Climate-Induced Migration in West Africa

Abstract

Although West Africa’s contribution to global climate change is very minimal, its geographical location and weak adaptive capacity makes it highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and variability. The livelihoods of people in the dry regions of West Africa, in particular, are adversely affected by increased temperature and fluctuating rainfall patterns because they depend on rain-fed agriculture and ecosystem services. Flooding is also a common climate-induced hazard in some West African countries. However, only a few researchers have examined the nature of climate-induced migration in the sub-region. This chapter examines how migration is used as a strategy to deal with climate change and variability in West Africa. While it is difficult to separate climatic drivers from the socio-economic causes of migration, seasonal and permanent migration are increasingly used by households to deal with climate change and variability in some communities in West Africa. Floods have also caused population displacement in parts of West Africa. While human mobility occurs in response to changes in climatic variables, migration is not adequately incorporated into planned climate change adaptation strategies being implemented by governments in the sub-region. This chapter, therefore, recommends that migration should be incorporated into climate change adaptation and development policies and programs in the sub-region.

Loss of Schooling from Tropical Cyclones: Evidence from 13 Low- and Middle-income Countries

“…In the DHS household survey, the migration history of household members is not available, making it challenging to thoroughly examine possible biases related to displacement. However, previous studies have indicated that, unlike slow-onset climate change, which often results in permanent and widespread displacement, disasters often trigger large but short-term displacement, typically to nearby regions, followed by relatively rapid return (33)(34)(35). The small-scale of permanent displacements from affected areas following sudden-onset disasters, such as tropical cyclones in our case, should make this bias small.…”

Metapopulation Modeling of Socioeconomic Vulnerability of Sahelian Populations to Climate Variability: Case of Tougou, Village in Northern Burkina Faso

“…The increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters such as floods and droughts can lead to more permanent migration over time. Urbanization can bring about migratory movements from the countryside to the cities [18].…”