Migration caused by climate change: how vulnerable are people inn dryland areas?

Author: Meze-Hausken E.

Source: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Volume 5, Number 4, 2000 , pp. 379-406(28)

Publisher: Springer

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $47.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

Climate change has been presented as a likely trigger for migration of people, especially in dryland areas of less developed countries. The underlying research questions focus on the strength of adaptation capacity of subsistence farmers in Northern Ethiopia, and evaluate historical experiences gained from drought-induced migration. Through a survey of 104 peasants who had to migrant due to persistent drought, vulnerability to climate change has shown to be a complex issue, including the multiplicity of factors comprising a household environment. Still, to be vulnerable does not make someone a potential climate migrant, as people in marginal regions have developed a great variety of adaptation mechanisms, which strengthen their ability to cope with both, slow climatic changes and extreme climatic events.

Keywords: climate change; Ethiopia; historical analogy; migration; vulnerability

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of Geography, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway

Publication date: 2000-01-01