Abstract

Over the past decades, rural-urban migration research has focused on the hypothesis that the migration of household population, especially youths, has significant influence on the economy and crop production of households. This study aimed at examining the impact of youth rural-urban migration on household economy and crop production in Sokoto metropolitan area of Sokoto State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to draw the sample of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were used to analyze the data obtained. The results indicated that all the migrant household heads were males, married and most of them fell within the ages of 45 to 54 years, while the majority of the migrants were within the ages of 18 to 27 years, single, males and literate. The common place migrated to by the migrants was Kaduna State due to lack of social amenities in their original place of residence. Majority of the migrants practiced temporary migration by coming back home at the onset of the rainy season to assist their parents on the farm, resulting to minimal losses in agricultural production for the household and at the same time remitting to their parents a certain amount of money which was used to cater for the welfare of the family. A non significant relationship was realized between the age of the migrants and some reasons behind their migration to the urban centres. It is recommended that social amenities should be provided by the government, nongovernmental organizations and the rural people with the aid of community driven development to the rural areas.

Key words: Impact, youth, rural-urban, migration, household income, crop production, Sokoto.