative advantage than the rural areas (thus from the rural areas to the urban centers) (Samkof, 2002). <br /> Urban area is an area with relatively high population density that contains a set of closely related activities. Urban areas are endowed with free-standing built-up area with a service core with a sufficient number and variety of shops and services, equipped with better administrative, commercial, education, entertainment and other social and civic functions. Urban areas generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. Parents in the urban areas have a number of choices available for the education of their children and can often select from a long list of both public and private school districts, which leads to the potential for better education. It is also worth noting that urban areas offer residents the possibility to choose from a range of employment opportunities at any number of companies or organizations. Aside from this, urbanites have better access to choices in healthcare as well and if they suffer from diseases they have a number of specialists to choose from in their area. Development is mostly concentrated in the urban areas which intend to facilitate interaction between people and businesses, benefiting both parties in the process. There is a widely availability of modern amenities like the internet, telephone and satellite communication facilities in the urban areas. Majority of the households in urban areas are blessed with technological advancement or products which lead to effective and efficient work done since most of the jobs are done technologically instead of man power. Urban folks are at an advantage of using these technological amenities (internet facilities and computer) to broaden the scope of their knowledge compared to their counterparts at the rural area where these products (technological products) are limited, and in most cases lacking. Again there is unlimited access to financial opportunities to the urban producer. His rural colleague being poor in nature has limited access to financial institutions. The presence of credit available to the urban producers to expand their business and engage in other ventures is one of the advantages the urban folks have over the rural folks who although have the available raw materials, lack the capital and technological expertise which can be provided by the financial sectors. As stated earlier these advantages compel most of the rural folks to move to the urban centers to have access to the numerous advantages endowed in those areas. <br /> The act of moving from the rural area to the urban centers for economic and social opportunities is term as rural-urban migration. Rural-urban migration has led to urban areas in developing countries to witness a rapid increase in urban population concentration within the past decades. In Ghana, for example, the urban population in1960 was 23 percent of the total population. The proportion increased by almost10 percent to 32 percent in 1984 (Statistical Service of Ghana, 1988). This has engendered both scholarly and policy interests and concerns. The concerns have emanated from the fact that the bulk of the urban population is constituted of migrants from rural areas and other small towns. The causes of this <br /> The loss of rural population to urban centers is often bemoaned for its implied adverse effect on rural development. The empirical data have revealed that migration is generally selective of the young, versatile, and/or better educated members of the community (Ritchey, 1976; Browning Ritchey, 1976; Browning &amp; Feindt, 1969). This creates a form of "brain drain" on the rural populations. <br /> The deleterious consequences of rural-urban migration has led to the demand for urban socioeconomic amenities exceeding their supply, the urban areas often become spectacles of multifarious problems such as overcrowding, congestion, inadequate housing, high rates of unemployment and underemployment, crime and other forms of delinquency. The quality of life at both the areas of origin and destination are, therefore, significantly affected. The repercussion of the ongoing analysis is being discussed below; <br /><b>Unemployment in the rural areas:</b>in the developing world, there are limited job opportunities available, so the influx of people from the rural areas to the urban who are mainly unskilled in profession causes them not fit for the available jobs in the urban which are mainly skilled in nature. Thus there will be a rise in the unemployment and the underemployment rate in the urban areas as well as the rural areas. As the migration happens, the labour force in the rural areas is being reduced and this will go a long way to affect the output that can be produced in the long run. <br /><b>Low productivity in output and thus low GDP</b><nowiki>: As there are more and more people leaving the rural areas which happen to be the fertile grounds of development of any developing country, there become a limited number of labour forces in the rural centres. This goes a long way to reduce the amount of produce that can be produced to feed the whole nation. The fact that most developing nations rely on agriculture and primary production for their development means that a reduction in agricultural and other primary activities means a reduction in the nation output and hence a low gross domestic product or national income. This is the reason why most developing countries with high rate of rural urban migration has huge balance of payment deficit. This is because the nation is not able to grow enough food to feed her citizens so she has to borrow from outside source to cater for her expenditure which is most at times centered on the urban communities. </nowiki><br /><b>Overcrowding and pressure on social amenities</b><nowiki>: if a country is advanced