There is growing mobility of rural youth mainly caused by limited access to land resources and inadequacy of job opportunities. Increased population density coupled with low education rates has increased pressure on natural resources, especially land. This paper assessed the effect of land inheritance on youth migration and employment in Rwanda using the 2010/11 and 2013/14 Integrated Household Living Conditions Surveys (EICVs) data collected from 8160 households by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). In-depth key informant interviews and focus group discussions, at institutional and cooperative levels, were conducted to supplement and support survey results. We used the Hausman test to choose between the fixed-effects and random-effects models. Results show that land inheritance has a negative and statistically significant effect on youth migration and non-agriculture-based employment. This implies that greater access to land through inheritance reduces the likelihood of youth migration and their participation in nonagricultural employment. The paper concludes with implications for policy aimed at creating increased access to land, expanding youth employment opportunities in rural areas, and reducing rural–urban youth migration.

https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14095404

Multi standard citation

APAHarvardMLAVancouverChicagoIEEE

Adane Tufahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9801-6526

Arega Alenehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2491-4603

Shiferaw Felekehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0759-4070

Tahirou Abdoulayehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8072-1363

Victor Manyonghttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2477-7132

https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14095404

Social Science and Agribusiness

Agribusiness; Capacity Development; Food Security; Livelihoods

Land Access; Rural Youth; Youth; Migration; Youth Employment; Rwanda

Africa; Central Africa

Rwanda

Southern Africa Hub; Eastern Africa Hub; Headquarters and Western Africa Hub

Sustainability