Determinants of Rural-Urban Migration on Farming Communities in Wukari Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria
This study examined the determinants of rural-urban migration in Wukari Local government Area, Taraba State. The study was designed to achieve the following objectives; identify the push and pull parameters associated with rural-urban migration and to determine the factors responsible for rural-urban migration in the study area. Data for the study were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to 110 respondents, randomly selected from six council wards of the local government area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. The result of the study revealed that rural-urban migration in the area is caused by both pull and push factors of people. The pull factors include; better job opportunities in the cities with superior wages, better learning conditions, good marketing facilities, better health facilities, good electricity supplies in the cities are the pull factors that attract rural youths to the urban areas. While insecurity, lack of farm inputs, land issues, family conflict among others were the push factors that makes them to migrate away from their community to the urban areas. It was also found from the regression estimates of the rural factors influencing rural-urban migration that health facilities, sources of electricity, water source, distance to telecom service, distance to tarred road, security threat and availability of market were the significant factors influencing rural-urban migration in the area. The study therefore recommended that government should develop the rural areas in terms of formulating policies that would advance the education and health care facilities in rural areas. The government should also formulate policies that would provide basic social amenities in the rural areas that would help in curtailing the rate of movement from rural areas to urban centres for sake of basic amenities.
Keywords: Determinants, Rural-Urban, Migration, Farming, Communities
