The impact of rural-urban migration on agriculture
Rural-urban migration refers to the movement of people from rural to urban areas, or simply from villages to towns or cities. This migration is triggered by several socioeconomic factors such as employment, business, education, and health amongst others.In Namibia, the phenomenon is particularly conspicuous as evidenced by the influx of people from rural to urban areas in recent years in search of better opportunities. Some people also travel beyond our borders to developed countries across the globe in search of better economic opportunities to sustain their livelihoods.
Urban areas are perceived to provide better livelihood opportunities because of the myriad of larger-scale developmental and economic activities that take place. However, urban areas in Namibia are characterised by an increasing cost of living attributed to domestic and international economic eventualities, increasing commodity prices, and climate change that continue to threaten sustainable livelihoods in the country.
Great loss
Furthermore, the current economic conditions and global tensions amongst other factors have exacerbated society’s vulnerability to poverty, thus prompting further rural-to-urban migration of people in search of better economic opportunities. This migration hurts agricultural production as it results in a decrease in the rural population, thus, critical agricultural skills and the labour force are moving out of production areas. Ultimately this reduces potential and sustainable agricultural productivity, especially at a household level.
In addition, the scarcity or poor supply of water and electricity including their high maintenance costs have become a burden in rural areas, and this led to the abandonment of some agricultural activities.
Agriculture in Namibia is an economic pillar supporting all livelihoods in the form of food, employment and income, and constitutes the main economic activity in rural areas, either for subsistence or on a commercial basis. A reduction in agricultural productivity negatively affects food systems in the country, threatening food self-sufficiency and food security in the country.
Add to that, local food demand increases and affordability becomes impossible for the vulnerable. This in turn exerts tremendous pressure on providing food and other services such as land, water, and sanitation in urban areas.
At large, the reduction in agricultural productivity in the country results in increased spending on importation to meet local food demand.
Filling the gap
Moreover, government feeding initiatives such as school feeding programmes and the food bank may not be sustainable if local food production is not enhanced to fill the gap. Thus, to ensure food self-sufficiency and food security in Namibia, local food production is key. This can be achieved through programmes aimed at promoting and assisting local food production in rural areas by providing appropriate support to individual and community projects in the form of skills, knowledge, materials, land improvement, value addition, and market access.
To this end, all stakeholders, including local authorities in urban areas, have critical roles to play in reducing rural-urban migration through coordinated efforts aimed at promoting agricultural projects in rural areas. To ensure the sustainability of these projects, local markets which can include government institutions such as schools, hospitals and prisons may have to be developed to absorb the produce, and in addition, critical support services of water and electricity should be well developed to aid in the reduction of production costs.
Lastly, agriculture is key to ensuring economic development and sustainable livelihoods in the country, and it should be cultivated in the education system as one of the compulsory subjects from the primary level onwards.
Rural development agendas need to stimulate economic activities aimed at sustainable food production and market linkages and to retain the skills and labour force in rural areas.
* Erastus Ngaruka is Agribank’s Technical Advisor: Livestock & Rangeland Management.
** Opinion pieces and letters by the public do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial team. The editors reserve the right to abridge original texts. All newspapers of Namibia Media Holdings adhere to the Code of Ethics for Namibian Media, a code established jointly with the Media Ombudsman.