Drivers and dynamics of migration

Conveners: Gunilla A. Olsson, University of Gothenburg and Ram B. Bhagat, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.

Contact: gunilla.olsson@globalstudies.gu.se

Panel 3 and 15 have been merged.

Environmental migration and governance in Africa (3)
The phenomenon of environmental migration increasingly occupies researchers in different fields but there is not yet a common understanding of this complex process. Destruction of livelihood conditions that leads to the deterioration of options for securing a living, is caused by a number of interacting variables  such as changes in climate, land use, local and regional ecological conditions, and socio-cultural-economic and political dynamics.  The different factors act at different temporal and spatial scales that makes the outcome difficult to generalize for a specific site, which adds to the confusion of the interpretation and application of the concept. Yet migration due to livelihood deterioration is ongoing and environmental migrants seem to be an increasing challenge. This is also acknowledged by the EU, whose governance system related to migration does not cater for the environmental dimension. In fact, environmental migration is not used or practiced as a valid criterium for asylum in the EU. In spite of much of environmentally induced migration to the EU originates from Africa, this topic has not until recently been up on the agenda of policy discussions between the EU and Africa. The Valletta Summit on Migration, November 2015, was organised to discuss the ‘migration crisis’ experienced in Europe and Africa. It included leaders of the countries of origin, transit or destination of the migrants as well as leaders of the EU, the African Union Commission and the United Nations organisations. The summit resulted in the EU setting up an Emergency Trust Fund to promote development in Africa, in return for African countries to help out in the crisis. We propose to organize a paper session on environmental migration in the Development Research Conference, Stockholm.  We invite papers presenting and discussing the various aspects of environmental migration and how it is linked to governance on various levels in the Africa-EU relation, from theoretical and empirical perspectives.

Migration and development (15)
The UNDP Report 2009 rightly emphasized that migration is a human development strategy. However, a huge section of migrants are vulnerable and suffer from deprivations and discriminations at the place of destination, while forced to migrate from the areas of origin. In post 2015 global world, migration is likely to play an increased role shaping cities and nation states. In migration research, internal and international migrations are looked upon separately. This fragments the integrated role of migration in development process and denies the fact that many international migrants were internal migrants in the first instance. Migration is also being looked upon from law enforcement and governance perspectives emphasising labour laws, exploitation and trafficking rather than from a development perspective. As urbanisation across the world has been rising having crossed the 50 percent mark in 2009, the internal migration which is at present four times larger than international migration, is likely to increase. Migrants' inclusion in the development agenda and planning is missing in most of the developing countries. A negative attitude towards migrants also prevails holding them responsible for urban conditions and rising slum population. While migration cannot be stopped as it is a historical process of shaping cities, culture and development, its integration with development, the cost and benefit of migration at the source and destination are not adequately known at a comparative basis. There is also a growing literature on the impact of remittances on education, health, employment and women's status in the areas of origin. Also, there is a growing concern on the wellbeing of left behind children, women and elderly in the areas of origin but research outputs are at a nascent stage. Looking migration from development perspective raises issues of their inclusion in the labour market, housing, access to food, health care and civic and political rights at the place of destination, on the other hand role of economic (both cash and kind) and social remittances (transfer of ideas, information and innovations) may also play an important role in the areas of origin. How inclusion or exclusion of migrants in the place of destination impacts both areas of destination and origin simultaneously is a matter of great interest? There is a need to discuss and debate in an international academic conference the issues of migration- both internal and international as related to development focussing on areas of origin and destination in an integrated manner.

24 Aug., 09:00–10:30, Seminar Room U26

  • Revisiting drivers for Environmental Migration in Africa. Gunilla A. Olsson, University of Gothenburg.
  • The dynamics of internal migration – the case of Shashemene, Ethiopia, 1973-2008. Gunilla Bjerén, Stockholm University.
  • Exploring the role of droughts in human migration in Ethiopia. A case study in South Wollo, northern Ethiopia. Lisa Garbe, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
  • Labour migration, rural-urban linkages and food security in India. Chetan Choithani, University of Sydney; Nabeela Ahmed, University of Sussex and Priya Deshingkar, University of Sussex.
  • The effects of international migration on human development in the countries of origin: evidence from Cameroon. Kouogueng Yeyouomo, Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Cameroon / Institute for Demographic Training and Research (IFORD).

Abstracts

Revisiting drivers for Environmental Migration in Africa. Gunilla A. Olsson, University of Gothenburg.

International migration is one of the burning global challenges for sustainable development. Environmental migration is a contested concept since destruction of livelihood conditions that leads to the deterioration of options for securing a living, is caused by a number of interacting variables  such as changes in climate, land use, local and regional ecological conditions,  socio-cultural-economic and political dynamics.  The different factors act at different temporal and spatial scales that makes the outcome difficult to generalize for a specific site, which adds to the confusion of the interpretation and application of the concept. Yet migration due to livelihood deterioration is ongoing and environmental migrants seem to be an increasing challenge. This is also acknowledged by the EU, whose governance system related to migration does not cater for the environmental dimension. In spite of much of environmentally induced migration to the EU originates from Africa, this topic has not until recently been up on the agenda of policy discussions between the EU and Africa. The Valletta Summit on Migration, November 2015, was organised to discuss the ‘migration crisis’ experienced in Europe and Africa. The summit resulted in the EU setting up an Emergency Trust Fund to promote development in Africa, in return for African countries to help out in the crisis. We are reporting from a project on the complex interactions of different drivers acting on the local African livelihoods and thus driving migration. The aim is inform the development of sustainable governance mechanisms at different institutional levels in the EU-Africa relations.

