SHALL WE GO HOME - INCREASING URBAN POVERTY IN AFRICAN CITIES AND MIGRATION PROCESSES

In many African countries, economic decline in the 1980s, and the impact of IMF structural adjustment programmes, combined to devastate the real incomes of a very large proportion of the urban population. The impact has not necessarily only been felt amongst those who were already poor, although undoubtedly they have tended to suffer the most. Many public sector workers, previously often considered to be part of the so-called 'labour aristocracy', were reduced to incomes which only covered a fraction of the absolute necessities of existence, or, worse still, lost their jabs. Urban service provision has also declined, often dramatically. The gap between real rural incomes and real urban incomes has often narrowed considerably. It appears that the rate of urban growth in some African countries has slowed considerably, and there is also some evidence that new forms of 'reverse migration' from urban to rural areas have occurred. An attempt will be made to assess this evidence, drawing on examples from different countries, including Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania.