Rural-urban migration and implications for rural production

Abstract

Rural to urban migration has always been an inherent part of the economic development process, but its impacts are poorly understood, and are often feared by governments, which has led to policies that either attempt to explicitly or implicitly hinder migration. A major concern is that rural-urban migration can threaten food security, through reductions in agricultural production. In this paper, I examine the recent literature on migration and agriculture, which takes the challenge of statistically identifying impacts of migration seriously. I begin by discussing rural-urban productivity gaps and implications for policy, following through to impacts on agricultural production and rural investment.