in infrastructure and basic social amenities, there is no point to classify it as developing. To this point, it is common to see most developing countries having limited social amenities and infrastructure. This may include schools, roads, places of convenience, pipe borne water among others. As people troop from the rural to the urban, they increase the usage of these limited amenities in the urban areas. This leads to massive and quick deterioration of the amenities and hence an increase in the cost of repairs and maintenance and thus government expenditure. The increase in the population in the urban areas relative to a constant land area leads to overcrowding at a particular area and most especially the urban areas. </nowiki><br /><b>Increase in social vice and the development of slums</b><nowiki>: when people move from the rural to the urban areas, they have in mind that they are coming to work and feed their relatives at home. It becomes a new story when their quest for employment becomes an illusion as there is no job to absorb them. To make ends meet, most people who migrate to the rural areas resort to stealing, armed robbery, prostitution, "drug pushing" and as they cannot afford a decent house to buy, they settle in a particular place and build houses made of wood, aluminum slate among others. This community tends to be filthy all the time and not worth staying in. a room can inhabit as much as 10-15 people and it is even rumoured in Ghana that some people run a shift system type in sleeping under the same room; "sleep in the morning, i will work in the night and I will sleep in the evening and you will work at night" - what a drama. Notable areas in Ghana are Nima, Jamestown, and Chorkor, all in the suburb of Accra and Makoko in Nigeria. This point goes a long way in increasing Infectious Diseases and other related sickness. </nowiki><br /><b>Slowdown of development in the rural areas:</b> as the youth who are the agent of change in the rural areas move to the urban areas, they leave behind the aged and the too young who cannot effect any meaningful change or development in the rural areas. This leaves most rural areas in the developing countries almost the same in social setting over decades and jubilees. The aged think of what they will feed on till they die thus are not ready to cause any development, the little ones on the other hand look forward to be helped. Therefore those in whose hands lie the catalyst of change move to the urban centres in such of greener pastures. The feeble ones left at the rural areas cannot work to bring massive change which comparatively could be done by the energetic ones. <br /><br /> The key to solving this problem of excessive rural urban migration in restoring a proper balance between rural economic and social opportunities are; <br /><b>Provision of basic social amenities:</b> The governments in the developing countries should implement policies that will enhance the provision of basic social amenities like electricity, portable water, recreational centres, schools, good roads among others in the rural areas. The government of Ghana's initiates concerning the rural electrification project is a typical example concerning this point. As these amenities are provided, they enhance healthy living and opportunity to know what is going on in the world. The recreational centres would be a source of entertainment and relaxation for the dear hardworking farmers and their relatives. To walk for miles on a third class road which neither human nor vehicle can access during a heavy rain just to attend a basic school and do the same thing when coming back is more or less a hectic and a propeller of rural urban drift. People in the rural areas should be provided with schools at least from the crèche to the senior high school level. This will limit their movement to the urban areas in search for formal education. Concerning the road, most produce have to lie idle in the farm which sometimes get rotten, therefore providing good roads will ensure fast and effective conveyance of produce from the farm to the market and thus a high value for their produce which in the long run improve their living standard. <br /> To summarise this point, the provision of these basic social amenities will enhance active enrolment in the classroom, fast movement to the market, enhanced living condition among others. <br /><b>Improvement in the quality of education</b><nowiki>: in an attempt to reduce congestion in urban school as well as some fortunate rural areas, there should be a policy that will lead to the improvement in the quality of education in the rural areas. This should not just be the number of school built but also the quality of teachers, the resources in the school like library, playing field, serene environment and even better structure of the school as far as building is concerned. Well trained teachers must be posted into the rural areas and adequately motivated; teachers bungalows; rural teachers allowances, teachers that will teach what they have to teach and inculcate in their student the passion to believe in themselves. The school should be of the same standard as the ones in the urban centres; a building and not just a structure. The resources available should be made ease to the student so that they can increase their innermost endowments. There have to be changes in the curriculum, teaching learning materials and the teaching strategy, a total revamping of the educational sector and changes in the attitude and the mindset of every member of the community: the learners, the educated, parents and society at large. This policy will affect the learned and later impact on the farmers and the rural community at large. </nowiki><br /><b>Creation of credit and loan scheme:</b> especially, farmers and women in the rural areas should be