The dynamics of internal migration – the case of Shashemene, Ethiopia, 1973-2008. Gunilla Bjerén, Stockholm University.

In 1973 I gathered data for a study of migration to and from the town of Shashemene, 250 km south of Addis Abeba, in Ethiopia. Situated at the crossroads between four major economic regions, Shashemene was then and still is one of the most dynamic urban centres in the country. It is also a town with four major ethnic groups, three important religions and diverse and complicated migration patterns. I found that migration as a phenomenon is the result of many different societal processes going on simultaneously. Since these processes, be they social, demographic, political or economic, are differentially related to the different ethnic groups, ethnicity appeared a major factor in understanding internal migration at the time. In 2008 I repeated and enlarged the study conducted 35 years later. The differences between the first and second study reflects major political and social changes that have taken place in the country in the interim. One of those changes is the appearance of international migration as an alternative option for persons looking for an improved source of livelihoods. In this paper I want to trace the differences in migration patterns between 1973 and 2008, and to indicate how/if international migration relates to internal mobility in the particular case of Shashemene.

Exploring the role of droughts in human migration in Ethiopia. A case study in South Wollo, northern Ethiopia. Lisa Garbe, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).

The drought in Ethiopia from 2015 has caused severe crop failures especially in north eastern parts of the country. Different governance approaches seek to cope with the drought’s consequences and to ensure food security. Besides, farmers have also adopted different strategies to cope with environmental changes and related droughts including migration. However, the causal linkage between environmental changes, governance and migration is still largely unknown. The research aim is to explore the consequences of environmental changes on livelihoods of subsistence farmers, their adaptation strategies and the role of migration. The study empirically explores the environment-migration nexus through a case study in South Wollo, north eastern Ethiopia. This region is well-known for increasing rainfall variability and high population density which places additional stress on local natural resources. A survey of 320 households was conducted in February and March 2016 (still on-going) in two villages to understand the impact of environmental change and related droughts on subsistence farmers’ livelihoods. In addition, four focus group discussions were conducted in both villages to provide contextual insight into different migration strategies. Preliminary data from the survey uncovers a great variety of adaptation mechanisms to the crop failures like petty trade, daily labour and livestock production. Focus group discussions revealed the complexity of migration strategies ranging from short-term labour migration to surrounding locations to long-term migration to the Gulf States.

Labour migration, rural-urban linkages and food security in India. Chetan Choithani, University of Sydney; Nabeela Ahmed, University of Sussex and Priya Deshingkar, University of Sussex.

Rural to urban migration within India can provide a key livelihood option for many, and the country’s rapid pace of urbanisation in the past three decades has led to the proliferation of such opportunities. However, such migration can also lead to new forms of inequalities and vulnerabilities. Food security is one area in which such inequalities are thrown into relief. Although movements such as the ‘Right to Food’ campaign have highlighted the importance of ending hunger and malnutrition on a nationwide scale, migrants remain largely excluded from the focus of such movements. Whilst lack of food security can be a driver for rural to urban migration, institutional and policy-related barriers can affect food security at the place of destination for urban migrants. However the literature has paid relatively little attention to the relationship between migration and food security. This paper aims to address this gap by examining the conceptual and empirical bi-directional linkages between migration and food security. The paper draws from primary data on labour migrants, conducted at both places of origin and (urban) destination in Northern and Western India. The findings reveal various and complex connections between migration and food security and their flow in both directions: for origin households, remittances form urban migrants provide an important food security anchor, and at destination, migrants employ multiple strategies including engagement with origin households to address food security needs. The paper concludes by identifying potential policy approaches which could comprehensively address the issue of food security for migrants.

The effects of international migration on human development in the countries of origin: evidence from Cameroon. Kouogueng Yeyouomo, Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Cameroon / Institute for Demographic Training and Research (IFORD).

Cameroon is one of the sub-Saharan African country from where international migrants stock is strongly growing every year since 1990s (World Bank, 2014) while the situation of development in this country has remained almost steady given that its Human Development Indicator didn’t effectively move during the last decades (United Nations for Development Program, 2015). Standing on the economic literature which is mitigated concerning the effects of international migration on development in the countries of origin, this study seeks to analyse that relation in the case of Cameroon from an economic standpoint. Indeed, some economic theories and studies argued that international migration improves the development situation in the sending countries either through remittances or through the improvement of the human capital of people stayed in the country. On the other hand, others theories confirm the idea that the departures of people from a country negatively affect its development through some factor such the brain drain. Time series data coming from World Development Indicator data base of 2015, UN migration stock data of 2014 and United Nations for Development Program are used for econometric analysis and the variables such the economic growth rate, the population growth rate, the annual amount of remittance and the proportion of emigrants having a higher level of education are controlled among others. As expecting results, we hope to find that the main economic theories concerning the relation between international migration and development are verified in the Cameroon context, but, that the positive effects of migration are dominant.