The impacts of urban migration on village life : the Gurage case

The causes .. patterns. streams. and characteristics of urban migration as a global phenomenon and it's impacts on both the communities of origin and of destination have been subjects of considerable investigation (although the communities of destination have reoeived the most attention). However. whether or not the varied impacts of migration are beneficial. or harmful for rural villages has temained a matter of dispute.
There are two sides of the debate. the details of which are summarized below (also see the literature review in section 1.1.2.). Sorne studies maintain the view that migration contributes significant social and economic benefits to the villages of origin. ~migrants are believed to employ their newly acquired progressive ideas, values, skills and remittances to bring about the improvement of their rural communities of origin. Migration, by facilitating the regular flow of information. goods and other resources, as well as personnel between the urban and rural areas, encouraged interaction between the rural communities and socioeconomic aspects of life at both regional and national levels.