Moving out, moving up? Stories of rural women migrating from Thailand and Kyrgyzstan

 This year’s theme, “Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All,” recognizes the essential roles that rural women and girls play in producing crops, rearing livestock, and processing and distributing foodstuffs – in short, keeping food systems working. In many senses this labor power is (wrongly) taken for granted and often underpaid. Many rural women decide to take their labor elsewhere, either within their own countries or abroad. Why is outmigration from rural areas a phenomenon in some countries, and what are the consequences and implications? To find answers, Dr. Alan Nicol and Dr. Pacem Kotchofa spoke to experts working on the AGRUMIG project.   Discussing their findings are Dr. Asel Murzakulova of the University of Central Asia who has conducted research in Kyrgyzstan and Ms. Raffaella Pagogna of the University of Vienna, who has conducted research in Thailand.