Urban households ruralizing their livelihoods: The changing nature of urban-rural linkages in an East African town

Abstract

As far as rural-urban linkages in sub-Saharan Africa are concerned, the focus has so far predominantly been on the urban dwellers contributing to the livelihood of the rural ones, usually through remittances from family members living in the city. Hardly anything is known about the reverse flows, i.e. in how far urban households realize part of their livelihood from rural sources. Based on recent research in Nakuru town, Kenya, this paper demonstrates that urban-rural linkages are not only important for the rural households, but are increasingly becoming an important element of the livelihood (or survival) strategies of the urban (poor) households.