Causes and Effect of Out-Migration in Rural Areas of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the effect of out-migration from rural settlements in Benue State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to examine the causes, effect and control of migration in rural settlements of the study area. A total of 1202 respondents were selected from rural communities in 5 Local Government Area of the State. The study used multi-stage sampling technique involving purposive, simple random, judgement and snowball sampling techniques in selecting the communities and the respondents. Data were obtained via questionnaire. Frequencies and percentages were used for data analysis while tables were used for data presentation. The study found that 60.1% of the respondents are male. Most of the respondents (23.7%) are within age 50-54 years. Majority of the respondents are married (79.8%) and have households that have migrated to other places in Nigeria and beyond. The major causes of migration include unemployment (99.8%), inadequate educational institutions (97.2%), village hardship and crises (69.2%), lack of social amenities (6.7%) and insecurity/crises in rural areas. The major effect of out-migration includes reduction in labour supply, increased in demand for labour (97.1%), high cost of labour (99.8%), decreased in farm size (99.5%), decreased in productivity (99.7) and decreased in income (99.7%) in rural areas. Migration also causes low social economic growth and development in rural areas. The study recommends some major strategies for making the rural areas attractive to minimise youth migration in the State. These includes mechanization of agriculture, establishing agro-based industries, creating employment opportunities, provision of social amenities and ensuring adequate security of life and properties in rural areas of the State.