scholarly journals Exploring Connections—Environmental Change, Food Security and Violence as Drivers of Migration—A Critical Review of Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Morales-Muñoz ◽  
Srijna Jha ◽  
Michelle Bonatti ◽  
Henryk Alff ◽  
Sabine Kurtenbach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Development Paths

Migration, whether triggered by single events, such as violent conflict, or by long term pressures related to environmental change or food insecurity is altering sustainable development in societies. Although there is a large amount of literature, there is a gap for consolidating frameworks of migration-related to the interaction and correlation between drivers. We review scientific papers and research reports about three categories of drivers: Environmental Change (EC), Food Security (FS), and Violent Conflict (VC). First, we organize the literature to understand the explanations of the three drivers on migration individually, as well as the interactions among each other. Secondly, we analyse the literature produced regarding Colombia, Myanmar, and Tanzania; countries with different combinations of the driving factors for migration. Although we find that many correlations are explained in the literature, migration is mostly driven by structural vulnerabilities and unsustainable development paths in places that have a low resilience capacity to cope with risk. For example, food insecurity, as a product of environmental changes (droughts and floods), is seen as a mediating factor detonating violent conflict and migration in vulnerable populations. The paper contributes to the literature about multi-driven migration, presenting an overview of the way in which different driver combinations trigger migration. This is important for determining the best governance mechanisms and policy responses that tackle forced migration and improve the resilience of vulnerable communities as well as sustainable development.

Climate and Conflict in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Scheffran ◽  
Peter Michael Link ◽  
Janpeter Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Conflict In Africa

Climate change was conceived as a “risk multiplier” that could exacerbate security risks and conflicts in fragile regions and hotspots where poverty, violence, injustice, and social insecurity are prevalent. The linkages have been most extensively studied for the African continent, which is affected by both climate change and violent conflict. Together with other drivers, climate change can undermine human security and livelihoods of vulnerable communities in Africa through different pathways. These include variability in temperature and precipitation; weather extremes and natural disasters, such as floods and droughts; resource problems through water scarcity, land degradation, and food insecurity; forced migration and farmer–herder conflict; and infrastructure for transport, water, and energy supply. Through these channels, climate change may contribute to humanitarian crises and conflict, subject to local conditions for the different regions of Africa. While a number of statistical studies find no significant link between reduced precipitation and violent conflict in Africa, several studies do detect such a link, mostly in interaction with other issues. The effects of climate change on resource conflicts are often indirect, complex, and linked to political, economic, and social conflict factors, including social inequalities, low economic development, and ineffective institutions. Regions dependent on rainfed agriculture are more sensitive to civil conflict following droughts. Rising food prices can contribute to food insecurity and violence. Water scarcity and competition in river basins are partly associated with low-level conflicts, depending on socioeconomic variables and management practices. Another conflict factor in sub-Saharan Africa are shifting migration routes of herders who need grazing land to avoid livestock losses, while farmers depend on land for growing their harvest. Empirical findings reach no consensus on how climate vulnerability and violence interact with environmental migration, which also could be seen as an adaptation measure strengthening community resilience. Countries with a low human development index (HDI) are particularly vulnerable to the double exposure to natural disasters and armed conflict. Road and water infrastructures influence the social and political consequences of climate stress. The high vulnerabilities and low adaptive capacities of many African countries may increase the probability of violent conflicts related to climate change impacts.

Research on climate change and migration where are we and where are we going?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Executive Summary ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Governance Challenges ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
And Migration

