Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/326848 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
UNU-MERIT Working Papers No. 2022-039
Publisher: 
United Nations University (UNU), Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht
Abstract: 
This study examines the moderating role of access to agricultural adaptation measures in how climate change is affecting human migration in the middle- and low-income countries. The literature on the association between climate change, agricultural production, and migration has seen a dramatic expansion in the past decade and highlighted the complexity of the process. Yet, a crucial link that is missing in the discussions is the inter-linkage between migration responses and access to in-situ agricultural adaptation measures. To address this gap, I build this study on an emerging approach that treats adaptation to climate change as an additional component of sustainable economic development. I systematically review 81 quantitative and qualitative studies on the nexus of climate change, migration, and agriculture in the middle- and low-income countries and investigate the migration responses of agricultural households in conjunction with access to agricultural adaptation measures. I find a significant overlap between the social class of farmers, their capabilities to adapt in situ, and their migration decisions. The migration responses vary across agricultural households based on access to in-situ adaptation measures. Additionally, this interaction is heavily moderated by other local contextual factors- such as easy access to credit, participation in social networks, ethnic and social fractionalization, presence of conflicts, and social structures. Based on the findings, I propose a conceptual framework that could aid in deconstructing the migration responses of agricultural households in less-developed countries. Furthermore, I highlight critical policy gaps in building climate-resilient rural economies and suggest future research agendas with regard to climate change, migration, and agricultural adaptation measures.
Subjects: 
Climate change
Human mobility
Agriculture
Adaptation
Economic development
Systematic review
JEL: 
O13
Q01
O15
Q15
R20
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-sa Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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