Rural migration, agriculture and rural development

The 2018 edition of the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA), one of FAO’s annual flagship publications, will focus on migration and the challenges it poses to food security as well as to peace and stability. 

Today there is growing international attention to the phenomenon of migration, its causes, its effects and the way in which it occurs. To open up the drafting of the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA), we would like to invite you to share inputs and consideration on the draft annotated outline of the report. 

Migration, both through its drivers and its impacts, is closely linked to FAO’s goals of fighting hunger, achieving food security and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources. While much of the international attention is on international migration, migration between countries is part of a bigger picture that includes both international and domestic migration flows. Migration to, from and between rural areas (rural migration) is an important component of these migration flows. Rural migration is closely linked with agricultural and rural development in a bidirectional relationship: agricultural and rural development affects migration and is itself affected by migration.

The 2018 edition of the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) will explore these linkages. It will analyze rural migration flows as well as their determinants and impacts. It will look at the factors in rural areas, and more specifically in agriculture, which contribute to determining migration decisions and will analyze the relationship between agricultural and rural development and migration decisions. The report will also look at the ways in which migration affects rural areas and agricultural and rural development.

You may want to consider the following questions:

  • Does the outline focus on the most relevant issues concerning the links between migration, agriculture and rural development or are there important dimensions that have been left out?
  • Do you have individual experiences or are you aware of case studies that are useful for informing parts of the report?
  • Are you aware of important sources of information that could be useful for the preparation of the report?

If you are interested in earlier editions of the SOFA reports, you can find them here: http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/en/ 

Learn more on the FSN Forum website www.fao.org/fsnforum 

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