Urban Out-Migration, Poverty and Structural Adjustment in Burkina Faso: An Event History Analysis (1980-1999)

Cris Beauchemin, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

Recently the pace of urban growth slowed down in sub-Saharan Africa. Literature on urbanization and migration has linked this slowdown to the decline of rural out-migration and, in some countries, the increase of urban out-migration (i.e. urban to rural migration). This last trend is contrary to standard migration patterns, especially in developing countries. This new phenomenon has been explained in the literature as resulting from rising urban poverty, especially in context of structural adjustment programs (SAPs). This pervasive explanation, however, which is intuitively acceptable and grounded on various theories, has not been empirically established and remains to be proved. Using data from the Migration Dynamics, Urban Integration and Environment Survey of Burkina Faso (EMIUB, 2000), a unique national data source on migration, this paper aims to establish the determinants of urban out-migration in Burkina Faso testing the impact of SAPs and poverty on urban out-migration.