Creating decent employment opportunities in rural areas is “crucial” to preventing people there from leaving because they feel they have no other job options, a phenomenon known as distress migration.

That’s according to Cristina Rapone, a rural employment and migration specialist from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Distress migration is migration caused by poverty, food insecurity, conflict or natural disaster and a lack of alternatives.

Speaking to Lucy Dean following a UN panel discussion on the economic challenges of migration, Ms Rapone said rural poverty should be at the core of any discussion about migration.

Duration: 3’18’’