Ovimbundu MIgrations and Diaspora

Many of the Ovimbundu were forced to take out labor contracts from 1961 to 1974 and become migrants because of the increase in cost of living. About twenty-five percent of the Ovimbundu able-bodied males were migrating on labor contracts to coffee plantations for one to two years. Due to government wartime policies that took place from 1969 to 1973 cost of living increased by seventy-nine percent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Angolan_War_of_Independence

Another issue during this time was that in certain regions of the highlands, officials had made it easier for Ovimbundu land to be purchased by Europeans. At this point in time the Ovimbundu even became paid labor for the Europeans on their own land. After the UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) fought against the Portuguese from 1966 to 1974, the Angolan civil war took place from 1975 to 2002.

            During the civil war the cities of Huambo and Kuito were almost completely destroyed. Both of these cities were in the Ovimbundu region. This caused many of the Ovimbundu to flee to other cities. Some of these cities were still in their own area but some were also in very distant areas. After the civil war ended in 2002 many of the cities have been reconstructed or are being rebuilt. However, even though many of the Ovimbundu have returned to their original land since the war has ended, a lot still remain in the cities they fled to outside of their homeland. This has caused a lot of the Ovimbundu to now be scattered all over different parts of Angola.