Analysis of Rural Urban Linkages and Their Implications PDF
Analysis of Rural Urban Linkages and Their Implications PDF
Analysis of Rural Urban Linkages and Their Implications PDF
Lindile L. Ndabeni
1. INTRODUCTION
1
Lesetedi, 2003
2
Tacoli, 1998 cited in von Braun, 2007
3
Action Against Hunger, 2012
1
determined by both push and pull factors as highlighted in Figure
1-1.
PULL FACTORS
PUSH FACTORS
Cheaper education,
psycosocial support,
retirement plan, cultural
attachment
The influence of push and pull factors can differ from one place to
another and for different sectors. In most developing countries,
especially low-income ones, urban areas symbolize a number of
good things. They offer better jobs, respite from toiling on a farm
without a decent income, safe drinking water, shorter distances to
medical doctors and healthcare facilities4. These factors do not
4
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
2
only represent rural-urban dynamics but can also be an important
source of rural poverty reduction5.
55
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
6
Livelihoods in this paper are defined as the ability to earn an income that enables the individual or household
to overcome vulnerability, maintain dignity, control their lives, take risks to seize opportunities, and rebound
from setbacks in everyday life by meeting their needs and accruing assets, Yellow Wood Associates, 2011 cited
in Dabson et al, 2012
3
paper attaches greater importance to the catalytic role that can
be played by rural-urban linkages in development.
4
in this section includes history, culture, political, social and
economic issues that continue to shape rural-urban linkages in
South Africa. This analysis acknowledges the importance of giving
attention to systemic forces and structural processes that produce
and reproduce social realities. Furthermore, this analysis
recognises the interplay of ideology, culture, economy, and
development as these factors can enhance or constrain
development.
It was in June 1913 when the Land Act was passed. The Act
disposed the majority of the population of their land and
livelihoods7. In particular, the Act created a system of land tenure
that deprived the majority (Blacks) of South Africans of the right to
own land in White South Africa.
The Act divided South Africa into a racially divided world of White
South Africa and Black Homelands or reserves. The reserves made
up 8 percent of the land although this was later increased to 13
percent through the Native Trust and Land Act of 19368. In more
explicit terms, the majority of South Africans (Blacks) were given 13
percent of land while the minority (Whites) owned 87 percent of
the land. The significance of the Act is that it reduced the
available land area which formed the backbone of the Black rural
economy.
7
South Africa, undated
8
South Africa, 2012
5
The Act also abolished cash tenants and sharecroppers thereby
reducing them into labour tenants or wage labourers. It led to the
displacement of people and their relocation to the reserves. This
situation caused overcrowding in the reserves where few people
could eke out a living on increasingly less land.
The Land Act was the first major piece of segregation legislation
that was passed by the White government and it became the
major cornerstone of Apartheid South Africa. The passage of the
1913 Land Act marked the first comprehensive move towards
legislative efforts that were aimed at ensuring territorial and racial
segregation in South Africa. The 1913 Land Act as a cornerstone of
territorial and racial segregation ignored the effects of centuries of
cultural contacts between Blacks and Whites in South Africa11.
6
ownership were racially separated. The Africans (Blacks) had to
enter the White towns for the purposes of employment only.
Arbitrary checks on passes were essential to maintain influx
control. The Black spheres were insulated from the operation of
the capitalist economy in so far as possible but yet the Black areas
were insufficient to sustain a self-supporting peasantry and
therefore extruded a migrant workforce12.
The growth of the mining economy and urban centres was based
on the exploitation of rural areas which prevented their own
development potential. Likewise, the development of cities in
South Africa occurred with simultaneous destruction of the rural
economy and social exclusion of rural inhabitants. For example,
12
Legassick, 1974
13
Skelcher, 2003
14
Bundy, 1988
15
Bundy, 1988
16
Bundy, 1988; Magubane1990
7
when the mining operations demanded large numbers of
harvested trees for shoring materials, more land in rural Natal was
earmarked for gum tree plantations. Consequently, people were
removed to make way for gum tree plantations. This situation
further disrupted and destroyed forms of land based livelihoods in
rural Natal.
The Land Act ensured the motives and the need for spatial
separation in order to maintain White domination18. Likewise,
apartheid was an ideology that essentially cloaked the realities of
17
Skelcher, 2003
18
Mabin, 1992
8
domination and inequality19. It explained the interests of special
groups as the general interest of the White population.
19
Legassick, 1974
20
Hindson, 1987
21
Hindson, 1987
9
The African urban population was further divided into two
segments. On the one hand was a permanently settled
population housed in family dwelling units in the newly established
residentially segregated townships on the peripheries of South
African cities. On the other hand, was a temporary migrant
workforce accommodated in single-sex compounds and hostels.
