Taking high-stakes venture to make ends meet? Determinants and impacts of international migration of Ethiopians to the Middle East

Comparative Migration Studies

Original Article

Lemlem Fantahun¹  Beneberu A. Wondimagegnhu² 

[1] Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, Woldiya University, Woldiya, Ethiopia;Economic Policy Studies Sector, Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute, P.O. Box 2479, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;

关键词: International migration;    Determinants;    Impact;    Income;    Propensity score matching;    Ethiopia;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40878-023-00338-z

 received in 2021-10-22, accepted in 2023-04-25,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Ethiopia is one of the major origins for international migrants to the Middle East in Africa regardless of the risks and the abuses that migrants face. The study aims to analyse the determinants of international migration of Ethiopians to the Middle East and its impact on the income of households staying behind particularly in the Dessie Zuria district of the Amhara region in Ethiopia. Data were randomly collected from 346 households and analysed using descriptive statistics, logit regression, and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) models. The logit regression analysis indicates that bigger family size, network with migrants/returnees, and the presence of peer/family pressure influence the probability of international migration positively. On the contrary, being a male household head, ownership of larger farmland and livestock, and participation in additional non-farm activities determine international migration negatively. The findings from the PSM model revealed that international migration increased the annual income of migrant-sending households by 13,079.51 ETB per year over non-migrant sending households. However, the benefits enjoyed by the families staying behind have been at the expense of migrants, whose income is hard-earned and they often take a risky route to reach the destination regions. The findings call for an integrated policy approach to control population pressure that depletes the key financial and physical assets of households in the origin and thus forces individuals to look for alternative livelihood strategies such as migration. Location-specific policy interventions are needed to create non-farm and alternative livelihoods, improve agricultural productivity, and access information to reduce exaggerated and misleading information about the destination areas.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

41116_2023_36_Article_IEq6.gif

41116_2023_36_Article_IEq5.gif

Fig. 2

40517_2023_256_Article_IEq135.gif

40517_2023_256_Article_IEq121.gif