Rural-urban migration is a worldwide phenomenon as people move from rural, mainly agricultural areas to cities in search of a better livelihood. In Namibia, rural-urban migration started during the eighties and increased after independence in 1990. Large-scale rural-urban migration, especially from northern Namibia, is the major driver of urbanisation mainly to Windhoek, but also to other cities including Rundu, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Oshakati.

Erastus Ngaruka, Technical Advisor: Livestock: Rangeland Management at Agribank, highlights the impact of rural to urban migration in Namibia in an article, An overview: Losing rural wealth through rural-urban migration in The Brief (ISSUE 881 APRIL 28 20250. Ngaruka explains the reasons why rural-urban migration takes place, who are migrating, the impact this migration has on agriculture and the resulting challenges faced by these migrants as well as the authorities.

According to Ngaruka, it is increasingly difficult for rural populations to sustain their livelihoods as a result of decreased economic activities caused by climate change, including droughts and floods, land degradation, high production costs and lack of production inputs, disease and pests, and socio-economic issues.

In search of a better life

These issues increase the number of people flocking to cities and urban areas in search of a better life. They expect to find jobs and an income in these developing areas. Besides jobs, they hope to find better education opportunities and health care, as well as access to more goods and services.

Who are migrating?

Young people, whether skilled or unskilled, move to cities seeking education or training, jobs or business opportunities. As young people move away, their powerful and youthful human capital is lost, and if they do not find what they seek in the city, they often turn to negative activities such as crime, alcohol and drug abuse. Elderly people also move to cities seeking improved living conditions and better health care. Once they leave their land and families, they stop transferring their farming knowledge to the younger generation.

Farmers who are overwhelmed by the hardships of farming challenges related to cost and loss of production and income, the ravages of climate change including droughts and floods, move to cities seeking a better livelihood. The loss of skilled farmers threatens potential agricultural production, food security of their households and, as research has shown, of those who migrate to the cities. It also impacts the country’s economy – Namibia is heavily dependent on agriculture, and the lack of sufficient production leads to increased imports at great cost.

Some people even travel to other countries all over the world seeking opportunities for a better livelihood. Usually, migration does not provide solutions to the challenges they experience, as city life is not as good as it is perceived to be.

Impact on agriculture

Agriculture is negatively influenced by rural-urban migration as skills and hands are lost. This reduces the potential of sustainable agricultural production as fewer people are left to work on the family’s small-scale farm. Once the population distribution is skewed, the government has to spend more resources on urban development to provide in the needs of the increased population numbers. This leaves even less resources for rural areas, leaching potential investment opportunities and wealth.

Since agriculture is an important pillar of the country’s economy that supports livelihoods in terms of food, employment and income, a loss of agricultural productivity seriously affects food systems, self-sufficiency and ultimately food security.

Making a living for a day

People moving to cities still need food to buy, if they have the money to buy it. This food must either be supplied by
agriculture or imported at high cost. In 2014, research done on the impact of urbanisation on food security in the cities found that many of the migrants living in informal settlements around Windhoek, for instance, barely survived on food sent from ‘home’ in the north of the country.

A 40 year old female said in an interview in 2010: “We live in extreme poverty here, but I sometimes think it is much better than the rural areas. I just struggle to find work here and there for a day or two and it is with that money that I buy food. There are some relatives in the rural north who send us food and especially when harvests are good, we receive a variety of food types apart from mahangu (sorghum) flour. We do not receive this food on a monthly basis but when we receive it, it relieves me from going to the shops every time to buy food.”

A group participant reported: “At times it is only when you go visit that you bring along food. People in the north are struggling with the changes in the amount of rain received and the floods which destroyed the crops, so one can no longer rely on that as a source.”

Food insecurity depends on agriculture

With more people living in cities, the authorities spend more money on services such as land, water and sanitation in urban areas, let alone providing food. As a result, the government’s coffers have to dig out more money to import food as demand exceeds production.

Government food programmes, like school feeding systems and food banks, cannot be sustainable if local food production lacks.

Ngaruka is of the opinion that local food production remains the key to food security. Programmes aimed at promoting and assisting local food production in rural areas, support to individuals and community projects with finance, skills, materials, land, water, value-adding and market access are needed.

Coordinated efforts needed

“This requires coordinated efforts amongst the relevant institutions, for example, the Ministry of Agriculture, Agribank, Institutions of Higher Learning, development partners, non-profit organisations, and the private sector, amongst others,” says Ngaruka.

“For example, these communities can be supported with research trials, training, land restoration, infrastructure setup, accessing finance and inputs, and access to markets et cetera.”

He believes to ensure the sustainability of these projects, the government should source local products to supply food to local schools, hospitals and prisons, while local institutions, such as Namwater and Nampower can help food production by reducing the cost of production in rural areas. Also, rainwater harvesting, irrigation projects, cold storage warehouses and markets can help the process.

“All stakeholders, including local authorities in urban areas, have critical roles to play in reducing rural-urban migration through coordinated efforts aimed at promoting agricultural projects in rural areas to ensure sustainability and reduce pressure on the demand for services in urban areas.”

He also believes the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health must help improve food security by promoting and implementing agricultural education programmes like school and community gardens, feeding programmes, as well as health and nutrition programmes in rural and urban areas.

“The rural development agenda needs to stimulate sustainable food production, establish efficient road networks and market linkages, and retain the skills and labour force in rural areas. In a nutshell, rural communities need basic development or improvement to support their economic activities and uplift their social well-being.”

The government is tackling these issues. The recent budget allocation of N$561 million for agricultural infrastructure is a positive step.

Source references

Government allocates N$561 million to agri-infrastructure. The Brief ISSUE 880 APRIL 25 2025
https://epaper.thebrief24.com/2025/April+2025/The+Brief_25+April+2025.pdf

Editor (2025) Namibia’s Bush-to-City Migration: Trends in Urban Growth. Namibia Today
https://namibiatoday.com/namibias-biggest-challenges-in-2024-and-how-it-tackled-them/

Ngaruka, E. (2025) An overview: Losing rural wealth through rural-urban migration. The Brief ISSUE 881 APRIL 28
https://epaper.thebrief24.com/2025/April+2025/The+Brief_28+April+2025.pdf

Pendleton, W., Crush, J., Nickanor, N. (2014) Migrant Windhoek: Rural–Urban Migration and Food Security in Namibia. The eis.com Pendleton & Jonathan Crush & Ndeyapo Nickanor Published online: 18 January 2014 http://the-eis.com/elibrary/sites/default/files/downloads/literature/Migrant%20Windhoek%20Rural_Urban%20Migration%20and%20Fo