Rural-Urban Drift!

Many people are forced to move from the rural areas to the urban centres, simply because of the lack of opportunities in the rural communities.

In The Gambia it is said that a good portion of the population lives in the Greater Banjul Area, due largely to rural-urban migration.

Most of these migrants are young people, who come to the urban areas for various reasons.

A good number of them move from the village to the town in search of job opportunities, better education, recreational facilities and good health care, just to name a few.

However, this phenomenon also comes with a lot of bad effects, such as an increased in the ratio of crime rates, prostitution, overcrowding, traffic congestion, a high dependency ratio and job scarcity, among others.

The issue of rural-urban migration has also contributed to the low agricultural productivity, as most young people prefer to settle in the urban areas, because of the lack of opportunities in the rural communities.

As a country, we should in crease the recreational centres, job opportunities, higher institutions of learning, and many more in the rural areas to encourage young people to stay and work in their own communities.

We believe that by taking these measures, it would no doubt reduce the negative effects of rural-urban migration.

We just want to emphasie that most people move from the rural areas to the Greater Banjul, simply because of the lack of basic necessities in life in their own localities.