ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the available evidence on migration patterns in watershed development areas and how policy should address continuing migration. It begins with watershed development programmes, in terms of their objectives and coverage. The chapter provides an overview of watershed evaluation studies that have assessed the impact on migration patterns. Watershed development aims to increase employment through labour-intensive soil and water conservation. Situations of surplus labour arising from the scarcity of cultivated land, inequitable land distribution, low agricultural productivity, high population density and the concentration of the rural economy almost exclusively on agriculture have led to a continuous increase in out-migration. Out-migration has been historically high from poor mountainous areas which suffer similar problems of low agricultural productivity, poor access to credit or other pre-requisites for diversification and high population densities. The most push factor appears to be a fall in agricultural commodity prices brought about by macroeconomic reforms linked with liberalization and globalization policies.
