Migration and Household Adaptation in Climate-Sensitive Hotspots in South Asia

Abstract

Purpose of Review South Asia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, owing to the high dependency on climatesensitive livelihoods and recurrent extreme events. Consequently, an increasing number of households are adopting labour migration as a livelihood strategy to diversify incomes, spread risks, and meet aspirations. Under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) initiative, four research consortia have investigated migration patterns and their inherent linkages to adaptation to climate change in climate hotspots. This article synthesizes key findings in regional context of South Asia. Recent Findings The synthesis suggests that in climate-sensitive hotspots, migration is an important livelihood diversification strategy and a response to various risks, including climate change. Typically, one or more household members, often young men, migrated internally or internationally to work in predominantly informal sectors. Remittances helped spatially diversify household income, spread risks, and insure against external stressors. The outcomes of migration are often influenced by who moves, where to, and what capacities they possess. Summary Migration was found to help improve household adaptive capacity, albeit in a limited capacity. Migration was mainly used as a response to risk and uncertainty, but with potential to have positive adaptation co-benefits.

Benchmarking Community Disaster Resilience in Nepal

“…Perhaps not so coincidentally, most of these locations are also socially vulnerable [41]. Further, a recent increase in rural (Hill) to urban (Tarai) migration exposes a significant number of vulnerable populations towards serial and sporadic natural hazards, thus exacerbating their situation [54]. In recent years, during monsoon season, the Tarai region has experienced recurring riverine and flash flood events and inundation along the Nepal India border.…”

“…For instance, we added Dalit Population in the model, as Dalit represents the lowest strata in the caste system of Nepal and it is characterized by a lower level of resilience [52,53]. Additionally, we added Absentee Population to reflect prevalent male outmigration mainly to the Gulf countries (Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates), Malaysia, and South Korea [54,55], and 2) the availability of the data at the village level. Many variables that are used in the DROP model, such as variables related to institutional resilience (mitigation spending, local disaster training, flood insurance, crop insurance), are not available at the village level in Nepal.…”

Perception of climate migrants

“…Case studies suggest that people who are relocated or displaced for environmental reasons are sometimes met in the destination locale with hostile attitudes or even violence 1,2 , but such evidence is fragmented. Given the growing realization that the success of climate change adaptation -and sustainable development more broadly -is tied closely to mobility and migrant integration [3][4][5][6] , a clearer picture of what people in destination communities think about climate migrants is needed. Writing in Nature Climate Change, Gabriele Spilker and colleagues find that urban residents in Kenya and Vietnam accept that climate hazards are a legitimate reason for people to relocate to their cities, and this reason is neither more nor less meritorious than others 7 .…”

“…How to define and measure adaptation 'success' is an ongoing debate in adaptation research 3 . But this debate is often theoretical and lacks local voices from the ground.…”

Conditions under Which Rural-to-Urban Migration Enhances Social and Economic Sustainability of Home Communities: A Case Study in Vietnam

“…Thus, migration impacts rural areas' socioeconomic sustainability when its influences are not only current but ongoing. Through urbanto-rural flows (e.g., remittances, return migration), migrants contribute to present rural development through remittance investment (e.g., improving household welfare, educating children, donating to improve infrastructure, [16][17][18][19][20]). Additionally, returning migrants' knowledge and skills accumulated during the migration period can be utilized (e.g., to transform rural areas by improving the contractural relationship between rural areas and businesses and thus creating solid social capital, [21]) to contribute to the home community's development.…”