The Impact of Vulnerability and Resilience to Environmental Changes on Mobility Patterns in West Africa

From the Sahel to the coast, West Africa is experiencing a variety of climate change impacts, including sea level rise, soil salinization, floods, drought, and desertification, while simultaneously suffering from other forms of environmental degradation. Together, these environmental changes are significantly influencing migration patterns in and out of West Africa. This paper seeks to analyze vulnerability and resilience to environmental changes as they affect and are affected by mobility patterns in the region. We assert that the impact of environmental changes cannot be isolated from other political, social, economic, and demographic pressures that together drive human mobility. In a region where natural resources form the foundation of livelihoods and food security (fishing and agriculture), the relationship between environmental changes and socioeconomic vulnerabilities is of particular concern. This paper therefore draws from four distinct case studies to grasp the variegated and cumulative vulnerability and resilience among local populations as they relate to internal and intraregional migration.