Migrant Selectivity In A Primate City:the Case Of Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Since the inception of its dual economy, Kenya has experienced two types of migration: rural to rural migration and rural to urban migration. This is evident in several studies which have emphasized the predominance of migration to former European farms and plantations in the pre-independence era; and to the urban areas in the post-independence era. This study analyses migrant selectivity in a primate city of Nairobi and the district rate of in-migration to the city. The study is based on secondary data from the 1979 Kenya Population Census. The Chi-square test is used for testing hypotheses mainly because of its suitability for the kind of data used in this study. The study found that, the male migrants constitute 52 percent of the total migrants to the city, while the females constitute 48 percent. We noted that it is predominantly the young people who migrate to the city, particularly, those between ages 15 and 29. For the ethnic groups, the study found that the largest ethnic groups such as the Kikuyu, the Luo, the Luhya and the Kamba, are more migratory than the smaller ethnic groups. On marital status, it is the single, followed by the married groups that migrate most to the city. The study concludes that the proportion of the rural young and the rural educated moving to the city is above the average movement from rural areas, but the extent of this movement has not reduced the absolute number of either of these two groups in the rural areas; the majority move to other rural areas. One of the major recommendations arising from this study is that, the current trend of migration can only be changed if employment opportunities are diversified such that other towns attract some labour