TITLE:
Deciding to Urban-Migrate and Agricultural Development: Evidence from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCC)-Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) Intervention Zones, Ghana
AUTHORS:
Eric Ekobor-Ackah Mochiah, Robert Darko Osei, Isaac Osei Akoto
KEYWORDS:
Migration, Intervention, Decision, Ghana, Agriculture
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.5 No.13,
December
10,
2014
ABSTRACT: The decision to migrate
involves both “push” and “pull” factors. Push factors force migrants out of
rural areas while pull factors attract rural folks to the urban areas. The
information set which displays the realities on the ground, if positive will
motivate a potential migrant to move to an urban area and vice versa. Movement
of labour for agriculture in the rural areas decreases resources needed to help
promote the needed growth in the sector. With a sample size of 46,110 household
members from two batches (about 3000 farmers/households for each batch) of
selected farmers who enjoyed agricultural interventions (technology), a probit
model is estimated to find the factors that influence the decision to
urban-migrate. In particular we discuss the question of whether the MiDA
intervention through the training of farmers on various techniques/technologies
to be more productive, has had an impact on farmers’ as well as their household
members’ decision to urban-migrate. Generally, household, Farmer Based
Organization and individual characteristics were considered in the model. We
find that, farmers and their household members in the Southern Horticultural
belt were less likely to migrate while those in the Northern Agricultural Zone
were more likely to migrate to the urban area. Education, households with
returned migrants, and remittances were positive in influencing the decision to
urban-migrate. On the other hand, being self-employed and being married reduces
the probability that an individual will migrate. Generally, the differential
economic opportunities through the relative increased knowledge in the urban
areas remain a pull factor of labour resources of the undeveloped rural
agricultural sector. Bridging the gap between the expected income differential
of rural and urban areas resulting from differences in knowledge and
opportunities will be the key to reducing this phenomenon as suggested by [4] and many other studies.