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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sociol.
Sec. Migration and Society
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1439256
This article is part of the Research Topic Migration in the Past, Present, and Future: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Understanding Social Change View all 7 articles

Why do rural youth migrate? Evidence from Colombia and Guatemala

Provisionally accepted
Manuel F. Díaz Baca Manuel F. Díaz Baca 1,2*Leonardo Moreno Lerma Leonardo Moreno Lerma 3Stefan Burkart Stefan Burkart 1Natalia Triana Ángel Natalia Triana Ángel 3*
  • 1 Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Cali, Colombia
  • 2 University of Kassel, Kassel, Hesse, Germany
  • 3 Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT (Colombia), Cali, Cauca, Colombia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Migration, from rural to urban settings is a common phenomenon in Latin America, due to social, economic, political, and other factors. Young people in search of economic and educational opportunities, financial, and social stability, have been migrating to larger urban centers, thus crafting important shifts in rural labor, generational transfer, and domestic economies. Through a systematic literature review of scientific literature, and documents from public institutions and international organizations, published between 2012 and 2022, this article addresses rural-urban migration of youth in Colombia and Guatemala's cattle sector, particularly identifying (i) driving factors, (ii) their impacts on cattle farming, and (iii) public policies implemented to counteract prejudicial effects. Results show that unemployment, lack of educational opportunities, and insecurity are the main reasons for youth migration to cities or abroad, with Mexico, the United States, and Spain being the most common destinations. Additionally, impacts on the cattle sector include shortage of labor and a perfectible generational transfer, hindering the modernization of the industry and investments in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Despite various implemented public policies, the results are partial, and the issue of accelerated youth migration remains relevant. Consequently, without more effective measures adopted by national governments, the cattle sector will lag behind its regional and international competitors, deterring the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. As the main contribution of the study, the analysis of migration is highlighted based on its effects on a specific economic sector and not focused on its causes, as evidenced in a wide range of literature.

    Keywords: rural migration, Public Policy, Climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, sustainability, competitiveness

    Received: 27 May 2024; Accepted: 19 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Díaz Baca, Moreno Lerma, Burkart and Triana Ángel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Manuel F. Díaz Baca, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Cali, Colombia
    Natalia Triana Ángel, Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT (Colombia), Cali, Cauca, Colombia

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