The Environment-Migration Nexus Reconsidered: Why Capabilities and Aspirations Matter
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The environment-migration nexus reconsidered: Why capabilities and aspirations matter Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie im Fachbereich 03 Gesellschaftswissenschaften der Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-Universität zu Frankfurt am Main vorgelegt von Victoria van der Land aus: Bonn 2015 1. Gutachterin: Prof. Dr. Uta Ruppert 2. Gutachterin: PD Dr. Diana Hummel i Summary This thesis develops a conceptual framework for a better understanding of the impact of slow-onset climate and environmental changes on human migration in developing coun- tries. Its regional focus is on the West African Sahel, where the majority of the population depends on agriculture and thus is highly vulnerable to environmental changes. Migration from fragile environments is predominantly considered one of several household strate- gies to adapt to and minimise the risk of environmental stress. Based on qualitative and quantitative data from two selected rural study areas, Bandiagara in Mali and Linguère in Senegal, this thesis analyses the drivers of migration from the two areas. The findings illustrate that, even though people highly depend on the natural environment, migration motives are manifold and that migration often is not a household strategy to cope with environmental changes. Although environmental conditions shape migration in the region and the migrants’ support is crucial for most households, environmental stress plays a relatively small role as a driver of migration - at least in Mali, where it is considerably less important than in Senegal. On the contrary, migration is often driven by better opportunities elsewhere rather than by livelihood stressors in the home area. Par- ticularly the migration of young people is often an individual rather than a household decision and influenced by individual aspirations, such as aspirations for consumer goods or a better future, rather than by environmental stress. This thesis claims that research should consider people’s capabilities to migrate or to stay as well as their individual aspirations and preferences - in addition to the household’s needs and the opportunities elsewhere. This is important in order to explain why some people stay in and others migrate from an area affected by environmental stress, though living under similar conditions. Depending on people’s capabilities to choose freely be- tween staying and migrating and their preferences and aspirations for one or the other activity, people can either be “voluntary migrants”, “voluntary non-migrants”, “forced migrants” or “trapped people”. Moreover, it is important to consider social trends and transformation processes in the analysis of the linkages between environment change and migration. Higher education levels and aspirations to a “modern” lifestyle among young people, for instance, might decrease the impact of environmental factors on migration, despite worsening environ- mental conditions. ii Table of contents 1 Introduction - The environment-migration nexus and the contribution of this thesis ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The relevance of the environment-migration nexus ............................................ 1 1.2 The aim of the thesis and its contribution to the environment-migration research from a critical development perspective .............................................. 4 2 Climate change, environment and migration - Unclear linkages ................... 10 2.1 The political debate and the academic controversy on the linkages of climate and environmental changes and migration ....................................................... 10 2.2 Development of the environment-migration research: the discovery of human agency ............................................................................................................... 15 2.3 The unclear and unsatisfying findings on the environment-migration nexus .. 20 2.4 A critical view of current research on the environment-migration nexus and its implications for the present thesis .................................................................... 26 2.5 Chapter conclusion: The current view on migration as an adaptation strategy to environmental changes is unsatisfying ............................................................. 29 3 A development approach as a theoretical framework to analyse the environment-migration nexus ............................................................................ 30 3.1 The conceptual development of the environment-migration nexus ................. 30 3.2 Migration as a livelihood strategy: the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach ..... 35 3.3 The individual perspective in the development framework: the Capability Approach .......................................................................................................... 46 3.4 A new conceptual approach: capabilities and aspirations as core concepts to analyse the environment-migration nexus ........................................................ 50 3.5 Chapter conclusion and practical considerations ............................................. 55 4 Study areas and setting ....................................................................................... 57 4.1 A comparative approach ................................................................................... 57 4.2 The regional context: Climate change, livelihoods and migration in the West African Sahel .................................................................................................... 59 iii 4.3 The characterisation of the two study areas in the West African Sahel: Linguère in Senegal and Bandiagara in Mali ................................................................... 65 4.3.1 Linguère in Senegal: Environment, livelihoods and migration .............. 65 4.3.2 Bandiagara in Mali: Environment, livelihoods and migration................ 70 5 Mixed methods: A qualitative and quantitative perspective .......................... 75 5.1 Overview of the research process ..................................................................... 75 5.2 The quantitative method: The migration survey .............................................. 78 5.3 The qualitative methods: Interviews and participant observation - based on Grounded Theory ............................................................................................. 88 6 Migration and livelihoods in the study areas .................................................... 97 6.1 Livelihoods in the study areas: livelihood conditions, stressors and strategies 97 6.2 Population migration in the study areas: Experiences, patterns and migration decisions ......................................................................................................... 109 6.2.1 Migration as a common phenomenon - with internal circular migration as dominant migration pattern ................................................................... 109 6.2.2 The migration decisions: Not always a strategic household decision ... 121 6.3 People’s motives to stay and to migrate ......................................................... 126 6.3.1 Staying: not a result of lacking financial means but determined by preference and social norms.................................................................. 126 6.3.2 People’s migrations motives: Economic reasons as the main drivers of migration ............................................................................................... 131 6.4 Chapter conclusion: Migration as a common phenomenon in areas with difficult livelihood conditions ........................................................................ 139 7 Drivers of migration: Social-ecological conditions and individual aspirations ............................................................................................................................. 141 7.1 The role of environmental factors in migration.............................................. 141 7.1.1 Whose migration is driven by environmental factors? ......................... 141 7.1.2 The impact of environmental factors on migration patterns ................. 145 7.1.3 Migration as a necessity and/or an opportunity .................................... 150 iv 7.2 The socio-economic factors in the migration decision ................................... 154 7.2.1 Migration as an economic routine activity and to improve livelihoods 154 7.2.2 Migration as a cause and consequence of inequality: The importance of successful previous migrations ............................................................. 158 7.3 Individual aspirations as determinants of the migration decision .................. 164 7.3.1 „Faire la jeunesse“ - Migration to discover the outside world .............. 164 7.3.2 Aspirations for a better life - Abandoning agriculture .......................... 173 7.4 Chapter conclusion: The interdependence of social-ecological conditions and aspirations ....................................................................................................... 181 8 Conclusion: Capabilities and aspirations to explain the environment- migration nexus in the West African Sahel .................................................... 185 8.1 Main findings and their contributions to the research on the environment migration-nexus .............................................................................................. 185 8.2 „The Capability and Aspirations Approach“: