Rural Mobility as a Response to Land Shortages: The Case of Malawi.

Malawi is the most densely populated country in southern Africa, and its economy and the livelihoods of the vast majority of its people are dependent on agriculture. Rural land is, therefore, a critical resource. Malawi is divided into three Regions and during the colonial period, such economic development as did occur tended to be concentrated in the Southern Region. The Northern Region was often characterised, by contrast, as the 'dead North'. Levels of economic development in the Central Region fell between the other two regions. At independence in the 1960s, internal migration patterns reflected this, with net in-migration to the Southern Region and net out-migration from the Northern. In the 40 years since, there have been marked changes in these patterns, and in the last intercensal period, 1987-1998, the Northern Region was experiencing net in-migration from the Southern Region, and was the fastest growing region. This paper traces these changes over time through analysis of census data, and relates them to increasingly serious land shortages in the south and the geography of tobacco estate development since independence. This analysis is further supported by a range of other surveys and research which indicate the depth of land shortage and rural poverty in the south of the country. The paper concludes that rural-rural migration, although under-studied, particularly in southern Africa, is a vitally important aspect of rural livelihood change and positive adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa which deserves more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]