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MSETEE 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

Causes and consequences of rural-urban migration: The case of

Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan

Moses Lomoro Alfred Babi1, Xiong Guogping1 , John Leju Celestino Ladu2
*

1
School of Architecture, Department of Urban Planning, Southeast University, Nanjing,
210096, China
2
College of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of juba, Juba 82,
Republic of South Sudan
*Corresponding author’s: [email protected]

Abstract— Migration is the movement of people from one ecological region to another; it may be
on temporary or permanent basis. This research studies focused on the causes and consequences of
rural-urban migration in Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan as a case study. The
stratified random sampling method on the basis of existing payam (districts) was used to divide the
study area into three zones of Juba, Kator and Munuku. Data were generated through primary and
secondary sources. The data generated were analyzed using SPSS. The findings of the study show
that Munuki payam covers most of the migrants. The study also reveals that males migrate more
than the females in Juba and migration is high within the age cohorts of 30-39 years and 40-49
years old. Furthermore, the study revealed that the propensity to migrate is directly related to
educational attainment. It can be inferred from the findings of the study that the majority of
migrants in Juba Metropolitan migrated in search of employment while others migrated to continue
their education while others migrated in search for basic amenities, to join relatives and get
married. This means, until the imbalance or disparity in socio-economic development between the
rural and urban areas are removed, no amount of persuasion or force can put a stop to rural-urban
migration and its’ multiplying effects in Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan.

1. Introduction
Migration is regarded as the movement of person(s) from one ecological region to another region, which
might be on temporary or permanent origin [1].
A group of persons migrate based on the existing conditions and the motives for it differs from one
person to another depending on the circumstances that brought about the decision to migrate. Migration is
a selective process affecting individuals or families/households with certain economic, social, educational
and demographic characteristics.
The movement of people from rural to urban areas is a common episode in South Sudan. The
movement sometimes poses some calamities in the rural as well as in the urban areas even though; there
are benefits derivable from it. In most rural areas, the impact of rural-urban migration was a rapid
deterioration of the rural economy leading to chronic poverty and food insecurity [2].
These arise mainly due to excessive drain of youth from the rural population hence leaving only the
older, women and aged members to constitute the labour force of the rural area. Migration to urban areas
is placing increasing pressure on local government's ability to respond to social service needs of urban
populations. This is a worldwide challenge; in 2008 over half of the world's population will be urban, and
in Africa the urban

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MSETEE 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

Population is set to double between 2000 and 2030 [3]. On-going migration to urban areas is placing
pressure on limited appropriate housing, resulting in increases in the numbers of urban residents now
found to reside in informal housing.
In cities and the number of people living in urban areas has risen steadily by around 1 million every
year [4]. According to a report from the United Nations Population Division, the urban population is
estimated to grow at 1.8 per cent per annum, while Rural-urban migration has played significant role in
the urbanization process of many countries and it still continues to be an important factor, even though
migration rates have slowed down in some countries [4]. This research studies focused on the causes and
consequences of rural-urban migration in Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan as a case study.

2. Study area
Juba Metropolitan is located within the southern part of South Sudan in Central Equatoria State along the
western bank of the River Nile. Its geographical coordinates are 4°51' 0" North and 31°37' 0" East. Juba
is a county made up of three districts (payams) which include Juba, Kator and Munuki and is directly
administered by the city mayor. Juba is situated in the midst of vast expanses of open space, including
swamplands and agrarian landscapes. It was reported that Juba is perhaps currently among the fastest
developing places in the world [7]. In 2011; Juba’s population was estimated at approximately more than
500,000 inhabitants [8]. The city is characterized by rapid development, urban sprawl and inadequate
services provision.

Fig: 1 Map of south Sudan showing location of Juba Metropolitan

3. Material and Methods

3.1Data collection
Since the overall objective of this research study is to investigate the causes and consequences of rural-
urban migration in Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan as a case study. The researcher used both
the primary and secondary data sources with the aid of personal interviews and a structured questionnaire.
The primary data were acquired from field generated data through the administration of questionnaires
and personal observations. The secondary data include journal/publications and other published materials
from textbooks and official gazette, etc. The study area was stratified into three (3) zones (districts) based
on the existing damarcation and these are: Juba, Kator and Munuki payam (districts). The questionnaire
consisted of two sections, A and B. Section A was based on personal bio-data about the respondents,

