WHAT IS RURAL URBAN MIGRATION?

RURAL URBAN MIGRATION

Urban migration is a socioeconomic phenomenon and a spatial process involving the movement of people from rural areas into cities, either permanently or semi permanently. At present, it occurs mainly in developing countries as they undergo rapid urbanization. Job opportunities 

Created by industrialization attract the surplus rural labor to the cities to seek higher salaries through employment in the industrial sector. The above picture reveal migrant seeking for a better live. They look wretched with no or little property in such for a better life in the city. Rural-urban migration is widely considered an inevitable component of the development process, though it has a broad range of consequences and implications

https://anchor.fm/g162/episodes/Rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-ecqdnj/GI6-a1u59ti


Josiah Gyamesi
DCS20545

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CAUSES OF RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA?

                                  CAUSES OF RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA

It revealed that majority of the migrants were able bodied youth and majority of them were traders. Migrants’ mainreason for migrating is to seek employment in the urban centers for better  living. The other factor that motivated them to migrate from the rural areas to the urban center was access to good social amenities such as good drinking water, access to good and quality health care (hospital), good roads, good and quality education, access to electricity and entertainment. 

Generally, people migrate from rural to urban areas for economic/employment opportunities, but the specific reasons can be categorized as either "push" or "pull" factors. Push factors include what makes the people move away from a place—for instance, a lack of jobs or social opportunities. Pull factors, meanwhile, are why people want to come to a place, for reasons such as better job opportunities or easier access to amenities, including education and healthcare. 
There is no overarching single reason for the migration of people to urban areas. In light of this, let me mentions a few reasons. 
First, if we use China as a test case, we can say that the mass migration of people from rural area to cities is based on governmental incentives. As the central government decided to literally build cities overnight, they needed workers. So, Chinese banks made loans to companies to build the infrastructure of China. These jobs and hopes of a better life created a shift to urban areas. 
Second, if we look at places like New York and London, population increases took place because of the Industrial Revolution. People followed jobs and opportunities. Therefore, people left rural areas to look for more opportunities. 
Third, if we look at how rural areas are hit hard by drought and other forces of nature that limit opportunities, then we can say that part of the pull of cities is that there is little for people in rural areas.
Finally, as cities grow, there is more to do, to see, and to experience. Therefore, there is an allure, which cannot be underestimated.

https://anchor.fm/g162/episodes/Rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-ecqdnj/Causes-of-rural-urban-migration-m4a-a1uh4k9

By Abigail Osei
Index number DCS 20509

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA?

 Rural-urban migration is the movement of people from the countryside to the city. ... 

Urban growth - towns and cities are expanding, covering a greater area of land. 

Urbanisation - an increasing proportion of people living in towns and cities.

Migration has both positive and negative consequences on the place of departure and destination. Natural resource depletion, environmental pollution, earning disparities, redundancy, urban expansion, social unrest, population crowding were/are some of the negative effects of migration.Nowadays, many people decide to migrate to have a better life. 

Research  finds that emigration and low migration barriers has net positive effects on human capital formation in the sending countries. ... Greater emigration of skilled workers consequently leads to greater economic growth and welfare improvements in the long run. 

                                                          Positive Effects 

1. Unemployment is reduced and people get better job opportunities.
2. Migration helps in improving the quality of life of people.
3. It helps to improve social life of people as they learn about new culture, customs, and languages which helps to improve brotherhood among people.
4. Migration of skilled workers leads to a greater economic growth of the region.
5. Children get better opportunities for higher education.
6. The population density is reduced and the birth rate decreases.

                                                        Negative Effects 

Urbanisation has negative consequences on health due mainly to pollution and overcrowded living conditions. It can also put added pressure on food supply systems. The pressures of urban living may lead to crime and other consequences of social deprivation.

1. Labor shortages ( skills and unskilled ) in rural areas. 
2. Only women, children, older citizens are left in the rural areas and it increases child labor. 
3. Women engagement outside the house increases. 
4. Decrease in rural population, employment. 
5. Decrease in quality of health education facilities in the community. 

An example of an effect on Rural-urban migration is the lead to low productivity in output, hence reducing  Gross Domestic Product (GDP), overcrowding and pressure on social amenities, unemployment and underemployment, increase in social vices and development of slums, and slowing down of development. This is evident in the current floods which occurred in May 2012 (TV3 News) because of poor drainage due to congestion and the recent fire outbreak in August, 01, 2013 (ViaSat 1 News) in the railway slum at the Circle. Not forgetting the solid waste disposal in the capital city of Accra, this has become a daunting task for the municipal authorities, who seem to lack the capacity to tackle the mounting waste situation. In their attempt to address development problems.

https://anchor.fm/g162/episodes/Rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-ecqdnj/Effects-a1ug4pb 



Humu Yussif 
DCS20866

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OF RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA

                                                     CHALLENGES 

POOR LIVING STANDARDS – With urbanization comes a lot of other disadvantages. Notable among them are high rent charges. When there is a lack of adequate housing facilities, landlords or owners of housing facilities increase their rates on rents making it difficult for poor urban dwellers to afford. Even those with good income may have to settle for less expensive accommodation options due to the costs. Also amenities such as water and electricity may be at a premium. In some areas, there is often a shortage of water and power fluctuations because of the excess pressure on these resources which often tend to be scarce

OVERCROWDING (HOMELESSNESS) – Rapid urbanization is synonymous with overcrowding and homelessness. When a lot of people move into the big cities, the city becomes overcrowded since the homes and housing facilities were originally designed to fit a certain number of people.Lack of adequate housing causes increased slums as many rural folk who move to the urban cities will have to create their own settlements to get shelter.

