Migration in many developing countries is mostly motivated by the need to improve the well-being of individuals or household members. The aim of this study, therefore, was to establish the role of rural-urban migration on child survival in Kenya. Using a sample of 156,977 children pooled from six Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Kenya between 1989 and 2014 we compared child survival for five sets of paired migration statuses using odds ratios. The results of the odds ratio for the composite analysis show that children born to rural non-migrants, rural-to-urban migrants and urban-to-rural migrants were 31 percent, 15 percent and 33 percent respectively more likely to die compared to those born to urban non-migrants. Children born to rural-to-urban migrants were 12 percent less likely to die compared to those born to rural non-migrant women while survival chances were similar for children born to urban-to-rural migrants and rural non-migrants. When odd ratios are decomposed by socioeconomic and health characteristics, the results suggest that most of the rural-to-urban migrants face adaptability challenges in urban region. From these results, we conclude that migration can affect child survival through the socioeconomic and environmental adaptability capability of the migrant households. Policies on child survival should therefore aim at bridging the socioeconomic gaps between migrant groups. Specifically, the progressive development policies at both national and devolved governance should aim at reducing the geographical socioeconomic disparities. Keywords: Migration, Child survival, Rural region, Urban region, Odds ratio

One of the major consequences of insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin is the massive dis-placement of populations towards secure territories. The influx of forced migrants is accompanied by increased exploitation of agro-pastoral resources. This is the case in the northern part of Cameroon, which since 2014 has hosted more than 100,000 refugees and 350,000 internally displaced persons, most of whom have agriculture and livestock farming as their main activities. The aim of this article is to show how forced migration contributes to the pressure on agro-pastoral resources (agricultural land, grazing land, wood resources). The study is based on field observation, supplemented by reports from organizations responsible for supervising migrants. Field surveys of a sample of 262 individuals, representative of the population under consideration were carried out in the territories of Moskota, Mozogo, Mokolo, Koza and Tokombéré bordering Bornou in Nigeria. Primary data were completed with data from the International Organization for Migration's Dis-placement Tracking Matrix (DTM), and UNHCR reports on statistics relating to refugees and in-ternally displaced people in northern Cameroon. The results of data analysis show that settlement of forced migrants has exacerbated the degradation of grazing land, forest reserves and the conflicts between farmers and breeders linked to the difficult access to agriculture plots (25% of conflicts), grazing land (58% of conflicts), water and firewood.

This study assessed the causes of under-five (U5) deaths and examined the associated risk factors in northern Ghana. The study analyzed prospectively collected longitudinal data of children born between 1st January 2007 and 31st December 2012 and resident in the Navrongo Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NHDSS) area in northern Ghana. Data from 20,651 children were analyzed with 1,056 under-five deaths and 51,783 person-years of observation. The overall mortality rate was 19.5 per 1000 person-years of observation. The main cause of under-five deaths was malaria (19.5%). Being male (Hazards ratio [95% CI]; 1.20 [1.06 - 1.36]; p=0.004), children born to single mothers (1.3 [1.18 - 1.59]; p<0.001) and home deliveries (1.29 [1.12 - 1.48]; p<0.001) were associated with increased risk of mortality. Children born to women aged 20-34 years (0.81 [0.67 – 0.98]; p=0.0.25) were associated with relatively lower risk of death compared to those born to women aged 19 years and below. Children from high socioeconomic households had relatively lower risk of death even though not statistically significant (0.87 [0.74 - 1.03]; p=0.056). Malaria remains the leading cause of under-five deaths in the study area. Adherence to prevailing malaria prevention measures including use of insecticide treated bed-nets, seasonal chemo-prophylaxis, indoor-residual spraying and adequate access to healthcare will greatly improve child survival.