Effects of Migration on Farm Labour among Rice Farmers in Mamou Prefecture, Guinea Conakry

Abstract One of the critical assets directed at agricultural production is labour. In this context, the effects of migration on farm labour among rice farmers in Mamou Prefecture, Guinea Conakry, were assessed. To achieve this goal, 140 respondents were sampled using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data to present results and test for correlation between ranked variables. Prominent among the push factors responsible for farm labour migration were poverty ( , sd = 0.83), poor healthcare services ( , sd = 0.74) and unemployment sd = 0.61),) while good government policies ( , sd = 0.75) and food security ( , sd = 0.63) were the pull factors. The highest-ranked migration types with effects on farm labour migration were short term ( , sd = 0.45), internal ( , sd = 0.78) and individual ( , sd = 1.45) migration. Farm labour was unavailable (77.1%) in the study area on a cumulative scale. There was an inverse relationship between unemployment (rho = −0.019, p = 0.024), method of land preparation (rho = −0.219, p = 0.009), marital status (rho = −0.178, p = 0.036), family/friends (rho = −0.184, p = 0.030) and farm labour availability, whereas the relationship was direct for the availability of raw materials for production (rho = 0.240, p = 0.004) and farm labour availability. The enacting and sustaining of enabling government policies to improve the livelihoods and the intensifying of agricultural mechanisation are recommended in order to stem migration and sustain farm labour availability.