An effect of rural-urban migration on the source region is

Step 1: Analyze the question Rural-urban migration is the movement of people from villages (rural areas) to towns and cities (urban areas). The source region is the place people leave, which is the rural area. The question asks for an effect on that rural area.

Step 2: Explain the concept When many people, especially young and able-bodied ones, leave the countryside, the source region experiences:

• A drop in population (rural depopulation)
• A shortage of farm labour
• An ageing population, with mostly children and the elderly left behind
• Reduced food production and abandoned farmland
• An imbalance in the sex ratio, because many men leave

Step 3: Evaluate each option

• A. Rural depopulation: Correct. People leave the rural area, so its population falls.
• B. Urban depopulation: Wrong. Cities receive migrants, so they become overcrowded (urban population growth), not depopulated. Also, the urban area is the destination, not the source.
• C. Rural employment: Wrong. Migration does not create rural jobs. If anything, it leaves a labour shortage.
• D. Rural unemployment: Wrong. Because people leave, the rural area has fewer job seekers, and the main problem is a lack of labour rather than a lack of jobs. Unemployment is more a problem of the destination, the city.

Step 4: Answer The effect on the source region (the rural area) is rural depopulation, which is option A.

Exam tip: Always identify whether the question asks about the source (origin, where people leave) or the destination (where they arrive).

• Source (rural): depopulation, labour shortage, low food output
• Destination (urban): overcrowding, unemployment, pressure on housing and social amenities, crime