The pass laws and other influx control measures were used to
prevent Blacks from settling in urban areas in their numbers. As
soon as the Africans were no longer fit for work in the labour
market, they were expected to return to their place of origin, that
is their homelands. Within this political economy, the Black
workforce could not acquire the bargaining power to challenge
the socio-political structures which sustained its comparative
cheapness22. Therefore, the transition to capitalism in South Africa
affected both Blacks and Whites but in different degrees. Since
Blacks lacked political power, their employment in urban areas
entrenched a migratory labour system and a whole range of
measures were designed to prevent their complete
proletarianization23.
10
areas to the role of a labour reserve for the expansion of urban
based-based industries.
While disparities between rural and urban areas have persisted for
over a century, they became a major concern following the
democratisation of South Africa. Improving the living conditions of
the rural population have increasingly become a national priority.
Therefore, giving more attention to rural-urban linkages can
enhance our understanding of the complexities of poverty and
urbanisation processes.
24
Dabson et al, 2012
11
3. BRIDGING THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE
25
Von Braun, 2007
12
rural-urban dichotomy distorts the reality of rural and urban spaces
and fails to address the interdependencies between the two
areas. On the one hand, urban development tends to
concentrate on the development of the urban areas and
neglects both its impact and dependence on rural areas. On the
other hand, rural development policies tend to focus on
agriculture and related interventions and ignore the urban areas
as if rural areas exist in isolation26. The division of spaces into rural
and urban areas creates an imbalance and difficulty in
developing strategic interventions that can benefit the whole
space.
While rural and urban areas can be defined in specific and clear
terms, with all the contrasts between them, there are many
exceptions. Again, while rural areas may retain their traditional
clear distinction from urban centres, increasing integration and
interaction increasingly blurs the traditional urban-rural divide. For
example, in Lindi, a southern town in Tanzania, farming is the main
occupation for over half of its inhabitants27. Indeed, households
livelihoods often include both rural and urban activities28. As
shown in Figure 3-1, urban and rural economic activities are no
longer mutually exclusive. By contrast, the analysis shows that a
rural households sometimes rely on income diversification and on
the combination of agricultural and non-farm incomes.
26
United Nations, 2005
27
Bah et al, 2003
28
Tacoli, undated
13
Figure 3-1: A Model of Multi-Crop and Services Household Enterprise
Work
Workon onorders
orders
from
fromdealers
dealersinin
Buy construction district,
district,in
inHay
HayTay
tay
materials in Dong
Van
Tiling Services
Small truck Woodcarving
Busy at beginning
of two rice crops, Eldest son, working
serving local at home with two
Transport to sell to villagers market workers
(Margin of 1,000 dong per
cement bag)
2 adults, 4
children
Bring
Bringto
tosell
sellin
inHanoi
Hanoi
Sellpig,
Sell pig,duck
ducklocally
to Elder son,
commune traders Busy
Busyatatend
endofof migrated
Own
Own1111sao,
sao,rent
rent two
tworice
ricecrops,
crops,
20
20sao
saomore
more serving
servinglocal
local Migration
Multi-crop
Model market
market
Rice-seed
Rice, pig, duck, fish and fruit separation
trees
14
New spatial and sectoral patterns have emerged along the rural-
urban continuum as a consequence of migration, road
accessibility, information technologies, and production flows.
Therefore, the existence of a web of inter-relationships and
networks that link both urban and rural spaces blur the distinction
between rural and urban spaces. Indeed, labour migration, flows
of information, and services such as education and healthcare,
enable people to keep one foot in the rural economy and the
other in the urban economy. Indeed, rural women tend to be
particularly active in rural-urban trade. They bring rural produce to
urban markets and take consumer articles back to their villages.
Therefore, policy research- especially on poverty- that treats rural
and urban spaces as two distinct categories of analysis, neglects
important interdependencies between the two spaces.
The analysis highlights that rural and urban spaces are increasingly
intertwined and that positive rural-urban linkages can contribute
to more equitable development. However, it is worth noting that
the conventional dichotomy between rural and urban spaces still
dominate the development thinking. More specifically, most
development theory and practice is still implicitly or sometimes
explicitly based on the dichotomy between rural and urban
areas29. Likewise, policies tend to reflect this division along spatial
and sectoral lines, with town and regional planners usually
concentrating on urban nodes and giving scant attention to rural
29
Tacoli, undated
15
spaces, while rural development planners tend to ignore urban
centres and define rural areas as consisting only of villages and
their agricultural land.
