The Migration Response to Food Insecurity and Household Shocks in Southwestern Ethiopia, 2005–2008

Abstract

This article examines how severe food insecurity and other shocks impact internal and international migration in southwestern Ethiopia using longitudinal survey data collected between 2005 and 2008 from a random sample of urban and rural households. We found an elevated risk of internal and international migration among sons and daughters in households that experienced severe food insecurity or farm loss. A household member's illness or death also significantly increased the risk of internal migration regardless of a household member's relationship with the household head. We also found that the effects of severe food insecurity and the other shocks were additive. With each additional shock, the risks of migration incrementally increased. This article provides compelling evidence of an international and an internal migration response to food insecurity and other shocks in a context where the prevalence of international migration is increasing and the potential for future international migration is substantial. These results challenge conventional wisdom in the migration literature that food insecurity and other household shocks will have larger relative effects on internal compared to international migration.