LEDC Rural Migration

However these areas were neglected as mining was seen as the main economic activity development and agriculture was used for cheap food and a source of labour. Another reasons for depopulation was a lack of economic development, as the small farms had little investment resulting in low productivity and therefore low incomes.

This has resulted in young people leaving Monze to look for work in commercial farms and mines, resulting in an ageing population. The migrating people also hope of acquiring leases for commercial farms. However many people who are migrating to urban areas will not find employment because of the numbers of people migrating there. The large numbers of people migrating has also resulted in a lack of work, housing and social infrastructure. This has resulted in the growth of shantytowns lacking sufficient sanitation, health provisions and resulted in a growth of the informal sector, crime, diseases and poverty.

The government has managed to slow the rate of rural depopulation down by providing lending and borrowing facilities for small and medium scale farms. They have also supported co-operatives and subsidising farming inputs. With the growth of these farms farmers are seeing the potential benefits from staying and working the land.

Increasing population in he Kenya Highlands

An area in Africa, which has an increasing population, is the Kenya highlands. This growth has been showing by half of the population being under 15 at the start of the millennium. One of the reasons for this is as people live longer and infant mortality lessens the population grows. This is one of the reasons why Kenya's population double between 1970 and 1990. Other reasons are the co-operative farms and the increase in services like clinics, markets, shops and police stations. However the increase in population has had many negative effects like deforestation, overgrazing and soil erosion. These factors could result in depopulation because they will reduce the efficiency of the farms and the levels of productivity produced.