30
UN-habitat, 2012, Okpala, 2003
31
von Braun, 2007
32
Okpala, 2003
16
university education, credit, agriculture-led services such as farm
equipment and advice, hospitals and government services. By
contrast, urban areas depend on rural areas for water resources,
food production, and waste disposal. Urban waste can be used
as a source of organic matter or as source of nutrients for
agriculture which can help rural farmers to restore degraded soils
and turn unproductive land into valuable agricultural land.
33
Dabson et al, 2012
17
to ask is how can rural-urban linkages be improved to accelerate
inclusive growth, expand employment, and improve livelihoods
especially for the poor34.
34
von Braun, 2007
35
Von Braun, 2007
18
Figure 3-2: Rural-Urban Linkages in Two Ends of the Space Continuum
Metropolis/capital City
Small towns
Rural village
are most intense. That is to say, it is also useful to see in the middle
of the continuum between rural characteristics and urban
characteristics a rural-urban interface in which there are complex
mixes of rural and urban characteristics.
19
areas to urban areas lowers the costs of transport and storage.
Overall, within the rural-urban continuum, rural areas are not
homogenous as they differ in their potential and capabilities.
Proximity to the town or city matters as rural farmers that are
located closer to cities can exploit their proximity to urban
markets. Generally, villages that are more closer to urban markets
tend to be relatively more developed and exhibit stronger rural-
urban linkages. Farms that are closer to metros, tend to be more
land intensive in their production, more diverse, and more focused
on high-value production. By contrast, villages that are located far
from urban markets tend to be less developed and exhibit weaker
rural-urban linkages. Again, rural areas that are more linked to
urban markets tend to grow commercial crops while those that
are not integrated to urban markets tend to grow traditional
crops36. For more isolated villages, lack of infrastructure
exacerbate poor access to urban markets.
36
Pundir and Singh, 2001
20
government and traditional authorities is especially critical where
there are tensions between the statutory rights system of land
tenure and the customary system. The tensions may occur as a
result of different interests between traditional chiefs who attempt
to retain control over land, and elected governments whose
responsibilities include the provision of infrastructure for which
access to land is essential37.
37
Bah et al,2003
3838
Pundir and Singh, 2001
21
3.1 MIGRATION
39
Bah et al, 2003
40
Bah et al, 2003
41
Bah et al, 2003
42
Feldman, 1999
43
Feldman, 1999
44
Feldman, 1999
22
In the specific case of South Africa, migration needs to be
analyzed within a particular framework of economic growth and
against the backdrop of the high rate of unemployment and
poverty especially in rural areas. For example, South Africas urban
areas account for over 80 percent of the countrys gross domestic
product45. Greater employment opportunities in the cities are a
major contributing factor that attracts people from rural areas to
larger towns and cities46. Typically, urban areas accommodate
over 60 percent of South Africas population47.
45
Mvuyana, 2010
46
Mvuyana, 2010
47
Mvuyana, 2010
48
de Brauw and Harigaya, 2007 cited in von Braun, 2007
23
Remittances are a positive function of migration. As shown in
Table 1, they can play varied roles in rural livelihoods.
24
Migration as a livelihood strategy is mediated by access to assets
and resources that enable people to migrate. Those who move
tend to be young, physically fit and often better educated than
average, and have access to urban-based social networks. The
elderly and the poorest people do not usually migrate. Again,
members of the low-income families and poor are less likely to
migrate and when they do, it is usually over a relatively short
distance. One of the reasons why some people migrate only to
the nearest small town is the desire to remain close to rural support
systems49. Therefore, migration offers limited opportunities for poor
households.
49
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
50
Tacoli, undated
25
have limited control over remittances sent by male relatives. This
partly reflects culturally specific gender relations.
51
Fall, 1998 cited in Tacoli, undated
52
Andreasen, 1990 cited in Lesetedi, 2003
53
Lesetedi, 2003
54
Taylor and Sscott, 2003
55
Taylor and Scott, 2003
26
Land accessibility in the rural areas keep urban dwellers linked to
rural areas. The maintenance of close ties with home communities
has been strengthened by modern communication in the form of
transport, postal, and telephone links.
This analysis shows that urban migrants in Africa and Asia live in a
dual system that is characterised by one family but two
households56. In many cases, it is more useful to understand
households as multi-spatial rather than rural or urban. The strong
commitments and obligations between rural-based and urban-
based individuals and units show that in many instances these are
multi-spatial households in which reciprocal support is given
across space57. Therefore, migration has divided families into two
geographically separated but mutually supportive households,
one in an urban area and the other in a rural area58. Maintaining
both rural and urban base provides a safety net especially for low-
income city dwellers particularly in times of economic hardships.
