Life in Town: Migration from rural Karamoja to Moroto and Mbale

Migration from rural Karamoja to towns, cities and other rural areas has long been part of local livelihood strategies, but attention to this phenomenon by national and international actors in Uganda has grown in recent years. Much of this attention is focused on the population of people from Karamoja living in the larger southern cities such as Kampala and Jinja. Hypothesizing that arrival in these southern cities is the culmination of a longer and more complex rural-urban migration, this study seeks to understand the experiences of migrants in Moroto town and Mbale as examples of stepping stone locations in the larger migratory process. The last in a series of collaborative projects with Save the Children in Uganda, this study examines the livelihood strategies of people who are living in urban and peri-urban areas on a permanent or transitory basis. We examine reasons for leaving the rural areas, economic activities in the urban settings, and the challenges and opportunities of urban life. The study finds that while urban life brings many hardships, the vast majority of respondents are better off in regard to physical security and food security. Hunger and insecurity are the two most pervasive complaints in rural areas, and the improvements in these aspects make clear the attraction of life in the towns.

ASSOCIATED PROJECT

SUBJECTS

PUBLICATION TYPE

LOCATION

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Thumbnail image of report cover

This study examines how anticipatory action was perceived and experienced among Ethiopians living with drought alongside other crises.

Thumbnail image of cover

This learning brief explores the continuity and changes to livelihoods in select sites in Isiolo and Marsabit Counties, Kenya, and reviews the implications of the continuity and the changes on the drivers of child acute malnutrition.

Thumbnail image of cover

This learning brief presents preliminary findings on strategic mobility and its nutritional benefits to pastoral and agropastoral communities in select sites in Isiolo and Marsabit Counties, Kenya.

Image of Brief Cover: Actingin in Advance of Flooding

In 2022 UN OCHA led a pilot anticipatory action intervention in South Sudan. This brief presents UN actors’ perceptions of this intervention.

Cover of Report "Sex, age (and more) still matter"

This report reviews progress, outlines barriers to further progress, and makes recommendations to advance gender equality in the humanitarian system.

Thumbnail of Famine Prevention Report Cover

This study reviews what we have learned regarding policies and interventions to prevent famine, and how these can be scaled up more rapidly.

Load more