The causal nexus of Trans-Saharan migration: A political ecology approach from Niger

Abstract

Increased Trans-Saharan migration over the past decade has spurred arguments that climate change or generic conditions of poverty drive West Africans to take this risky journey. These diagnoses are made with little empirical investigation of the conditions facing migrants and their families at home. This article reports on mixed-methods research conducted in southwestern Niger within ten communities where Trans-Saharan migration has recently begun, with interviews conducted at community, household and individual scales. Interviews were conducted within 331 households with or without members involved in Trans-Saharan migration. Individual interviews were also conducted with 67 returned Trans-Saharan migrants and 100 community youth who represent potential Trans-Saharan migrants. We find no evidence that new rainfall fluctuations influence the onset of Trans-Saharan migration. Study communities and migrant families within them are not poorer nor more food insecure than other communities or non-migrant families. The sole difference is that migrant families have more adult men. Interviews with returned Trans-Saharan migrants point to a mix of individual and family motivations for embarking on risky journeys north. A key factor is desperation – driven not by short-term scarcities but by a hopelessness due to life-long experiences of crushing poverty, past periods of recurrent drought, soil impoverishment, and political voicelessness. They go, despite knowing the grave abuses and risks they may face.