Climate migration and social transformation: embracing complexity

Unpredictable rainfall patterns, droughts and floods linked to climate change are increasingly driving people to migrate in search of a better life. In West Africa, in addition to rural-urban migration, deteriorating landscapes are encouraging people to move to coastal countries where plantations, mining and cities offer the hope of greater opportunity and economy security.

Migration is a long-established economic strategy in the region. One in three West Africans live outside their place of birth. Although migration, including climate migration, has attracted considerable research and policy interest for many years, a new WLE policy briefargues that existing debates often overlook a crucial factor: social transformation.

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Photo credit: Joe Ronzio/IWMI