According to a new UN report, strengthening rural economy in developing nations should be priority for those concerned with international migration.
Agriculture, the main focus of rural development, receives inadequate resources and attention, the report says.
Modernising agriculture in poor areas could yield substantial benefits, it says, raising productivity and providing the pull needed to keep young people on the land instead of migrating to large cities.
The report says jobs in what it calls “agricultural value chains” can provide opportunities for rural people close to where they already live, which is attractive to many who do not want to have to move.
“Rural migration is closely linked not only with agriculture and rural development, but also with the overall development of societies,” said José Graziano da Silva, director general of the FAO, in a foreword to the report.
People who have already moved within their own country are much more likely to become international migrants, according to the report’s data. Read full story