However, housing and rural development programmes do not
acknowledge these multi-spatial and extended households. For
example, housing subsidy funds can only be used in one location.
56
Household membership is usually defined as sharing in the same pot or living under the same roof
57
Tacoli, undated
58
Oucho, 1996 cited in Lesetedi, 2003
27
management problems59. That is to say, there is a belief that rapid
urban growth Africa is due mainly to migration and thus its
accompanying economic and planning problems60. Despite this
widely held belief that flows are always rural to urban, migration
from the urban to the rural areas is increasing61. Some people
move from urban to rural areas as they are looking for a way of life
and sense of community they associate with rural areas. This form
of migration is in part a reflection of the positive perception of
rural areas. Again, this form of migration is sometimes associated
with economic decline and increasing urban poverty. In South
Africa, significant numbers of retrenched miners return to their rural
homes where the cost of living is lower compared to urban areas.
Furthermore, seasonal waged agricultural work in commercial
farms also provides temporary employment for low-income urban
groups. Temporary and seasonal movement such as this is often
not reflected in census figures and can make static enumerations
of rural and urban populations less reliable62.
59
Tacoli, undated
60
Potts, 2008
61
Tacoli, undated
62
Tacoli, undated
63
von Braun, 2007
28
and industries which would have previously been directed to
large cities. As a consequence, they have also increased their role
as migration destinations64.
64
Tacoli, undated
65
Sheng, undated
29
shape the production, employment, and marketing opportunities
available within the local economy and thus act as catalysts for
local economic development is intimately linked to the quality of
available infrastructure and the local enterprise sector66. Overall,
this section highlights the nature of linkages between small towns
and their surrounding rural areas.
Secondary cities and small towns are more likely to have close
links with the rural areas and therefore can play an important role
in reducing rural poverty. Indeed, higher incidences of poverty
also tend to occur in the smaller urban settlements. Logically, this
situation highlights the significance of small town development in
promoting rural economic growth since they are located closer to
rural spaces.
66
Wandschneider, 2004
67
Wandschneider, 2004
30
neglect small towns in rural development they can undermine the
development potential of small towns in rural economies.
31
than in agriculture, and incidents of poverty are lower among
households with access to non-farm employment than households
which are wholly dependent on agriculture69. Again, the
increased importance of the non-farm rural employment has
increasingly been gaining importance for several reasons
including environmental degradation, population growth and
land subdivisions which make it difficult for large numbers of
farmers to rely solely on agriculture. However, access to non-farm
rural employment is sometimes mediated by formal and informal
networks which may be based on cultural, political, religious,
ethnic, and gender affiliations. These forms of affiliations can
enhance or constrain some groups access to non-farm
employment opportunities and occupational diversification70.
69
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
70
Tacoli, undated
32
balanced rural-urban regional development requires equal
distribution of benefits.
71
Dabson et al, 2012
72
Wandschneider, 2003
33
The location of small towns offers an appropriate entry point for
public investment and policy interventions that are targeted at
rural areas73. However, the ability of small towns to attract
investments and other economic activities is partly a function of
their size. For example, enterprises in larger towns and cities often
enjoy better access to skills, technology, transport infrastructure
and services, public utilities, repair services, and other support
services74.
34
crop types and control on prices, availability of infrastructure or
access to markets all of which in turn are shaped by rural-urban
interactions within specific regional contexts75.
Positive links in rural and urban development in the Upper Valley of the Rio
Negro and Nequen in Argentina show how rapid growth in agricultural
production can be accompanied by rapid growth in employment linked to
agriculture and urban growth. The Upper Valley is linked by railway to Buenos
Aires, giving local farmers access to both national and international markets.
In the 1950s, the area acquired provincial status which increased the power
and resources available to the local government. The land owning structure is
relatively equitable and most of the land is farmed by farmer-owners with
sufficient capital to invest in intensive production, mainly fruit trees. The
growing number of prosperous farmers has provided a considerable stimulus
to local urban growth, with a chain of small centres developing along the
railway. Urban-based enterprises were stimulated by demand from
agricultural producers both as forward linkages in the form of cold storage
plants, industries producing packaging material, plants for the processing
fruits into jams, dried or tinned fruit, and backward linkages such as
production of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides or tools and
machinery76.
Source: Adapted from Manzanal and Vapnarsky, 1986 cited in Tacoli,
undated
75
Tacoli, undated
76
Manzanal and Vapnarsky, 1986 cited in Tacoli, undated
35
It is generally recognised that rural development is to large extent
dependent on improving the linkages with the urban economy.
