Youth rural-urban migration in Ethiopia: Environmental drivers and employment in the informal sector

Anthropogenic environmental degradation has been triggering youth rural to urban migration in developing countries. Environmental-driven migration pressure is intense in countries that rely on weather-dependent agriculture. Youth driven out of rural areas due to environmental factors end up in urban areas mostly seeking jobs without having the human capital needed to be employed in the formal sector. Thus, environmental factors push the youth into urban informal sectors. This chapter identifies environmental drivers of youth rural-urban migration and employment outcomes, using a survey of 700 youths from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is combined with georeferenced weather data. Survey respondent youth mainly come from zones in Ethiopia that have experienced above average precipitation and temperature variability. This is corroborated by the youths’ responses. The survey respondents identify drought and flooding as the main environment-related reasons for migrating. Upon arriving in urban centers, the youth are informally employed mainly in construction, as daily laborers and in informal service sectors.