Abstract
We assess the levels and trends of migration and urbanization in Ethiopia by focusing on migratory streams and the spatial distribution and growth of urban centers. Data from the three national censuses and national labor force, vital registration and migration surveys are used. Rural–rural and rural–urban migration declined but urban–urban migration increased during the period 1984–1999. We show that as a response to land shortages in rural Ethiopia, small towns and medium-sized cities are seeing unprecedented revival and economic renewal. Many small towns are registering faster growth rates than medium-sized towns, and both are witnessing a much faster increase than Addis Ababa, which registered a relatively lower inter-censal growth rate (2%). We find that temporary migration is a very common demographic response to population-resource imbalance and is dominant in both rural–urban and urban–urban streams. Migrants (both temporary and permanent) with secondary school education form a substantial percentage in the urban–urban migration stream. Marriage and other family-linked causes show a strong relation with being female, of rural origin, and from the northern Amhara and Tigray regions. Our findings suggest that the 1993 National Population Policy objective calling for a reduction in rural–urban migrations needs to be revised so as to foster small and medium town developments and off-farm labor mobility.
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Notes
- 1.
The Ethiopian CSA defines urban areas as “localities with 2000 or more inhabitants” though in practice (i) all administrative capitals (regional, zonal and woreda capitals), (ii) localities with urban dweller’s associations not included in (i), and (iii) all localities not included in either (i) or (ii) whose inhabitants are primarily engaged in non-agricultural activities are considered urban (World Bank, 2007).
- 2.
The Preliminary Report of the 2007 Ethiopian Population and Housing Census presents urban centers with population size of only 15,00 and above.
- 3.
Woreda is an administrative division equivalent to a district. Woredas are composed of a number of kebeles or neighborhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government in Ethiopia. Woredas are typically collected together into zones, which form a kilil (Regional administration).
- 4.
Permanent migrants are persons born elsewhere, but considered themselves to be usual residents at the place of interview, or those born at place of current residence and usual residents there, but had been away from the place of interview for at least 6 months since age 13, while temporary migrants were born elsewhere than at place of interview and considered their usual place of residence in a place other than the interview location (Djamba 2000).
- 5.
Temporary, Permanent and Non-migrants
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Hailemariam, A., Adugna, A. (2011). Migration and Urbanization in Ethiopia: Addressing the Spatial Imbalance. In: Teller, C. (eds) The Demographic Transition and Development in Africa. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8918-2_8
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