Effect of rural out- migration on farm labour force in Bariadi district, Shinyanga region, Tanzania
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Date
2009
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
In Tanzania, like any other developing country, there is ample evidence to suggest
that the number of people moving from rural areas to urban has tremendously been
increasing. The total labor force of Tanzania is growing at around 3.1% per annum
while the agricultural labour force is growing at a maximum of 2.8% per annum due
to rural-urban migration and the growth of non agricultural informal sector activities
in the rural areas. Rural-out migration is selective in that it attracts, age cohorts of
the population, which are the most active in production. Therefore it is felt that there
is a cause-effect relationship between rural-out migration and farm labour force
because it depletes household labour force which in turn reduces agricultural
productivity and consequently worsening of poverty. Understanding the effect of
rural-out migration on farm labour force will contribute to the government's efforts
of reducing rural-out migration for the betterment of the agricultural sector, which is
the engine of the economic growth of Tanzania. The study was done in Bariadi
District to determine the effect of rural-out migration on farm labour force.
Specifically to identify the proportion of people moving from rural areas by sex
(N=308), estimate size of labour force used for farming (N=1037), compare the farm
characteristic features between households with migrants (N=79) and without
migrants (N=46), lastly determine the pattern of remittance flows and its influence
on agriculture (N=29) using structured interview schedule on 125 randomly selected
households. The study found that the impact of rural out- migration on farm labour
force is currently not significant but it is recommended that remedies should be
taken to counteract the proportion of people moving from the villages to safeguard
the agricultural sector in the future.
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Thesis
Keywords
Rural out- migration, Farm labour force, Bariadi district, Shinyanga region, Tanzania