Effects of Youths Rural – Urban Migration on Arable Crop Production in Mubi-south Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of youth’s rural-urban migration on arable crop production in Mubi South LGA. Specific objectives of the study are to: identify causes of youth’s rural – urban migration and to analyse effects on youth’s rural – urban migration on arable crops production in the study area. Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling methods were employed for the study. A sampling population of 4,466 registered farmers was used as the sampling frame, from the 10 wards that constituted Mubi-South LGA. Farmers of the sampling frame were divided into two (2) clusters both of which youth farmers were purposely selected by probability proportionate to size (PPS) method. Three wards (Dirbishi, Mujara and Mugulbu) were purposely selected, due to high production of arable crops over the years as observed. Thus, a total number of 188 youth’s arable crop farmers were selected by 10% proportionate to size method used on the three purposely selected wards The main objective of the study is to evaluate effects on youth’s rural – urban migration on arable crops production. The analytical tools used included descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the Probit Regression Model estimating the effects of youths’ rural-urban migration on arable crop production showed that specified explanatory variables were able to explain the effects of Youths’ rural-urban migration on arable crop production in the study area. The results further showed that man power shortage was significant and positive at 1%. This implies that youths’ rural-urban migration have effects on arable crop production, as it increases, man power needed for arable crop production decreases which definitely leads to a heavy drain on the supply of rural family labour. The study also revealed that reduction in labour force variable was positively significant at 5% suggesting increase in youth’s rural-urban migration could lead to increase in reduction of labour force. On the contrary, high cost of labour, farm work become tedious and poor standard of living had no significant effects on arable crop production. The result of hypothesis tested revealed positive significance at 1%. Suggesting that youths’ rural-urban migration had significant effects on arable crop production in Mubi South LGA. Conclusively, rural-urban youths’ migration had significant effect on agriculture particularly arable crop production and rural development in Nigeria. Rural-urban migration has taken away the active population of rural areas, leaving behind the children and aged who are not actively engaged in agriculture.