The push and pull of rural-to-rural migration: Insights from Northwest Benin

Abstract

This paper examines circular intra-rural migration in Northwestern Benin, focusing on labor selectivity, prevalence, determinants, and socio-ecological dynamics within households. Using mixed-methods survey data and key informant interviews, we compare households with migration participants to those without. Our findings show that migrants are predominantly young men, and that education, landholding, and off-farm income significantly affect household labor decisions. We also find no statistically significant effect of either household head or member migration on asset accumulation, suggesting that migration primarily functions as a coping strategy to address low productivity growth and income instability rather than as a pathway to long-term wealth creation. By highlighting how circular intra-rural migration operates as a household strategy to manage labor, income, and risk, our study underscores its complex role in rural livelihoods. These insights have important implications for rural development policy, particularly for designing interventions that strengthen local livelihood opportunities while recognizing migration as an embedded dimension of rural economies.