Impact of Male Out - Migration on Rural Women’s Livelihood: The Case of Chencha Woreda South Ethiopia

Geberu, H/Micheal Belete (2006) Impact of Male Out - Migration on Rural Women’s Livelihood: The Case of Chencha Woreda South Ethiopia. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

Ethiopia is at a low level of urbanization, but stands presently among the rapidly urbanizing developing countries in Africa. Vast number of people are leaving the rural areas and joining the urban people everyday. The reason for this exodus to urban areas widely varies temporally and spatially. But most studies indicate the economic motives as the major driving force behind the recent very fast urbanization phenomenon in Ethiopia. For example, Desalegn (1984) had indicated that chronic lack of rural employment opportunities, rapidly increasing population pressure, absence of oxen for many farmers and land fragmentation were the major forces behind the high rural-urban migration in Ethiopia. Although migration from rural area is known to cause a lot of economic and social pressure on the poorly developed and already congested urban areas in the Third World countries, it is not without its series of consequential impact on areas of origin. Specially notable is the selective nature of migration that encourages the migration of the most productive section of the community that are mostly young and better educated and informed, which leads to a severe consequence to rural livelihood. Palmer (1986) indicated that rural out migration of men was rising in many parts of the world as a result of development, leaving many women either temporarily or permanently in charge of their households in rural areas. However, the efforts of women are undermined by the laborious nature of farming, labor constraints or by lack of access to productive resources, in part because agricultural research and extension services were primarily oriented to male farmers. Similarly, Sharp and Spieigel(1990) stated that although the patriarchal customs and legal structures curbed women's control over land and agricultural production, women become de jure heads of households in the highly gendered migrant labor system of South Africa. The prevalence of female-headed households in rural areas necessarily affects household and community livelihood strategies. It is estimated that three quarter of households’ income in the former Bantustans is derived from remittances and 10-15 per cent from informal activities such as crafting and street vending (Levin and Weiner, 1997 cited in Oberhauser,A.M., 2000). The latter activities are largely undertaken by women and children since remittances from migrant labor are not always reliable and are frequently controlled by males. Maila Stivens, 1985 ( quoted in Lynne et al, 1997), showed how male out migration led to an almost total neglect of agriculture in some rural communities in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia with the consequence that rice /the staple crop/ in the area has to be bought with wages earned in the cities.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	28 Jun 2018 10:15
Last Modified:	28 Jun 2018 10:15
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/6146

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