provided with credit facilities and loan opportunities. The fact that "rural" is poor means that these loans should not bear high interest rate. Government should made available loans and credit schemes to the "rural" to expand his farm, business and buy new crops. Again subsidies should be given on fertilizers and basic farm inputs. The government can purchase farm inputs and sell it to the farmers or rural folks at a subsidised rate on credit to be paid in installment, rural banking services and rural microfinance institution in the rural areas to improve their savings and enhance their endowment and introduce them to the financial sector. The agricultural extension officers should increase their outreach programmes to educate the nation builder in the rural areas new farming methods. Women should be given credits to start or expand their business. All these should be done in a carefully studied manner so that those who really need it would be given. The main idea of this policy is to equip the rural folk to be more vibrant and productive in their field of work and prevent them from moving to the urban centres to have access to the financial institution. Therefore there is a point in granting these loans to people who will effectively use the money to improve their jobs so that when the loans are being taken, there will be a possibility of repayment. <br /><b>Industrial modernization:</b> The government should also embark on the establishment of industries, factories and Agro businesses in the rural areas. These industries would serve as a means through which the primary produce can be processed into semi or finished goods. Example the establishment of Akomadan Tomato factory in Ghana has made it possible to process fresh tomato into canned ones; preventing loss of farm produce thus providing a ready market for the farm produce. Further, the government should build silos and other storage facilities into which farm produce would be bought directly from the farmer at a more competitive price and be stored in the storage to feed the available industries and even for export. Also, the government can also help private investors by giving them tax exemption and other incentives to motivate prospective investors to invest in the rural areas. This will go a long way to create employment to the rural folks thereby limiting their desire to move to the urban centres for employment opportunities. <br /><b>Technological Sophistication;</b>Because simple tools are used for farming, rural farmers cannot produce in large quantities, therefore providing technologically advance input like mower, ploughs, tractors, fertilizers and education in modern farming techniques among others would increase the amount of output and therefore even their wealth. This is because provision of such opportunity can positively impact on the rural folk because they can embark on large scale plantation or commercial farming to increase yield and output and their income. This will make farming to both adult and youth in the rural area attractive hence limiting their desire to get to the urban centre for other employment opportunities. Also the access to internet and telecommunication can go a long way to curb rural urban migration because the youth's access to these things would make them content in their community and thus they would see no difference in the rural and the urban centres since they can access even in the rural areas as it is in the urban areas. <br /><b>Entrepreneurship;</b> Another possible and vibrant policy that can curb rural urban migration and it adverse effect on unemployment and underemployment in developing countries is the training and coaching of new and potential entrepreneurs in the rural. Funds and material should be made available to trainees and those that are ready to initiate their skills as a startup capital for their various jobs. This will be a source or motivation to establish themselves in the rural area and thus no incentive to move. Again, the youths should be trained and educated to be innovative and their skills should be sharpened to effect positively on their jobs. To this, the "rural" can come out of her shell to produce and thus be well equipped to face the challenges in the rural areas that would compel them to move. Available resources should be utilized in every possible way as this can go a long way to even reduce unemployment and underemployment. This policy should be geared towards the youth because about 80 percent of the migrants to the urban centres are youth. <br /><br /> Judging from the above, it can be seen that excessive rural-urban migration is primarily caused by improper balance of economic and social opportunities such as the availability of social amenities like good roads, hospitals, schools, opportunity for advancement, proper health care between the rural and urban areas. This has led to the eruption of many problems on both the urban as well as the rural areas. Especially unemployment and underemployment in the urban areas, other problems are increase in social vices in the urban areas, overcrowding in the urban areas and even slowdown of development of the rural area. The governments of developing countries have to implement policies that will ensure the balancing of both social and economic opportunities available to the urban dweller and his counterpart in the rural area such as provision of basic social amenities, improvement in the quality of education, creation of credit and loan scheme, industrial modernization, technological sophistication and entrepreneurship policies. If these economic and social opportunities are shared equally between the rural and the urban areas, which will lead to proper balance between the two, it will help to curb the problem of urban unemployment and underdevelopment caused by rural-urban migration problems.