Who and Why? Understanding Rural Out-Migration in Uganda

Abstract

Rural–urban migration in developing countries is considered to be a key process for sustainable development in the coming decades. On the one hand, rural–urban migration can contribute to the socioeconomic development of a country. On the other hand, it also leads to labor transfer, brain-drain in rural areas, and overcrowded cities where planning is lagging behind. In order to get a better insight into the mechanisms of rural–urban migration in developing countries, this paper analyzes motivations for rural–urban migration from the perspective of rural households in Uganda. A total of 1015 rural households located in southwestern Uganda were surveyed in 2019. A total of 48 percent of these households reported having at least one out-migrant. By means of logistic regression modeling, the likelihood for rural out-migration was assessed using household- and community-level socioeconomic characteristics as predictors. The results show that most out-migrants are from relatively wealthy households with a higher-than-average education level. Typically, these households are located in villages that are well connected with urban centers. Poor households in remote locations send significantly fewer migrants because of their limited access to migration information and poor transport networks. From these findings, the following policy recommendations are made: Firstly, efforts should be made to extend basic social services, including quality education, towards rural areas. Secondly, in order to reduce socially disruptive long-distance migration and the eventual overcrowding and sprawls of major cities, government investments should be oriented towards the upgrading of secondary towns, which can offer rural out-migrants rewarding employment and business opportunities.

The land use consequences of rural to urban migration*

“…Column (1) shows that current migration and baseline migration are positively correlated. We interpret this results as evidence for the importance of migration networks, in line with the findings of Munshi (2003) for Mexico and Tumwesigye et al (2021) for Uganda. Similarly, Column (2) shows that migration increase with inverse distance weighted urban incomes.…”

“…The main reason for migration is education, followed by work and other economic reason. The distinction between migration for education and migration for economic reasons is blurry, however, because many educational migrants in Uganda also migrate with the intention to work during or after their education (Tumwesigye et al, 2021).…”

Mapping the consumer foodshed of the Kampala city region shows the importance of urban agriculture

“…While mapping the city foodshed from a consumer perspective sheds light on urban food demand, it also uncovers the potential contribution of the urban food system to agricultural development and poverty alleviation in rural areas 24 , 25 . A focus on improving infrastructure in secondary cities could alleviate pressure on the rapid growth of Kampala and allow for more sustainable urban food systems transformations 17 , 43 , 53 . In short, detailed knowledge on the shape and size of the foodshed can aid urban planners in their strategy development to either decrease, preserve or increase the share of food sourced locally, within or near the GKMA.…”

“…The city region is considered to be representative of many sprawling urban centres in SSA, as it has a population exceeding 4 million people, which is growing by over 5% yearly 41 , 42 . This rapid, uncontrolled urban growth is due to high fertility rates combined with employment-driven rural-urban migration 43 and poorly defined property rights 44 , resulting in agricultural land encroachment. Moreover, the GKMA has a high dependence on urban agricultural activities for its food provision 12 .…”

Interrogating the Impact of Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics in Mbarara City in Southwestern Uganda

“…It lies at latitude 0°36'23.01"S and longitude 30°39'52.89"E, neighbors Isingiro district to the south, Rwampara district to the west, Kiruhura district to the west, and Ibanda district to the north (Figure 1). The city has an estimated population of 195,013 people (Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2016), with a distance of 168 miles by road from Kampala the Capital City of Uganda (Tumwesigye et al, 2021;Kiprotich, 2022). The city is located in gentle to hilly areas with 1432 m.a.s.l separated by short, small, and shallow valleys and a parent rock made up of granitoid rocks, gneisses, mudstones, phyllites, and shales (UNRA, 2010).…”