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IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

while section B comprised of questions drawn from respondents to investigate the causes and examine the
consequence of rural-urban migration on Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan. Copies of the
questionnaires were administered on a face-to-face basis. The response rate was 100%. The sample size
used for this research paper was 322 households. Data for this research study were analyzed using
descriptive statistics. Data gathered were edited, coded and analyzed using SPSS. Generated from the
field were presented and analyzed. The response to question on the location of the respondents, the
questionnaire revealed that most of the respondents were widely dispersed over the study area. However,
the number of respondents in one of the areas out of the three payams (district) namely: Juba, Kator and
Munuki, are mainly located in Munuki payam, higher than those in other locations, with 41.0%, followed
by Kator 32.6% and Juba 26.4% respectively (table 1). From the questionnaire administered, 197 (59.3%)
of respondents were male, while the remaining 135(40.7%) were female. Majority of the respondents,
35(11%) had their ages between 50-59 years, 72(22.3%) between 40-49 years, 9(6.3%) between 30-39
years, 94(29.1%) between 20-29 years and 68(21.1%) were 60 years and above. From the results obtained
through questionnaire, 195(58.7%) of respondents were married, and 93(28%) respondents were single
and another 12(3.6%) of the respondents were divorced while 32(9.6%) were widowed. Also 146(44%) of
the respondents did not attend any formal school, 95(28.6%) attended primary school, 67(20.2%) attended
secondary School and another 24(7.2%) were the university graduates.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1 The Flow Pattern and Characteristics of Migrants to Juba Town

In south Sudan, the urban population has been growing in recent years at an annual rate of 10 percent
mainly because of rural-urban migration [9]. In migration accounted for 4.5 percent [10]. Following the
same trend of urbanization, most of the in migrants to Juba town were of rural origin. According to the
2008 census reports, of the total migrants (492,970) about 60 percent were from rural origin as reveals
from the finding of this study that out of the total sample, in migrants account to about 74.8 percent from
rural areas while about 25.2 percent were from other urban area.

Table 1. Household address of the Migrants

Name of Payams Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

Juba Payam 85 26.4 26.4
Kator Payam 105 32.6 59.0
Munuki Payam 132 41.0 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.2 Education attainment before migrating

The survey result of this research also shows that the propensity to migrate is directly related to
educational attainment. As illustrated in Table 2, majority of the respondents (about 53.4 percent) were
illiterate while 32.4% had primary and above educational level when they migrated to Juba. However, 23%
percent of the sample in-migrants had secondary education and above. In the rural areas were less
available parents may not willing to send their children to attend education rather than they keep their
children at home to help them in forming and other related activities. More over school dropout is also
one factor for low educational attainment of migrants of rural origin.

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MSETEE 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

Table 2. Education attainment before migrating

Educational level Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

Illiterate 172 53.4 53.4
Primary Level 98 32.4 72
Secondary level 42 13.0 87
University graduate 10 3.1 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.3 Education attainment after migrating

Education is one of the significant characteristics inducing rural-urban migration. The decision to migrate
is also more likely influenced by educational attainment. The survey result shows that most of the
migrants are illiterate accounting to 44%, 29% primary level, 20% and 7% are the secondary and
university graduate. This means that those who are educated are relatively more involved in different
migration streams than those who are not; this is mainly because of the fact that educational attainment
increases the chance to get employment and other opportunities. However, an increase in the migration of
illiterate persons to the urban informal sectors of African and other developing regions may reduce the
generality of education as a factor of selection [11].

Table 3. Educational attainment after migrating

Educational Level Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

Illiterate 142 44.1 44.1
Primary level 93 28.9 73.0
Secondary level 65 20.2 93.2
University graduate 22 6.8 100.0
Total 332 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.4 Reason for Migrating

Table 1 shows that while 98(30.4%) of the migrants migrated to seek employment opportunity, 86(26.7%)
migrated in search of Education, 78(24.2%) migrated due to poverty, famine, crop failure, land shortage,
lack of cattle and poor facilities, 12(3.7%) migrated as a result of job transfer, and 48(14.9%) migrated
seeking good climate.
This showed that the socio-economic facilities within the sampled area is grossly inadequate for the
citizen and therefore the inhabitants, especially the youths between the ages of 18 - 29 years migrate in
large number in search of these facilities especially employment opportunities and educational facilities in
the towns and cities. This finding is in agreement with the studies carried out by [12], [13], amongst
others. However the only difference between this study, and those carried out by the scholars above, is
that search for education supersedes search for employment in the case of Juba Metropolitan.

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MSETEE 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

Table 4. Reasons for migrating

Status of Migrants Frequency Percent Cumulative percent

Seek for Employment 98 30.4 30.4
Education 26.7 26.7 57.1
Poverty, Famine crop 78 24.2 81.4
Failure, land shortage, lack
Of cattle and poor facilities
Job transfer 12 3.7 85.1
Seeking for good climate 48 14.9 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.5 Status of migrant before migrating

Occupational status of migrants before migration to Juba is the one of the significant factor for the
migrant decision making which play role for the migrant to migrate from the place of origin to the
destination. Therefore formers as a result of crop failure and lack of employment opportunities and for the
student, sick/disable the need as a result of less opportunity and other social service which may force the
migrant to move to urban areas.
In the figure 6 illustrate that about 6% of migrant were employed before migrate to Juba whereas the
calculate figure for unemployed survey migrant was found to be about (85)26.4% and on the other hand
(73) 23.5% for sick/disable (43) 13% housewives and (41) 12.3% students were before they migrated to
Juba. Therefore, the survey shows that a higher proportion of surveyed migrant populations of Juba town
are either unemployed, or students who came to Juba metropolitan for employment and other better
opportunities.

