Rural-urban migrants - Challenges to Kilimo Kwanza initiatives in the Ruaha river basin, Iringa region

Abstract

More than 80% of the population in Iringa region lives in rural areas where majority relies on agricultural productions. In spite of this dependency, 80% of agricultural practices are done using simple hand tools which  makes rural life relatively tasking. These tasking rural lives are thought to accelerate rural-urban migration in search for better working environment consequently impair Kilimo Kwanza initiatives as well as household food security. This paper assessed the challenges imposed in household  agricultural production when majority of the productive age migrate from rural to urban centres. Three districts namely Iringa Rural, Makete and  Mufindi districts in Iringa region were selected for interviews. A  semi-structured questionnaire survey was administered to 45 selected
households in each district to seek information on whether migration exists, and if it is a challenge to rural agricultural production. The purposive sampling design was employed in order to create a sample of households with migrants and non-migrants characteristics. This assessment enabled the establishment of a link between rural-urban migration and agricultural production in relation to Kilimo Kwanza performance of the region. Results confirmed that about 85% of household in Iringa experienced rural-urban migration and the migration accounted for about 67% of underperformance of Kilimo Kwanza initiatives in the region. Also, majority (84%) of the  respondents revealed that food status of households with migrants were poor compared to non-migrant households. The findings concluded that rural-urban migration is a challenge to Kilimo Kwanza Initiatives. The migration is driven by hardships associated with agricultural production such as inadequate capital, poor production technologies/transportation  infrastructure, dependence on rain-fed production and malpractice of informal markets referred as “lumbesa”. It is therefore recommended that, not only agricultural subsidies will accelerate Kilimo Kwanza Initiatives, but also other initiatives to reduce rural-urban migrations will gear up the process. Among other identified initiatives were; rural infrastructure development, education extension, value addition to agricultural produce and improved access to markets. These initiatives are thought to enhance rural life and in-turn decelerates the rural-urban migration.

Keywords: Rural-Urban; Migrants; Kilimo Kwanza initiatives