Rural-urban migration threat to agricultural production

Rural-urban migration holds a significant threat to potential agricultural production and household food self-sufficiency. Technical advisor for livestock and rangeland management at Agribank Erastus Ngaruka said the rural development agenda needs to stimulate sustainable food production, establishefficient road networks and market linkages, and retain the skills and labor force in rural areas. Ngaruka said that rural communities need basic development or improvement to support their economic activities and uplift their social well-being.He said that the rural economic activities are mainly driven by immediate household needs related to food, health, education, and cultural events such as weddings and funerals, amongst others.Ngaruka said that overall, these interactive economic activities have been sustaining rural livelihoods, making households self-reliant and resilient.“Lately, it has been observed that rural livelihoods are becoming difficult to sustain due to thereduction in economic activities, affected by land degradation, drought, high production costs, lack of production inputs, disease and pest outbreaks, and other socioeconomic issues.”According to Ngaruka, as a result, there is an increase in rural-urban migration. He said that numerous people flock to the cities or urban areas hoping to find economic opportunities because of increasing developmental activities in such areas. “This is because urban areas offer better opportunities in terms of education, health,employment, and general access to many goods and services.”Ngaruka said that moreover, part of the rural-urban migrants include farmers who no longer favor full-time farming, but part-time, and those who are demotivated or abandon farming activities as they cannot withstand challenges related to the cost of production, recurrent drought, and loss of production and income. “This is a significant threat to potential agricultural production, household food self-sufficiency, and the national economy, as the country would have to rely on food imports to feed the nation.”Other categories of people migrating from rural areas are the elderly seeking better medical care and improved living conditions. “The impact thereof is that continuity and transfer of knowledge to the younger generation could be disrupted.”Ngaruka said that this is observed in some young people who feel unmotivated in farming, while some perceive agriculture as an activity for the elderly.He said that 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. “Although urban areas are perceived to provide better livelihood opportunities because of themyriad of larger-scale developmental and economic activities, they are still characterized by an increasing cost of living as communities find it difficult to afford food, water, electricity, housing, health, and transport, amongst others.”Ngaruka added that rural-urban migration has a negative impact on agricultural production as it results in a decrease in the rural population, thus, critical agricultural skills and the labor force are moved out of production areas. He said that ultimately, this reduces potential and sustainable agricultural productivity,especially at the household level. In general, rural-urban migration leads to disparities in terms of developmental resource allocation because of skewed population distribution and needs.Ngaruka said that ultimately, agriculture is an economic pillar in Namibia, supporting all livelihoods in the form of food, employment and income, and it constitutes the main economic activity in rural areas, either for subsistence or on a commercial basis. He said that a reduction in agricultural productivity negatively affects food systems, threatening food self-sufficiency and food security in the country.“Moreover, local food demand increases, and affordability becomes impossible for the vulnerable.”Ngaruka said that this, in turn, exerts tremendous pressure on the provision of food and other services such as land, water, and sanitation in urban areas. He said that at large, the reduction in agricultural productivity in the country results in increased spending on importation by the country to meet the local food demand of the growing population.Ngaruka said to ensure therefore ensure food self-sufficiency and food security in Namibia, local food production is key. He said that this can be achieved through programs 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, finance, materials, land, water, value addition, and market access. According to him this requires coordinated efforts amongst the relevant institutions, such as the agriculture ministry, Agribank, Institutions of Higher Learning, development partners, non-profit organisations, and the private sector, amongst others. “To ensure the sustainability of these projects, the government can source local products to supply food to local schools, hospitals and prisons, amongst others,” said Ngaruka.In addition, he said that local institutions supplying water and electricity have a critical role to play in local food production and in aiding in the reduction of the cost of production in rural areas.

Rural-urban migration threat to agricultural production

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Republikein 2025-04-30

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