A review of drivers of environmental non-migration decisions in Africa

Abstract

In spite of growing scholarship on environmentally induced non-migration research in Africa, comprehensive empirical evidence of non-migration drivers is extremely difficult to find. We review 77 rigorously selected empirical articles on the drivers of environmental non-migration. A variety of relevant keywords was applied to search, identify, and select key publications from ScienceDirect, Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, and the Climig databases. Content analysis and inter-rater reliability (IRR) analysis were used to summarize the literature and identify key drivers of environmental non-migration decisions across all retained articles. The study structure was informed by the Foresight (2011a) conceptual framework. A growth in the non-migration literature across the time period was observed. Social factors, particularly place-based attachment and family/cultural obligations, was identified as the most important driver of non-migration (IRR score = 0.67). Environmental factors were ranked second, particularly the ability of the affected to develop coping capacity through experiential learning even in contexts marred by resource scarcity and widespread poverty. Given the limited literature on environmental non-migration decisions, we recommend increased non-migration research across Africa to better inform policy decisions. This is particularly important as climate-related disasters surge. Frequent reviews on diverse aspects of non-migration studies are recommended to redefine future research and non-migration policy considerations in Africa.