The effects of labor emigration on rural life in Malawi
Boeder, R.B.
Rural Africana 20: 37-46
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0085-5839 Document Number: 518062
During the past 80 years great numbers of Malawians have emigrated to search for work throughout East, Central, and Southern Africa. The 1962/67 Malawi Ministry of Labour Report stated that between 1948 and 1962, 544,000 men, 70,000 women, and 70,000 juveniles had gone to Southern Rhodesia; between 1953 and 1967, approximately 360,000 men went to South Africa; and during those years roughly 69,000 men, 25,000 women, and 30,000 juveniles had made the journey to neighbouring Zambia. Smaller numbers have travelled to Mozambique, Zaire, and Tanzania, but the total number of Malawians affected by emigration during this century runs into millions. This mass migration has been one of the key elements in twentieth century Malawian history, vitally influencing social, economic, political, and cultural developments in the country. Early accounts of the exodus stressed the suffering in rural areas resulting from the absence of so many men. While not denying this basic fact, this paper suggests that the disastrous effects may have been exaggerated initially, that communal institutions absorbed some of the social shock, and that after the mid-1930's inter-territorial labour agreements mitigated the worst economic consequences of emigration.