Deciding to Settle: Rural-Rural Migration and Agricultural Labour Supply in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigates the factors that influence rural migrants’ decision to settle in rural communities as farm labourers in southern Nigeria. This is against the backdrop of the critical roles play by the migrants infilling the farm labour supply deficit; which is occasioned by high rural-urban drift (annual estimate is 37%). Data for the study were obtained from a sample survey of 766 rural migrants drawn from 81 communities in Southwestern Nigeria via a multistage sampling technique. The result shows that the migrants were from within and outside the country. About 76% of the migrants worked as farm labourers in the receiving community while wage employment accounted for about 80% of total employment. The logistic regression estimates reveal that, among other factors, previous migration efforts, household’ and community’ socio-economic and development statuses reduce the odds in favor of migrants’ willingness to settle in the receiving rural community.