Shall We Go Home? Increasing Urban Poverty in African Cities and Migration Processes

The impact of economic decline in 1980s as well as that of IMF structural adjustment programs on urban incomes in Africa is explored. The author notes that in addition to devastating real income of a large proportion of urban population the gap between real rural incomes and real urban incomes has often narrowed considerably. It appears that rate of urban growth in some African countries has slowed considerably and there is also some evidence that new forms of `reverse migration from urban to rural areas have occurred. An attempt will be made to assess this evidence drawing on examples from different countries including Zambia Uganda and Tanzania. (EXCERPT)