Health and migration in the context of a changing climate: a systematic literature assessment

Schwerdtle, Patricia Nayna; McMichael, Celia; Mank, Isabel; Sauerborn, Rainer; Bowen, Kathryn

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab9ece

Cited by 51 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 101 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Unlike seasonal migration for income/livelihood diversification, this migration is no longer restricted to the “dry season” It’s permanent and often seen as a last resort [ 84 ]. This pattern, not limited to Burkina Faso, has been recorded throughout West African and across the world [ 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ]. Those who no longer view farming as a reliable source of subsistence have cited a plethora of reasons including changing rains, environmental degradation, and increasing extreme weather events [ 92 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso

Sorgho

Mank

Kagoné

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In West Africa, climate change aggravates subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to weather variability to sustain their agricultural and nutritional requirements. For successful adaptation policies, in-depth understanding of farmers’ perceptions about climate change, agriculture, and adaptation strategies is essential. This qualitative study in rural Burkina Faso characterized farmers’ perceptions and knowledge through in-depth interviews. The study enumerated the barriers, possibilities, strategies/practices, and support sources of farmers. There was awareness but limited understanding of climate change amongst farmers. Those unable to adapt, faced increased health difficulties, specifically regarding nutrition and mental health. Farmers could implement some dietary and agricultural adaptation strategies (reduce meal size, frequency and variety, preemptive purchase of cereals, multi-cropping, crop rotation, modified seeds) but were unable to implement others (soil rehabilitation, water management). Barriers to implementation comprised financial and time constraints, material and labor shortages, and inaccessible information. Farmers did not understand, trust or utilize meteorological services, but appreciated and relied on agricultural extension services. They reported that social and governmental support was sporadic and inconsistent. This study uncovers the following targets for climate change adaptation policies in rural Burkina Faso: promoting meteorological services, expanding agricultural extension services, increasing access to financial resources, and framing sustainable adaptation within national development goals.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso

Sorgho

Mank

Kagoné

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies were also excluded because they did not present empirical evidence, or investigated health and migration of animal or plant species. The original systematic literature review search was first conducted in December 2018 and a publication focused on another data-set was published in Environmental Review Letters [ 33 ]. The search was updated in August 2020, capturing 18 additional studies using the same protocol.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is the second manuscript from an updated systematic literature review, which presented different findings [ 33 ]. Therefore, the quality appraisal was complete for 50 of the included studies identified in the original search (December 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Meta-Synthesis of Policy Recommendations Regarding Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change

Schwerdtle

Stockemer

Bowen

et al. 2020

IJERPH

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Changing mobility patterns combined with changes in the climate present challenges and opportunities for global health, requiring effective, relevant, and humane policy responses. This study used data from a systematic literature review that examined the intersection between climate change, migration, and health. The study aimed to synthesize policy recommendations in the peer-reviewed literature, regarding this type of environmental migration with respect to health, to strengthen the evidence-base. Systematic searches were conducted in four academic databases (PubMed, Ovid Medline, Global Health and Scopus) and Google Scholar for empirical studies published between 1990–2020 that used any study design to investigate migration and health in the context of climate change. Studies underwent a two-stage protocol-based screening process and eligible studies were appraised for quality using a standardized mixed-methods tool. From the initial 2425 hits, 68 articles were appraised for quality and included in the synthesis. Among the policy recommendations, six themes were discernible: (1) avoid the universal promotion of migration as an adaptive response to climate risk; (2) preserve cultural and social ties of mobile populations; (3) enable the participation of migrants in decision-making in sites of relocation and resettlement; (4) strengthen health systems and reduce barriers for migrant access to health care; (5) support and promote optimization of social determinants of migrant health; (6) integrate health into loss and damage assessments related to climate change, and consider immobile and trapped populations. The results call for transformative policies that support the health and wellbeing of people engaging in or affected by mobility responses, including those whose migration decisions and experiences are influenced by climate change, and to establish and develop inclusive migrant healthcare.

show abstract

“…Policy recommendations synthesisFirstly, there were consistent recommendations to avoid universal promotion of migration as an adaptive response to climate risk, to prevent forced migration by investing in climate change adaptation at origin, and to consider relocation only as a last resort[2,8,21,25,37,43,52, 64, 65, 66]. These recommendations echo the broader calls by, for example, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to minimize forced climate-related migration (IOM, 2020) and also the need to avoid assumptions that mobility is inherently positive or negative(Boas et al, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This raises some questions about the extent to which the research is focussing on adaptation in a critical period when the mitigation window is closing.Alternatively, this gap may simply reflect that when migration is triggered, there is an urgent adaptation situation in play. In some contexts, existing migration flows and networks may provide opportunity for investment in the economies of sending communities (via remittances) that can increase opportunities for in situ adaptation and resilience among those who remain.The second theme highlighted the importance of the preservation of cultural and social ties for the health of mobile populations through preserving and revitalizing traditional solidarity measures[21,29,41,42,43, 61]. Selected articles recommended strengthening governance or socio-ecological systems, favouring community-led approaches, and in doing so, recognizing the agency and inherent resilience of communities and to promote collaborative, adaptive migration governance structures.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobility and Health in the Context of Climate Change: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Synthesis of Policy Recommendations

Schwerdtle¹,

Stockemer²,

Bowen³

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Changing mobility patterns combined with changes in the climate present challenges and opportunities for global health, requiring effective, relevant and humane policy responses. This systematic literature review sought to synthesize the existing policy recommendations related to the literature examining the intersection of climate change, migration and health to strengthen the evidence-base. Systematic searches were conducted in four academic databases (PubMed, Ovid Medline, Global Health and Scopus) and Google Scholar for empirical studies published between 1990 – 2020 that used any study design to investigate migration and health in the context of climate change. Studies underwent a two-stage protocol-based screening process and eligible studies were appraised for quality using a standardized mixed-methods tool. From the initial 2,425 hits, 68 articles were appraised for quality and included in the synthesis. Among the policy recommendations, six themes were discernible: (1) avoid the universal promotion of migration as an adaptive response to climate risk; (2) preserve cultural and social ties of mobile populations; (3) enable the participation of migrants in decision-making in sites of relocation and resettlement; (4) strengthen health systems and reduce barriers for migrants to access health care; (5) support and promote optimization of social determinants of migrant health; (6) integrate health into loss and damage assessments related to climate change. The results call for transformative policies that support the health and wellbeing of people engaging in, or affected by mobility responses, including those whose migration decisions and experiences are influenced by climate change, and to establish and develop inclusive migrant healthcare.

show abstract

Health and migration in the context of a changing climate: a systematic literature assessment

Cited by 51 publications

References 101 publications

“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso

“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso

A Meta-Synthesis of Policy Recommendations Regarding Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change

Mobility and Health in the Context of Climate Change: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Synthesis of Policy Recommendations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About