Rural-urban linkages in sub-Saharan Africa: contemporary debates and implications for Kenyan urban workers in the 21st century
2004
A. Tostensen
This CMI working paper provides an overview of rural-urban linkages in sub-Saharan Africa outlining the major strands of contemporary academic debates on this issue. There author identifies two interrelated debates for discussion. The first is about the historiography of migrancy, predominantly in Southern and Eastern Africa; the other one is about the relationship between research on labour migration and the policy prescriptions that ostensibly follow.The author goes on to draw some tentative conclusions about what might be the implications of these debates for urban workers in Kenya. These include:The oscillatory labour migration system is clearly under severe strain , which is only likely to increase in years ahead. A key factor is access to land. As long as the principle of partible land inheritance is practiced the ensuing fragmentation will only reinforce the need for an urban source of income.The value placed on land ownership acts as some deterrent against a massive rural exodus and as long as neither the urban wage level nor the agricultural production on small plots suffice to support an average family, the circular migration strategy between rural and urban is likely to persist. The population pressure on land is likely to increase the number of landless or near-landless who will have to convert to 'urbanites', requiring high economic growth rates and attendant employment creation to accomodate them into a stable mainstream economy. To achieve this is a 'tall order' according to the author although the recent change of government in Kenya offered some cause for optimism.
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