Rural to urban migration is on the rise in Latin American and Caribbean countries due to technological improvements in agriculture, says Science Magazine. Moreover, migration patterns are facilitating the environmental recovery of forestlands.
Over the last 40 years, the percentage of people living in rural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean has declined by 40 percent. The increase in large-scale agriculture has reduced the need for labour and propelled workers to urban areas to find jobs. Abandoned small-scale farms that were once subject to deforestation are now recovering with little intervention.
Consequently:
Support for high-yield farming (growing more crops on less land) and encouraging rural-urban migration will help to allocate agriculture activities on the most fertile lands. Such measures would allow other, less productive land (such as marginally fertile land and mountainsides) to be used in producing water, creating recreation opportunities and fostering ecosystem habitats.
Source: Globalisation, Migration and Latin American Ecosystems, Science, Vol. 305, No. 5692, September 24, 2004.
For text (subscription required) http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/305/5692/1915.pdf
For more on Land Issues: Forestshttp://eteam.ncpa.org/policy/Land_Issues/Forests/
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 04 January 2005
