Labor Mobility in the Mandoul Oriental/Southern Department of Chad: Social Ascension Strategy for Young Rural People

Abstract

The strong attractiveness of cities and poverty in the countryside of sub-Saharan Africa have resulted in the massive movement of young people to large cities. Added to this are soil degradation, conflicts between farmers and herders, social influences, etc., which accentuate the repulsive factors in the Sudanese countryside of Chad. It is in this context that this study is positioned to analyze the labor mobility of young people from Mandoul Oriental to other localities in search of socio-economic opportunities. It mobilizes documentary and empirical data. The latter come from direct observation, individual interviews and/or focus groups and questionnaire surveys. The results of this research show that Mandoul Oriental is a labor mobility area for young people looking for economic opportunities. This mobility is due to the difficult living conditions of households and the repulsive nature of the Mandoul Oriental countryside. It is marked by national reception centers, the main ones of which are N’Djamena, Abéché and Kouri Bougoudi, and international centers of the Central African Republic and Libya. The results also show that the impacts of this labor mobility include, among other things, the social advancement of young people upon their return after the cycle of labor mobility and the improvement of their means of existence. Finally, they allow us to put into perspective local policies relating to the rural exodus of young people and the potential issues in this context of mobility.