Since escaping war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Leonard Nyandwi has found refuge on the farmland around Hamilton in western Victoria, a place famous for its wool.

He spent 14 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania before being resettled in Melbourne in 2010, but only now can he feel at home in the open spaces, not producing wool, but simply growing his own food.

Mr Nyandwi represents a significant movement of international migrants, stemming population decline in 151 of 550 local government regions of Australia.

He is also part of a pilot relocation scheme for African refugees to move to western Victoria.

A refugee of civil war, Leonard Nyandwi has moved his family to Hamilton, Victoria, to work as a joiner and grow his own food. ( Lily Hoffmann, ABC Rural )

As a young boy, Mr Nyandwi fled the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo without his parents.

"From 1996 until 2010 we lived in a refugee camp in Tanzania and life in the refugee camp was very difficult," Mr Nyandwi said.

In the refugee camp Leonard met Fredina Vastina, and they were granted refugee status by the UNHCR to settle in Australia.

Kaye, now seven, was only four months old when she arrived, but the younger three Nyandwi children were all born in Australia.

City life did not suit

"When we heard we were to be settled in Australia, everyone was so excited, compared to the life we had been living; we all thought maybe our life was going to change," Mr Nyandwi said.

"I knew Australia had a lot of lamb and sheep."

Fredina Vastina, with baby Naomi on her back, tends to a corn crop at their new home. ( ABC Rural: Lily Hoffmann )

Settling into the Melbourne suburb of Doveton, the Nyandwis discovered that big city life was too different from their rural roots in Africa.

"When you look around at living in the regions, there is some opportunity for someone with a farming background like me," he said.

"My family were all farmers of beans, corn and cassava, and they trained me how to do it.

"It's kind of exercise, you don't have to go to the gym.

"When it comes time to harvest and putting in the seeds, you do it with your hands, it's good for you, compared to life in the cities."

Leonard and Fredina sold their house in Melbourne and bought a house in Hamilton with the offer of two jobs — one in child care and another as a joiner, making kitchen cabinets for a Hamilton-based business.

"The expenses in the city are totally different because in the country most of the food you can grow yourself and you can share it with friends and neighbours," Mr Nyandwi said.

"In the city everyone is busy, but in the towns like Hamilton and Coleraine you find people are very friendly and generous, helping us."

Hamilton welcomes newcomers

One acre of a farm near Coleraine has been loaned to the Nyandwis to start growing food. Corn and beans are already tall in the field.

John Kane grows beef cattle and citrus on the farm which has been in the family for 100 years.

"This is one of the best projects that I've been associated with for such a long time," Mr Kane said.

"My great grandparents on both sides were refugees from Ireland, and two were illiterate, starting with nothing. We're all immigrants or refugees, I thought this is a sensational project I'd like to get involved in.

"They are sensational people. So easy to deal with."

Mr Kane was also motivated by the Australian Story about African migrants rescuing the NSW Queensland border town of Mingoola.

"One of the greatest stories they've ever run," he said.

Three-year-old Patience in a crop of corn her family has been growing. ( ABC Rural: Lily Hoffmann )

Making regional migration sustainable

Carly Jordan, a former international aid worker, was prompted by the ABC's Australian Story to develop a sustainable model to bring migrants to Victoria.

Ms Jordan founded the Great South Coast Economic Migration Pilot as part of a regional leadership program.

It works in partnership with two shire councils and the Great Lakes Agency for Peace and Development, a group of African refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

The aim is to move 10 families from Adelaide and Melbourne to each of the Southern Grampian and Glenelg Shire Councils, and then replicate the model across Victoria.

"We've looked at experiences elsewhere which have failed, and often they relied on one individual employer," Ms Jordan said.

She has taken an intercultural approach — community partners assist the families to find schools and settle the children in, seek out houses to rent or buy, and invite migrants to join community groups.

"We're working with each individual family for a long time before they move, making sure their skills and qualifications are matched with employers and locations, not just relying on one employer," Ms Jordan said.

One school in Hamilton is getting six new pupils through the scheme.

Mary-Ann Brown, Mayor of Southern Grampian Shire at Hamilton, said the region had good infrastructure, education and health but a declining or static population.

She said unemployment was low and there were opportunities for both unskilled and skilled migrants to work as farm labourers, joiners, nurses, doctors, accountants and solicitors.

A total of 187,000 international migrants have moved into regional areas between 2011 and 2016 helping to stop population decline at 151 Local Government Areas, according to the ABS 2016 Census.

The Regional Australia Institute said the new arrivals were helping provide stability to those communities, and ensuring long-term regional prosperity.