Abstract Today the issue of climate change-induced mobility—whether displacement, migration, or relocation—is receiving increased interest from policy-makers, academics, and the general public. Many are turning to the academic community for answers to basic questions (how many people are expected to move? when? where?) and for directions for future policies (what measures can support people to remain in their communities? If people have to move, how can the disruption be minimized—for those moving and for the affected communities?). While there is a growing body of literature on the issue, the academic community writ large is presently unable to provide consistent comprehensive evidence or guidance on these issues. Most obviously, there is no consensus about what terminology to use—climate change refugee? Environmental migrant? [e.g. Dun and Gemenne 2008. ‘Defining Environmental Migration’, Forced Migration Review, 31: 10–11]. Nor is there consensus on how many people are expected to move; different research projects use different time frames (2030, 2050, 2100, etc.), are based on different assumptions, and (not surprisingly) come up with different estimates, ranging from 50 million to 1 billion migrants associated with the effects of climate change during this century [e.g. Stern, N. (2006) ‘Stern review on the economics of climate change. Executive Summary’. London: HM Treasury. Baird 2007. Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis: A Christian Aid Report. London: Christian Aid; UN Development Programme (UNDP) (2007/2008). Human Development Report: Fighting Climate Change, Human Solidarity in a Divided World; Kolmannskog 2009, Climate Change, Disaster, Displacement and Migration: Initial Evidence from Africa. New Issues in Refuge Research (Research Paper No. 180). Geneva: UNHCR; Warner 2009. Global Environmental Change and Migration: Governance Challenges. Global Environmental Change].

scholarly journals Regional disaster risk management strategies for food security: Probing Southern African Development Community channels for influencing national policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Happy M. Tirivangasi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Risk Management Strategies

Natural disasters and food insecurity are directly interconnected. Climate change related hazards such as floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts and other risks can weaken food security and severely impact agricultural activities. Consequently, this has an impact on market access, trade, food supply, reduced income, increased food prices, decreased farm income and employment. Natural disasters create poverty, which in turn increases the prevalence of food insecurity and malnutrition. It is clear that disasters put food security at risk. The poorest people in the community are affected by food insecurity and disasters; hence, there is a need to be prepared as well as be in a position to manage disasters. Without serious efforts to address them, the risks of disasters will become an increasingly serious obstacle to sustainable development and the achievement of sustainable development goals, particularly goal number 2 ‘end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’. In recent years, countries in southern Africa have experienced an increase in the frequency, magnitude and impact of climate change–related hazards such as droughts, veld fire, depleting water resources and flood events. This research aims to reveal Southern African Development Community disaster risk management strategies for food security to see how they an influence and shape policy at the national level in southern Africa. Sustainable Livelihood approach was adopted as the main theoretical framework for the study. The qualitative Analysis is based largely on data from databases such as national reports, regional reports and empirical findings on the disaster management–sustainable development nexus.

scholarly journals Assessing the Inter-Relationship between Rural Population Migration and Environmental Change in the Dano Watershed, Burkina Faso

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-87
Author(s):  
Binta Dansoko ◽  
Souleymane Sidi Traore
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
High Positive Correlation ◽  
And Migration

The study analyses the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) dynamics as an important environmental factor and links it to migration trends towards the study area. The work uses data collected across two (2) villages, both located in the Dano watershed. Three sets of 30-m Landsat images were used to measure the changes in LULC types for the years 1986, 1999 and 2014. Cumulatively focus group discussion and household interview were employed for socio-economic data collection. Census data for the periods 1987, 1996 and 2006 were also collected from the national census reports. LULC analysis revealed that vegetation area was progressively converted into croplands with an annual rate of 0.92% during the period of study. Pearson correlation analysis between population and cropland on one hand and population and vegetation on the second hand revealed a high positive correlation between population size and cropland (r = 0.99), while there was a high negative correlation between population size and vegetation (r = 0.96). The survey of 180 farmers revealed a diversity of questions about environmental change on their livelihood. Most 78% of farmers believe that deforestation is the main driver of environmental change as a result of the decrease of rainfall and strong wind. Many strategies are used by local communities as a response to environmental changes and migration is seen by 31% of the respondents as a common strategy used by the affected communities. These results from the study showed that migration is one of the major local responses to environmental change.

