Rural-Urban Dynamics: Irish Potato Production Investment Opportunities and Emerging Markets in Njombe, Tanzania.

Abstract

The trend and patterns of rural-urban mobility are complex and its drivers (economic and social opportunities) are varying widely. The urbanization process causes; changing in population, changing in demand of food crop and also changing in food preferences. Moreover, these changes are translated into rural areas by improving agricultural transformation in terms of changing the land size, increasing the use of agricultural inputs and increasing productivity but also changes in main economic activities. This paper examines the economic opportunities and emerging market channels for the agricultural product (Irish potato) and investment opportunities in rural areas. The analysis was based on survey data collected from Njombe Region, Tanzania. Statistics encompassing measures of association, mean differences and multiple linear regression model were used. Results confirm the hypothesis that migration and mobility make the investors differ significantly (p<0.01) in terms of investment in the rural areas. Moreover, increasing connectivity through mobility and commuting of the rural to urban residence allows investors to take advantages of the emerging market for both rural and urban areas. Furthermore, a significant number of investment opportunities resulted from the emerging of a new channel of Irish potato marketing. Integrating rural-urban connection in development approaches will ensure utilization of investment opportunities; increases agricultural productivity hence increases job opportunities to the community.