Migration as an adaptation strategy to climate change: Evidence from Buoku and Bofie-Banda in the Wenchi and Tain Districts of Ghana

Mumuni Abu, University of Ghana and Pennsylvania State University

Recent concerns about consequences of climate change on human population have fueled the interest in the population mobility and climate-related environmental nexus. This paper examines the extent to which migration has been used as a livelihood strategy in response to climatic changes in the forest-savannah transitional zone of Ghana. Using a mix method approach with data from the CCLONG project and Ghana Meteorological Service Department, the paper employed a multiple classification analysis to examine how migration has been used as a livelihood strategy in response to climate-related events. The results indicate that flood and drought are more likely to trigger migration among people in communities that have savannah characteristics, when other socio-demographic and economic factors are controlled; a similar experience is less likely in communities that have forest characteristics. The paper concludes that climate-related environmental events alone may not trigger migration if it is not linked to other socio-economic issues.