Key Concepts in the Advancing Alternative Migration Governance Migration and Development: Examining the migration development nexus in Kayes Region, Mali D 6.4 Johannes Claes, Anna Schmauder and Fransje Molenaar 2021 This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 822625. The content reflects only the authors’ views, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Advancing Alternative Migration Governance Publication information You are free to share and cite the material if you include proper reference. Suggested citation: Claes, J., Schmauder, A., and Molenaar, F. (2021) Examining the migration development nexus in Kayes Region, Mali. ADMIGOV Deliverable 6.4, The Hague: Clingendael Institute. Available at URL http://admigov.eu You may not use the material for commercial purposes. Acknowledgments This paper has been written by Johannes Claes, Anna Schmauder and Fransje Molenaar and has been peer reviewed by Katie Kuschminder and Maria Gabriella Trovato. The authors wish to thank the Abdoul Kassim Fomba and Ilo Diall of Think Peace, as well as their network of enumerators, for coordinating and carrying out the quantitative leg of data collection in Mali. Our thanks go out as well to Modibo Cissé, Madane Traore and Oumar Sow for carrying out qualitative interviews. We are very grateful to Jean-Luc Jucker for analysing quantitative data and designing regression models. A special thanks to our colleagues Kars de Bruijne and Fransje Molenaar for their guidance throughout the research project and their comments on earlier versions of this paper, as well as to Annabelle Willeme for her help in coding and analysing qualitative interviews. The views presented below are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the institutions with which they are affiliated. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: [email protected]. Examining the migration development nexus in Kayes Region, Mali Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4 2 Country Context ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Brief Overview of country situation .................................................................................... 5 2.2 Overview of target group respondents ................................................................................. 6 2.3 Overview of Development Projects ...................................................................................... 9 3Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 Survey Methodology ........................................................................................................... 13 3.1.1 Sampling Strategy ............................................................................................... 13 3.1.2 Survey Adaptations/Specifications ....................................................................... 15 3.1.3 Survey Limitations ............................................................................................... 16 3.2 Qualitative Interview Methodology .............................................................................. 17 4. Results ................................................................................................................................... 19 4.1 Descriptive Profile of Respondents ............................................................................... 19 4.1.1 Respondents to quantitative survey ..................................................................... 19 4.1.2 Respondents to qualitative interview ................................................................... 22 4.2 Migration Aspirations .......................................................................................................... 22 4.3 Development Interventions ................................................................................................ 25 5. The relation between assistance received and migration aspirations .................................. 31 5.1 Descriptive statistics ...................................................................................................... 31 5.2 Regression analysis ....................................................................................................... 35 5.3 Qualitative data ............................................................................................................. 40 5.3.1. Reasons for migrating ......................................................................................... 40 5.3.2 The role of the diaspora and migration in Kayes .................................................... 43 5.3.3 Migration aspirations and assistance .................................................................... 45 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 47 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 48 Annexes ............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. References .................................................................................................................................... 50 AdMiGov 2021 3 Examining the migration development nexus in Kayes Region, Mali 1. Introduction Halting migration ambitions by implementing developments initiatives has been part of the ‘s external toolbox since the adoption of the Global Approach for Migration and Mobility (Deridder, Pelckmans, Ward 2020, 13). With the “migration crisis” of 2015, the number of policy initiatives to try and stem departures from countries of origin multiplied and aid to African countries became increasingly conditional upon cooperation on migration matters (Schofberger, 2019). The EU-Africa Valletta Summit and the creation of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa identified West Africa as one of the prime regions of focus for projects that found themselves on the so-called migration-development-security nexus. Mali was one of the West African priority countries due a high number of Malian arrivals in Europe as well as because of its strategic position on key migration routes northward. While finding itself under external pressure to stem departures was nothing new for the country (Saadiyo, 2020), the scale at which projects were implemented increased considerably, especially in regions that had longstanding traditions of long-distance migration such as the southern region of Kayes and Sikasso. A variety of projects were implemented that sought to create livelihood opportunities for residents and returning migrants, using a logic that assumed that creating such opportunities would lower people’s aspirations to leave. This study examines the approach put forward by these projects and investigates to what extent migration aspirations are influenced by development assistance. It focuses on Malian residents and returning migrants from the region of Kayes, as well as on migrants in transit in Bamako and the northern city of Gao. Research findings are based on 586 quantitative interviews and 60 qualitative interviews. The first two parts of this study will explore the Malian country context with regards to migration and spell out the methodology used in both the quantitative and qualitative research methods. A third part then provides a descriptive profile of respondents based on both datasets and unpacks their migration aspirations as well as the development assistance they have thus far received. In a fourth and final part the relationship between development assistance received and migrations aspirations is analysed. AdMiGov 2021 4 Examining the migration development nexus in Kayes Region, Mali Country Context 2.1 Brief Overview of country situation Migration is an important phenomenon in Mali. As in many other West African countries, migration is intra and extra regional and is rooted in historical, cultural and economical mobility patterns. Typically, intraregional migration has taken place from Mali to plantations and mines in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, as well as circular migration of pastoralists moving from the north to the south of Mali and to coastal countries (IOM, 2013). Such mobility patterns are facilitated by the free movement allowed within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) states as well as bilateral agreements between Mali and Algeria and Mali and Morocco (Molenaar and Van Damme, 2017). Increases in Malian emigration to Europe can be placed in a broader trend of heightened mobility following droughts sweeping through the Sahel in the 1970s and 80s. In 2015, the biggest share of Malian emigrants lived in Cote d’Ivoire (35%), followed by Nigeria (16%), Niger (8%), and France (8%) (Bruni et al, 2017). From July to September 2020, Mauritania (24%), Algeria (18%), Libya (7%), France (3%), Italy (3%) and Spain (2%) were the main destination countries of Malian migrants (IOM, 2020). The majority of them thus move and live within the ECOWAS region. At the same time Mali has consistently