Natural Disasters, Forced Migration, and Conflict: The Importance of Government Policy Responses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara McLaughlin Mitchell ◽  
Elise Pizzi
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Rapid Onset ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Environmental Migration ◽  
Intrastate Conflicts ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Post Disaster

Abstract Understanding the connections between environmental change, migration, and conflict is urgent as natural disasters increase in frequency and intensity. Countries that experience natural disasters face greater risks for intrastate conflicts, especially for rapid-onset disasters. Migration is one response to these environmental changes. Existing literature suggests that environmental migration can cause violent conflict as migrants lose livelihoods, move to new areas, or compete over scarce resources. However, the path through which migration leads to conflict—and the policy responses that either fuel conflict or promote stability—is not well understood. Some countries develop adequate proactive (e.g., infrastructure) and reactive post-disaster (e.g., reconstruction) policies to mitigate grievances and conflict risks from forced migration. Other countries fail to respond adequately to disasters, opening the door for insurgent groups to garner support. We argue that we must analyze government policies related to relocation programs, restrictions on movement, and post-disaster reconstruction to identify trigger situations where disasters and migration are most likely to produce violence.

scholarly journals Students’ Environmental Attitudes in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecological Education ◽  
The Impact

The results of two empirical studies of environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior of students studying in different fields (samples of 230 and 132 students) are considered. The features of ecological representations of students of ecological specialties at the beginning and at the end of vocational training are determined. Comparison of the effectiveness of professional ecological education and biological education as education for sustainable development indicates a more pronounced impact of ecological education on the formation of pro-environmental attitudes and readiness for pro-environmental behavior. The dynamics of the attitude to global environmental changes among students of the Faculty of Ecology is determined: from consumer attitude to nature, which is combined with a relatively strong belief that money is the key to solving environmental problems, environmental students come to believe in the priority of the world environmental problems. Changes in worldviews are accompanied by an intensification of pro-ecological behavior in everyday life. The impact of ecological education as the education for sustainable development on personality attitudes manifests itself in two ways - in attitudes to the problem of environmental change and in attitudes toward the natural world. The awareness of the importance of anthropogenic environmental change is accompanied by the clarifying of ideas about money as a universal means of solving environmental problems and the awareness of the importance of environmental change not only for humans but also for other species. An important result of these changes is the increased pro-environmental orientation of everyday behavior.

scholarly journals The Disaster Risk, Global Change, and Sustainability Nexus

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Peduzzi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Compound Event ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Global Environmental Changes

Until the 1970s, disaster risk was perceived as a direct consequence of natural hazards. Gradually, disaster risk has come to be understood as a compound event, which lies at the intersection of hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of the exposed elements. After decades of research and lessons learned from mega-disasters, social scientists have introduced the social dimension of disaster risk, and the prevailing understanding is that disasters are also a human construct. Now, due to climate and global environmental changes, even the natural component of hazards is being altered by anthropogenic activities, changing hazard susceptibility, coverage, frequency, and severity. This review retraces the brief history and evolution of the global understanding of disaster risk as a compound event, in parallel with research on global environmental change. It highlights the main milestones in this area, and shows that there are tight connections between trends of disaster risk and global change. This paper aims to demonstrate the need to better consider the role of global environmental change in disaster risk assessment. In 2015, three major new agreements were reached to improve global environmental governance: the new Sendai Framework (2015–2030), the post-2015 development agenda with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Climate COP21 in Paris. These all include a clear focus on disaster risk reduction; however, several aspects of disaster risk linked with global environmental changes are still not clearly addressed by the main stakeholders (governments, insurers, or agencies). As the complexity of risk unfolds, more actors are getting together; the need for a holistic approach for disaster risk reduction has become clear, and is closely connected with achieving sustainable development.

scholarly journals Environmental Change and Migration in Morocco: What Has Been Done So Far?

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-59
Author(s):  
Lore Van Praag ◽  
Loubna Ou-Salah ◽  
Elodie Hut ◽  
Caroline Zickgraf
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Environmental Migration ◽  
Migration History ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Migration ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Unexpected Outcomes ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractBefore we delve further into the relationship between migration and environmental change, it is important to gain more insight into the migration history of Moroccans going abroad and the specific environmental changes faced by people in Morocco. Therefore, in the first part of this chapter, we outline the history of Moroccan migration to Europe in general and to Belgium in particular. Morocco provides an interesting case of study with regard to environmental migration, as in the second half of the twentieth century, Morocco evolved into one of the world’s leading emigration countries. Moroccan migration is one of the unexpected outcomes in which colonial migration, labour migration, family reunification, and, most recently, undocumented migration combine. Hence, there is a high degree of internal differentiation and dynamics within the migrant population of Morocco (De Haas 2007).

scholarly journals Perceptions and Explanations of Environmental Change in Morocco

2021 ◽  
pp. 85-104
Author(s):  
Lore Van Praag ◽  
Loubna Ou-Salah ◽  
Elodie Hut ◽  
Caroline Zickgraf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Environmental Migration ◽  
The People

AbstractAs demonstrated in the previous chapters, land in Morocco is mainly used for farming and pastoral activities. These activities are more vulnerable to the consequences of increased precipitation and drought due to climate change. Various modern and traditional adaptation strategies – among which migration to urban centres or abroad – have been used to deal with environmental changes. This suggests that a large share of inhabitants are in some way aware of the changes in their natural environment and already familiar with adaptation strategies (Schilling et al. 2012; Mertz et al. 2009). However, in most studies, researchers focusing on this topic do not relate this to people’s overall views on environmental change and the adaptation strategies employed by the actors involved. When they do, they hardly focus on people living in the MENA region (Nielsen and D’haen 2014); West-Africa (Mertz et al. 2010, 2012; Afifi 2011; De Longueville et al. 2020); DR Congo (Bele et al. 2014; Few et al. 2017); and India (Howe et al. 2014). The only exception is the study on Morocco by Nguyen and Wodon (2014); Wodon et al. 2014). Hence, it is unclear how these environmental changes are actually perceived and how they influence the ways people view and respond to them, and (actively) develop adaptation strategies to deal with such changes (cf. Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-61390-7_6). This is especially important since perceptions of environmental changes and the risks associated with them vary across and within cultures (Vedwan 2006; Mertz et al. 2009, 2010; Leclerc et al. 2013). Furthermore, there is a perception bias with regard to the perceived environmental changes, as some types of changes, such as rainfall patterns, are more easily noted and compared to others, such as temperature changes (Howe et al. 2014; Few et al. 2017; De Longueville et al. 2020; Bele et al. 2014). Additionally, people mainly remark on changes when these apply to their livelihood activities (Bele et al. 2014; Howe et al. 2014; Wodon et al. 2014; De Longueville et al. 2020). In current research and policymaking, ongoing debates on environmental migration and displacement too frequently assume that everyone perceives environmental change in a similar fashion. This becomes problematic in debates on environmental migration or climate refugees when environmental changes are assumed to automatically result in some kind of (forced) migration, leaving little space for the views and agency of the people involved (Stern 2000; McLeman and Gemenne 2018; Khare and Khare 2006; Rigby 2016).

scholarly journals How Environmental Change Relates to the Development of Adaptation Strategies and Migration Aspirations

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
Lore Van Praag ◽  
Loubna Ou-Salah ◽  
Elodie Hut ◽  
Caroline Zickgraf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Agricultural Activities ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Environmental Migration ◽  
And Migration

AbstractThe focus on perceived environmental changes and risks is a necessary precondition before people’s vulnerabilities and abilities to migrate can be taken into account (Adam 2005). This approach contrasts with previous research on environmental migration that has mainly focused on the vulnerabilities of people towards environmental changes. This vulnerability approach is, for instance, widely used in reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2014) and refers to the potential loss or harm one encounters or could encounter when facing environmental changes. This vulnerability is assumed to depend on the nature of the physical risks one could be exposed to and inherent sensitivity one has. The latter refers, for instance, to the type of economic activities of a community. For example, communities that rely heavily on agricultural activities are more sensitive to water scarcity and suffer more from drought, than other communities. It is within this framework that migration is often seen as a potential adaptation strategy to deal with environmental changes (Smit and Wandel 2006; Gemenne 2010). However, this framework hardly considers people’s own perceived vulnerabilities or risks or resilience towards environmental change. Hence, this vulnerability approach diminishes the agency of the actors involved and their active role in the development of migration aspirations and trajectories related to environmental changes and risks. Furthermore, as already stated by McLeman et al. (2016), the use of this framework of adaptation and the focus on the use of vulnerability may not encompass all drivers of environmental migration. This could certainly apply to the Moroccan context in which environmental changes mostly occur gradually and are to a lesser extent immediately visible to the human eye.

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