Table 5. Status of migrant before migrating to Juba

Status of Migrants Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

Students 41 12.3 12.3
Unemployed 85 26.4 41.0
Sick/disable 78 23.5 64.5
House wife 43 13.0 77.4
Self employed 48 14.5 91.9
Government employed 20 6.0 97.9
Pensioner 4 1.2 99.1
Private organization 3 .9 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.6 Status of migrants after migration

To examine the current status of migrants after migrating to Juba is very important for assessing the
impacts of migration on individual migrants as well at destination area. The data reveals that greater
numbers of migrants were self-employees accounting to 25.3%, 24.7% were government employed, 9.3%
were students with private organization and only 18.4%and 5.4% remained unemployed. The
employment rate is higher than non-employment rate indicating improvement in the status of the migrants
after they migrated to Juba.

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MSETEE 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

Table 6. Status of migrant after migrating to Juba

Status of Migrants Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

Students 31 9.3 9.3
Unemployed 18 5.4 14.8
Sick/disable 2 .6 15.4
Housewife 6 1.8 17.2
Self employed 84 25.3 42.5
Government employed 72 22.3 67.2
Pensioner 48 14.5 81.6
Private organization 61 18.4 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.7 Income level of migrant before migrating

One of the economic characteristics of a migrant is income. Before migrate to Juba although there was
problem of getting correct income data of individuals. According to Table 7, most migrants (93) 28% earn
an average income level of less than 100 birr per-month. Similarly, about (176) 54.7% earn 100-500 and
(50) 15.1% of migrants earn monthly income of 500-1000 SSP birr respectively. while only (03) 0.9%
respondent were earning more than 1000SSP per month This could be because the migrant in rural area
before their migration to Juba many of them depend on agricultural activities and with the crop failure
most the migrant are all unemployed.
Table 7. Monthly income of migrant before migrating to Juba in South Sudanese Pound (SSP)

Level of Income Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

<100 93 28.0 28.0
100-500 176 54.7 84.0
500-100 50 15.1 99.1
>1000 3 .9 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

4.8 Income level of migrant after migrating

During the focal group discussion (FGD) and personal interviews, participants stated that though the
amount of money they receive is very low, they are in a position to remit certain amount of money to their
places of origin compared to when they have not migrated to Juba. They reported that their remitted
money was used as an ingredient in agriculture, purchasing of consumption items and other livelihood
activities. In fact, most of the migrants live hand to mouth situation indeed. Because of high costs of
living in Juba, they have no sufficient amount of money to sustain themselves. This is due to economic
crisis in the country. The results revealed that, 47.5% of the respondent attained monthly income of 500 –
1000 SSP, 43.2% gets monthly income greater than 1000 SSP and only 9.3% receives monthly income of
100 – 500 SSP.

Table 8. Monthly income of migrant after migrating to Juba in South Sudanese Pounds (SSP)

Level of Income Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

100-500 30 9.3 9.3
500-1000 153 47.5 56.8
>1000 139 43.2 100.0
Total 322 100.0
Sources: (survey field September 2016)

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MSETEE 2017 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

4.9 Access to Housing and Urban Facilities

One among many problems that are associated with urbanization is the inadequacy of urban housing. That
means, the rate of supply of housing did not go with pace of the growing minimum potential demand for
housing in different urban areas. During the discussions, the migrants reported that housing has been
chronic problem in Juba and shortage of other urban facilities like distribution of electricity and water due
to the informal settlement in area are among the problem. From the study, 309(93.1 %) of the respondents
said housing issues are the major problems.238 (73.9%) said had problems in urban transport and
198(61.4%) said health care problems and 286(88%) said problem in electricity, while 314(97.5%) said
they problem in water and sanitation.

5 Conclusion
Rural urban migration has a distinct character. Juba Metropolitan has become one of the South
Sudanese’s leading cities in terms of its level of primacy, that is, its overwhelming demographic
dominance with respect to its urban centers. Juba Metropolitan attracts many migrants yearly from the
rural areas in surrounding regions. It can be inferred from the findings of the study that the majority of
migrants in Juba Metropolitan migrated in search of employment while others migrated to continue their
education while others migrated in search for basic amenities, to join relatives and get married. This
means, until the imbalance or disparity in socio-economic development between the rural and urban areas
are removed, no amount of persuasion or force can put a stop to rural-urban migration and its’ multiplying
effects in Juba Metropolitan, Republic of South Sudan. As long as there are gaps in rural-urban
employment opportunities as well as shortages in education caused by urban bias, there will be migration,
and it is the responsibility of governments to reduce this disequilibrium. Policymakers must take into
consideration that programs initiated in urban areas will also affect rural residents.

Acknowledgement
The project is support by Jiangsu Science and Technology on Cultural and Ecological Protection ( Project
BE2014706)

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IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science1234567890
81 (2017) 012130 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/81/1/012130

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