Mobilizing Migrant Remittances for Agricultural Modernization in Mozambique

Mobilizing private resources for agricultural modernization may reduce the need for scarce government resources to be used for financing this modernization (for example, to be invested in fertilizer subsidy programmes). This policy brief examines the potential role of one such private source: migrant remittances. Recent literature on migration has suggested that migrants have a stronger preference for remittances to be used for investment and savings, relative to their origin households. Without direct control over the use of remittances, migrants may choose to keep their earnings for themselves and to remit less. It is therefore relevant form a policy point of view to examine the potential role for migrant remittances to partially financing agricultural inputs for rural farming households.