SANITATION -one area that greatly gets affected is sanitation. The more people there are in a particular place at a particular time, the more difficult it is to keep clean. Refuse disposal, waste management, littering among others becomes a challenge. Unless there is a proper waste management system, the entire city or community is often prone to disease outbreaks. In recent times, malaria and cholera have been catastrophic illnesses in major cities as it spreads like wildfire due to congestion caused by rapid urbanization.

CRIMINALS AND STREET VIOLENCE – Where do we find the most criminals? Where do we hear or experience much violence. Your guess is as good as mine. They are found mainly in the slums which are caused by a lack of housing for many rural folk who have migrated to urban areas. When there is rapid urbanization, crime rates increase with the streets being unsafe. Armed robbery, theft, rape and other types of violence pick up because people need to survive and they often turn to these as a means of survival.




https://anchor.fm/g162/episodes/Rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-ecqdnj/Challenges-of-rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-a1uh74g



Mawuena Tsaku-Harker
DCS20600

HOW DOES OVERPOPULATION AFFECT RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA?

OVERPOPULATION                     

Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of earth.Overpopulation is caused by number of factors but here we take a look at how immigrants from rural areas to the cities cause population to increase. People come in search of mainly jobs and greener pastures and also to make a living and take care of poor families in the remote and needy areas. The city of Accra is the biggest victim of this rural-urban migration. Accra is the city with the smallest land size in all the regional capitals in Ghana. Accra is the most densely populated city in Ghana and close to being overpopulated according to statistics.

Immigration which is considered the frontline cause of overpopulation in recent times. Many people prefer to move to developed countries like United State of America, UK, Canada and Australia where best facilities are available in terms of medical, education, security and employment. The end result is that those people settle over there and those places become overcrowded. Difference between the number of people who are leaving the various countries and the number of people who enter narrows down which leads to more demand for food, clothes, energy and homes. This gives rise of shortage of resources. In Ghana same applies to the people who move from less deprived areas to the cities to find good living as mentioned I the previous paragraphs. This must be a concern for every Ghana and the Government as the capital of this country Accrawhich is the most convenient site for immigrants from these deprived areas, the population is getting denser and nearing being overpopulated. Though, the overall population remains the same, it just affects the density of population making that place simply overcrowded.

https://anchor.fm/g162/episodes/Rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-ecqdnj/Overpopulation-a1ui0ho




Veronica Kwofie
DCS20386

WHAT ARE THE ECONOMIC AND NON ECONOMIC FACTORS OF THE RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA?

THE ECONOMIC AND NON-ECONOMIC FACTORS 

The economic push factors includes unemployment or underemployment in rural areas, low wages and no assist as well as lack of land, which is sometimes due to inheritance system that split the land among a large number of people, making it less productive.

The non-economic push factors also plays significant role and it mainly include,  poor rural infrastructure in general, that is, poor living conditions such as housing, education possibilities and healthcare. Furthermore, aspects of agricultural change like modernization of farming, new techniques and machines as well as economic reforms in general cause less demand of labor in agricultural sector and this therefore causes people to search for new job opportunities.  

Again, the economic pull factors includes factors that attract people to move into cities which are mainly equivalent to the push factors. The rural migrants hope for employment and higher wages in the cities caused by a higher demand of labor. 

The non-economic pull factors also include social factors such as the hope for better healthcare and education provision or the urban facilities and way of life in general as well as factors like protection from conflicts, family reunion and family networks (that is, it is easier and more likely for people to migrate if they have relatives in the cities). 

Andy Selasie Kelvin

DCS20354

WHAT DOES STATISTICS SAY ABOUT RURAL URBAN MIGRATION IN GHANA?

STATISTICS

While the population of Ghana is expected to double in 25 years at the current rate of increase (approximately 2.5% per annum), the population of urban centers is increasing even faster. The 1970 census shows the urban population growing by 4.8% per annum. This is mainly the result of rural to urban migration and, to a smaller extent, the increase in the number of urban centers from 39 in 1948 to 98 in 1960 to 135 in 1970. In the 1970 census only 57.1% of the population were enumerated in their locality of birth and only 20.9% in a locality other than their place of birth but in the same region. 4.1% were born outside Ghana, mostly in another West African country. 1 striking difference between urban and rural areas is the differing sex ratio of the working population. In rural areas there are 91.0 males aged 15-64 years for every 100 females while in urban areas there are 107.1. Most migration in Africa is for employment and those most likely to migrate are working-age males. Because secondary schools are scarce in rural areas, urban dwellers generally have a higher education level. There are no significant differences between overall labor force participation rates for females. The nationwide participation rate was 38.9% for both males and females (males 43.8%, females 34.1%); in urban areas the total was 40.0% (males 46.3%, females 33.7%) and in rural areas 38.5% (males 42.7%, females 34.3%). Ghanaian women have traditionally occupied a prominent place in the labor force. The theory that urban migration is due to urban-rural income disparities is not confirmed by figures. Considering the high amount of unemployment in urban areas, a rural dweller can average as much as a city dweller. In fact, poorly educated migrants are the ones most affected by urban unemployment. A recent study by Kodwo Ewusi considered the impact of many variables on migration; he found depressed social conditions at the place of origin are more compelling motivations than economic factors but that once people decide to migrate, they base their choice of destination primarily on economic opportunities available at that end. Distance bears little relationship to choice of destination. To stem this tide efforts need to be made to increase rural income, provide employment opportunities for those displaced as agriculture becomes more efficient, and to provide for greater amenities in rural areas. Urban unemployment is an ever-increasing problem, accentuated by population growth and migration. Intensive care rural development is needed to reverse this trend.  



https://anchor.fm/g162/episodes/Rural-urban-migration-in-Ghana-ecqdnj/Urbanization-a1uf3iq




Isaac Aryee
Dcs20158