Climate-induced Migration in South Asia: Migration Decisions and the Gender Dimensions of Adverse Climatic Events

Authors

  • Gopal Datt Bhatta CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), South As
  • Pramod Kumar Aggarwal CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), South As
  • Santosh Poudel University of Saskatchewan
  • Debbie Anne Belgrave Research and Strategy, Community and Neighborhood Services, The City of Calgary

Abstract

There is significant interest in determining the role of climate-induced shocks as a prominent driver on migration decisions of different groups of farmers in South Asia. Using data from a survey of 2,660 farm-families and focused group discussions in Bihar (India), Terai (plains) (Nepal) and coastal Bangladesh, we employed logistic regression to investigate household response towards migration and gender dimensions of adverse climatic events. The results suggest that migration decisions depend on farmers’ unique resource profiles: (a) households that use migration to improve their resilience, mostly resource rich households; (b) households that have no alternative but to migrate, mostly poor farmers; and (c) households who cannot migrate due to different socio-economic obligations, mostly farmers with intermediate level of income that also includes women, children and elderly of different income profiles. These profiles represent a spectrum with households within a profile being closer to one or the other of the profiles on either side. They are not mutually exclusive and serve as a point of departure for further research to refine key explanatory variables. Given that some members of the household pursue migration as a result of adverse climatic events, government strategies are required to mitigate risks at destinations and create opportunities for the trapped populations. Keywords: distress migration, climatic risks, extreme events, rainfall variability, gender dimensions, South Asia -------------------------------------------------- Résumé Il y a un intérêt significatif dans la détermination du rôle des chocs induits par le climat comme facteur majeur dans les décisions de migration de différents groupes de fermiers d'Asie du sud. À l'aide de données d'une enquête sur 2660 familles agricoles et en ciblant les discussions de groupes au Bihar (Inde), au Teraï (plaines) (Népal) et sur le littoral du Bangladesh, nous avons utilisé une régression logistique pour étudier la réponse des ménages par rapport à la migration et en fonction du genre dans le cas d'événements climatiques défavorables. Les résultats suggèrent que les décisions migratoires dépendent uniquement du profil des ressources du fermier: (a) les ménages qui utilisent la migration pour améliorer leur condition, généralement des ménages aisés; (b) des ménages qui n'ont pas d'autre alternative que de migrer, la plupart étant de pauvres fermiers avec un niveau de revenu intermédiaire ; et (c) des ménages qui ne peuvent pas migrer du fait d'obligations socio-économiques, la plupart étant des fermiers avec un revenu intermédiaire, incluant des femmes, des enfants et des personnes âgées avec des profils de revenus différents. Ces profils représentent un continuum où les ménages au sein d'un profil se rapprochent de l'un des profils avoisinants. Ils ne sont pas mutuellement exclusifs et servent comme point de départ pour des recherches supplémentaires dans le but de préciser des variables clés explicatives. Étant donné que quelques membres du ménage poursuivent la migration suite à des événements climatiques défavorables, des stratégies gouvernementales sont requises pour atténuer les risques aux destinations et pour créer des opportunités pour les populations piégées.

Author Biographies

Gopal Datt Bhatta, CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), South As

Gopal D Bhatta is an agricultural economist and socio-economic researcher. He worked as South Asia Regional Science Officer in CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) based in International Water Management Institute (IWMI), New Delhi, India for almost two years. Currently he is working as Social Researcher and Policy Analyst in the Research and Strategy Division of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His areas of expertise include farming system analysis, spatial modelling, consumers’ preference analysis, climate change adaptation, socio-economic and environmental research. He has over 10 years of research experience in South Asia.

Pramod Kumar Aggarwal, CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), South As

Pramod K Aggarwal is a National Professor and a highly experienced researcher in the area of climate change adaptation and mitigation in South Asia and globally. He is a South Asia Regional Leader of CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. He has more than 27 years of high level professional experience of which more than 8 years are in planning, execution and monitoring of research programs of more than 150 scientists in the ICAR‘s Network on Global Climate Change and Indian Agriculture. His expertise lies in climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability of agriculture; emission and mitigation of greenhouse gases from agriculture; climatic risk assessment for developing weather derivatives for crops; agricultural systems modelling and land use planning for sustainable development at household, regional and country level.

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Published

2016-01-06

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 4 (2015)

Section

Articles

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