However, spatial proximity to markets does not necessarily
improve farmers access to the inputs and services required to
increase agricultural productivity. Access to land, capital and
labour may be more important in determining the extent to which
farmers are able to benefit from markets. For example, in
Paraguay, despite their proximity to the capital city, smallholders
production is hardly stimulated by urban markets as their incomes
do not allow investment in cash crops or in production
intensification to compensate for the lack of land77.
Markets are also social institutions in which some actors are able to
enforce mechanisms of control which favour access for specific
groups and exclude others. For example, grain markets in South
Asia tend to be dominated by large local merchants who control
access to the means of distribution such as transport, sites, capital,
credit and information78. Even in petty retailing sector, gender
barriers can be a particular constraint.
77
Zoomers and Kleinpenning, 1996 cited in Tacoli, undated
78
Tacoli, undated
36
towns that are closer to agricultural production areas; which in
turn absorbs rural labour, raises demand for agricultural produce
and again boosts agricultural productivity and rural incomes79.
79
Evans, 1990 cited in Tacoli, undated
80
Lipton, 1977 cited in Wandschneider, 2004
37
Figure 4-2 show that the majority of the poor live in rural areas.
More particularly, three quarters of the poor live in rural areas
where disparities in education, health, access to clean water, and
sanitation are still glaringly visible81.
81
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
38
Figure 4-2: The Percentage of the Extreme Poor
of
extreme poor lives
in rural areas
39
The future of rural economies is heavily dependent on rural
development policy that provides policy framework which can
stimulate diverse economic and social activities, articulate policy
levers that can improve the contribution of rural economies-
especially the small towns- to national value chains; create
entrepreneurial opportunities which can mutually benefit both
rural and urban inhabitants.
40
the perception of the rural poor in government programmes82.
Initially, policies dealing with rural development had a narrow
focus on the agro-economic aspects of development and
assumed that the mere creation of more and better economic
opportunities would help small farmers and the landless to
improve the social and economic conditions of the rural
population83. What was lacking was an approach that
emphasized the integration of the social, economic and political
aspects of development.
82
Sheng, undated
83
Sheng, undated
84
Tacoli, undated
41
key characteristic of this approach to rural development is its
people-centredness, participation, and comprehensiveness85.
85
Sheng, undated
86
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
42
rural growth cannot occur without access to urban markets and
vibrant non-farm sector87. Therefore, a more close integration of
rural and urban areas can contribute to the narrowing of rural-
urban disparities.
Local government
Agriculture, and innovation
Infrastructure development
87
Global Monitoring Report, 2013
43
Small towns and local economic development
88
United nations, 2005
44
the result of interest of traditional chiefs who often attempt to
retain control over lands including sale of private land under
customary rule. On the other hand are elected governments
whose responsibilities include the provision of infrastructure such as
roads and sanitation for which access to land is essential.
89
Pundir and Singh, 2001
45
Science, technology and innovation are vital policies that can
enhance positive outcomes in rural-urban linkages. It needs to be
noted that public research and extension had been projected as
sole sources of innovation that could trigger development in the
agricultural sector. Investments in science and technology may
increase knowledge but may not necessarily spur innovation
culture in the whole system. Farmer innovation needs to be
included in agricultural knowledge systems. Therefore, a more
holistic and comprehensive framework will enable the analysis of
the innovation process, the roles of science and technology, and
emphasize wider stakeholder participation, linkages and the
institutional context within which innovation occurs.
90
Wandschneider, 2004
91
Wandschneider, 2004
46
close and stronger linkages with rural areas92. Therefore, they can
play an important role in poverty reduction.
92
Sheng, undated
93
Wandschneider, 2004
94
Sheng, undated
47
inequality) into manufacturing and services, the importance of
promoting the non-farm sector becomes more important95. In
particular small and medium enterprises including the informal
sector can be promoted as part of local economic development.
95
Thanh et al, 2005
96
Wandschneider, 2003
48
processors, distributors, markets, and consumers are connected
within a region and beyond is particularly important. As Box 5-1
shows, innovation offers a particular scope for rural-urban linkages.
5.4 INFRASTRUCTURE
49
of the economy97. Again, the significant importance of
infrastructure is its role integrating rural economies to national
markets or trade networks.
50
both economic development and foster stronger urban-rural
linkages. By contrast, weak infrastructural facilities affect access to
health and education facilities and hamper economic
development and lead to weaker rural-urban linkages.
6. CONCLUSION
53
interdependencies and on encouraging rural-urban linkages that
bridge the divides across economic geography.
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