Hi, welcome to this hall on the topic on MIGRATION: types and forms of migration.
Table Of Contents
- Definition of migration
- Types Of migration
- Forms of migration
- Factors of migration
- Advantages of migration
- Disadvantages of migration
- Effects of migration
- Solutions to the problems of migration
- Revision Questions.
Definition Of Migration
Migration is defined as the movement of people from one geographical area to another, involving permanent or temporary residence or settlement. In migration, the region where people are leaving is called the source region while the region where people are entering is called the receiving or destination reason.
Types Of Migration
There are two major types of migration. These are emigration and immigration.
- Emigration: This is the type of migration in which people leave their own countries, i.e. movements out of a country.
- Immigration: This is the type of migration in which people go into another country, i.e. movement into another country.
Forms Of Migration
Migration from one place to another takes different forms. Forms of migration includes:
- Rural-urban migration: This is a movement of people from rural areas, e.g Village to urban centers like Lagos, Accra.
- Rural-rural migration: This is the movement of people from one rural area to another rural area.
- Urban-rural migration: This is the movement of people from one urban centers to rural areas.
- Urban-urban migration: This is the movement of people from one urban centers (town or city) to another.
- International migration: This is the movement of people from one country into another.
- Seasonal migration: This is the movement of people from one place to another at a particular season, e.g. summer holidays abroad.
Factors Affecting Migration
The following factors accounts for the migration of people from one area to another.
- Natural disasters: The occurrence of natural disasters like flood, famines, drought, earthquakes, etc could force people to migrate out of the trouble areas to a peaceful place.
- Physical conditions: The physical conditions of a place such as climate, soils, relief may also be responsible for the migration of people, especially when such conditions are unfavorable.
- Insecurity: Fear of insecurity arising from war, political instability, etc could make people to migrate.
- Differences in economic opportunities: As a result of these, people tend to migrate to where they are more economic opportunities like jobs and business transactions.
- Changes in status: Change status, e.g. high level of education and wealth, could make people to migrate e.g. from rural to urban centers.
- Differences in social amenities: Owing to differences in the availability of water, roads, electricity, etc, people tend to move to where these amenities are presents.
Advantages Of Migration
- It reduces population pressure on Agricultural land and the source region.
- It reduces population pressure on social amenities at the source region.
- It supplies migrants labour at the receiving region.
- It ensures the flow of capital to the receiving region.
- It leads to the development of social amenities at the receiving region.
- It boost markets at the receiving region.
- It promotes cultural integration, such as inter-marriage at a receiving region.
Disadvantages Of Migration
- It breeds social vices like crime and armed robbery at the receiving region.
- It increases high cost of living at the receiving region.
- It leads to pressure on social amenities at the receiving region.
- It leads to the loss of able-bodied men and youth at the source region.
- It leads to congestion in housing and transportation at the receiving region.
- It leads to decline in production at the source region.
- It leads to unemployment at the receiving region.
- It also leads to cultural disintegration at the destination region.
Solutions To Rural Urban Migration
One of the major forms of migration that tends so create problems in all developing countries is that of rural-urban migration. Since we recognize that this form of migration is a major problem, Solutions have to be provided in order to prevent the occurrence of over-population at the receiving regions.
The solutions to the problems of rural urban migration include: (i) Provision of social amenities. (ii) Transformation of traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. (iii) Establishment of industries. (iv) Establishment of educational institutions. (v) Establishment of corporate branches, i.e. financial institutions in rural areas. (vi) provision of recreation facilities.
Advantages Of Rural Urban Migration
- It helps urban growth.
- It creates labour for factories and Industries.
- It enhances commercial activities.
- It promote infrastructural development in urban areas.
- It decreases pressure on agricultural lands.
- It creates opportunity for better standard of living.
- It challenges the government to develop rural areas.
Effects Of Rural-Urban Migration
- Unemployment/under-unemployment in urban areas.
- Housing problem.
- Traffic congestions.
- Environmental deterioration.
- Increase in crime rate.
- Shortage of food in the urban area.
- High cost of living.
- Pressure on social amenities.
- Population imbalance/more able-body men in urban area.
- Development of slums/ghettos.
- Increase in government expenditure.
Measures that can be taken to stop rural urban migration
- Development of rural areas.
- Siting of factories in rural areas.
- Establishing higher institutions in rural areas.
- Provision of social amenities in rural areas.
- Establishment of farm settlements in rural areas.
- Encouragement of Co-operative ventures in rural areas.
- Soft loans to rural farmers.
- Development of good transport network.
Revision Questions
- (a) Define migration. (b) Discuss the two major types of migration
- Discuss five forms of migration (b) Outline four advantages of migration, and four disadvantages of migration.
- State six advantages of rural-urban migration.
- (a) Outline five factors of migration (b) What are the measures that can be taken to stop rural urban migration?