Till to tiller

Abstract

It is increasingly recognised that migrants constitute an invaluable resource for development and poverty reduction in their home countries. For many developing countries, remittances from overseas migrants exceed development aid and foreign direct investment volumes. Moreover, remittances from migrant relatives, either internal or international, are often the main component of rural households’ incomes. Unlike aid, remittances flow directly to individual households and unlike loans they incur n o debt. Besides contributing to household livelihoods, remittances can foster longer-term development through investment in education, land and small businesses. In some places, migrants' associations channel part of the remittance inflows into community development projects, such as schools, health centres and wells.