DROUGHT AND POPULATION MOBILITY IN RURAL ETHIOPIA

World Dev. 2012 Jan 1;40(1):134-145. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.05.023. Epub 2011 Jun 21.

Abstract

Significant attention has focused on the possibility that climate change will displace large populations in the developing world, but few multivariate studies have investigated climate-induced migration. We use event history methods and a unique longitudinal dataset from the rural Ethiopian highlands to investigate the effects of drought on population mobility over a ten-year period. The results indicate that men's labor migration increases with drought and that land-poor households are most vulnerable. However, marriage-related moves by women also decrease with drought. These findings suggest a hybrid narrative of environmentally-induced migration that recognizes multiple dimensions of adaptation to environmental change.