Social Vulnerabilities in Environmentally Induced Migration: Evidence from Mali and Senegal.

In the West African Sahel, the majority of the population depend on subsistence or small-scale farming and are thus particularly vulnerable to environmental changes. One possible response to environmental changes is migration. However, the impact of environmental changes on migration remains unclear since migration is considered a multi-causal phenomenon. Whether people choose migration as an adaptation strategy to environmental change depends on their vulnerability to these changes, their capabilities and preferences.
This paper addresses the issue of environmentally induced migration as an adaptation strategy and its links to social vulnerability by using the example of education and gender as important indicators of social vulnerability. The research focuses on two areas in the West African Sahel – Bandiagara in Mali and Linguère in Senegal – that are presumed to be particularly affected by climate variability and environmental degradation. We illustrate that people’s motives of and capabilities for migration differ considerably between gender and the level of education and show under which social-ecological conditions migration constitutes an important adaptation strategy to environmental changes.