Does out-migration stand as a preferred adaptive strategy against climate variability? Evidence from rural Ethiopian household survey

Papiya Guha Mazumdar, Future Health Systems RPC
Sumit Mazumdar, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi

African nations mostly under Sub-Saharan Africa are gradually emerging as the most exposed regions in the world to unfavourable impacts of climate change. Faced with climatic shocks and inclement weather, rural households often employ diverse adaptive mechanisms, including out-migration. Remittances from out-migrants have been suggested as of having potential to mitigate adverse impacts arising out of such shocks. Using household survey data on shocks from the Nile river basin in Ethiopia we test pattern of such adaptive mechanisms, to find lesser reliance on out-migration.This is explained by reluctance of households to try newer forms of livelihoods or uncertainties of unfamiliar settings. We reconcile the findings with similar studies in the literature and contend that in diverse societies worldwide, out-migration as a response to climatic contingencies and risks, are often a less-intense strategy, than conventionally understood.