Background
Migration as climate change adaptation
The gendered nature of migration
Theoretical approaches
Setting and research design
Methods
Average Age of Migrants | Destination | Occupation Abroad (# of migrant men) | Average time spent working abroad | Number of men returning without money | Average money returned of those returning with money |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 years | 20 Ivory Coast, 9 Mali, 1 Burkina Faso | 19 plantations 9 gold mines 2 (other, construction and mechanic) | 3.8 months | 14 | 26 €/month of work (min = 5, max = 250€). Median = 12.5 € |
Results
Respondent (R): It’s misery that made us migrate.Interviewer (I): And what else?R: It’s misery, it did not rain well, and the famine was so strong, and [we] needed food so badly, and then this man came to us telling us that he was looking for people to go work, so we did not hesitate a little bit to follow him and go there (Interview M291).
Migration outcomes
Themes | Groups | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Migrant men | Wives of migrants | Main similarities | Main differences | |
Economic situation | (In)ability to send remittances | Lack of money for basic goods | Extreme poverty | - |
Food security | Food insecurity motivated migration, but expectations were not met | Experience of hunger/assumption of men being able to feed themselves better at destination | Migration seen as having potential benefit if it delivers food security | Women endured food insecurity throughout, whereas men had improved chances of access to food |
Health | Work accidents, hard working conditions, and communicable disease like Malaria | Concern of men introducing STDs | Concern of children’s health and nutrition as motivations for migration | Awareness and articulation of STD risk by women |
Wellbeing | Tiredness and exhaustion, resignation over lack of options available | Feeling of abandonment/all duties on the shoulders of the women | Dissatisfaction with migration outcome | Shift in women’s roles and responsibilities during migration |
Migrate again | Migrate again as only opportunity for income generation if harvests fail | Men migrating again against women’s will | Conclusion that migration will reoccur | Agency in household’s migration decisions |
Migrant men: economic situation and food security
According to our analysis, when we leave the village to go work somewhere else, the little money that we will earn will be spent in the village here, so it contributes somehow to the development of the village, as a result, the movements of the young people are advantageous to the village. For example, when I came back, I did all my expenses here, and this money has been invested in the village (Interview M5).
I: Did you send money to your family while you were there?R: « Laughing » I was not able to send any money.[…] We did not get any money, the way we were enthusiastic before our departure. When we got there, we found out that the work was very difficult and we could not get much money (Interview M26).R: They told us one thousand francs for every twenty-five meters [of sugar cane], but when we arrived there, it did not happen that way. It happens that you work and then you don’t even get thousand francs (€ 1.52). And it is also us, who took charge of our food (Interview M20).
R: The way back was a big problem because we worked and the boss ran away with the money before the end of the contract (Interview M24).
R: The year we did not migrate and we stayed here to work, that year was better than the year I migrated. […]If you migrate and then the situation is still bad, this shows that here it is better than the place you migrated [to] (Interview M24).When you are poor and have nobody to help you out, you can't do anything. You will be bound to go for a trip hoping to get something beneficial for the family, [as] we have no other sources of income here (Interview M3).I don't have a choice, I have no external help. It's an obligation for me to migrate (Interview M30).
Migrant men: health and wellbeing
Well, and the fever, because of tiredness, often the more you work without having a rest, the muscles don't function correctly anymore, as the body can't bear it too, apart from that and the stomach-aches, and malaria, there is nothing (Interview M27).
It is tiring […]. Because the things for which we left, we did not earn anything […] in order to take care of the family. It is this kind of tiredness I am talking about that still remains. You see? The gap that we said that we are going to fill – it could not be done! (Interview M22).
The difficulties increase gradually, they never decrease. « Silence » (Interview M29).
Wives of migrants: economic situation and food security
If he leaves and he is able to earn a lot of money, we can buy some stuffs that we can put aside to ensure the food security (Interview W11).
He brought some money and he bought some grains for us and this served us a lot to reach the next rainy season (Interview W10).
There is no advantage […] He left me alone with the children. You see, you suffer in every side […] As he left and he did not come back with money (Interview W4).According to him, of course, this has been beneficial. He went to work there in order to feed himself […] He left me behind with the children […] If you go there, you must come back with something by all means for your family. If you don't then it is useless for you to go there (Interview W2).
The problem that we had was the problem of food. Because when he was leaving, there was nothing to eat (Interview W6).R: Everyday, we eat what we earn […].I: Were there any days when you did not have food to eat?R: This is too common (Interview W2).
R: I go to cultivate in the farms of people in order to earn money to buy millet. Sometimes, I take credits from people to buy food, and later I will reimburse. Sometimes, we don't earn anything so we have to sleep [with an] empty stomach.I: Are there other things that the departure of your husband has caused?R: We have a lot of difficulties.[…] Sometimes we even do not have a soap to wash the clothes, money to buy food, condiments, to send the millets to the mill, all these are difficult at times (Interview W16).
Wives of migrants: health and wellbeing
Often, my children used to fall sick and I did not have money and at the pharmacy, they do not give the medicine for credit (Interview W11).
Even if they did not come back with money, the fact that they come back in good health is a good thing (Interview W3).
There is a worriedness, we wonder, will they not come back again, how will they come back, in good health? In bad health? (KI 1).
There are some who came back with HIV. […] It can kill a person, if you as a wife you stay in the village and your husband comes with such a disease, you can be contaminated and you may die from it. (Interview W1).When he returns, he is likely to transmit these diseases to his wife and to the people of his village (Interview W9).
I: Do you want your husband to go back there again?R: Ha! Of course, I don't. […] As his migration did not bear any fruits, that's why I don’t want him to go back there again.I: So, even if he decides to go there next year, will you tell him not to? Staying here is better?R: Yes (Interview W3).
If he chose himself to go back and suffer in order to earn a living for the family, I can’t stand against it. I would accept if there is no food in the family (Interview W10).If the rainy season is not good, he will go back of course […] in case things don't go well, he will not stay here, he will migrate (Interview W5).