Paper short abstract:

Multiple stressors, including population increase, poverty and climate change threaten deltaic populations. This paper explores how 'migration as adaptation' to change occurs in India, Bangladesh and Ghana and the extent to which this contributes to long term sustainability in the delta.

Paper long abstract:

Populations living in the world's deltas face significant threats from climate change such as sea-level rise leading to loss of land and salinization, increase flooding and more frequent and severe storms. The impacts of these changes are compounded by other anthropogenic stressors such as population increase and chronic poverty. Adaptation to change will be essential if deltaic communities are to mitigate the worse impacts. Migration emerges as one such adaptation; however, there currently exists little data on exactly how migration may occur. More specifically, there is little empirical evidence that examines the extent to which migration is used as an adaptation in its own right, or as a strategy of last resort when other adaptations have failed. Using data from 6000 household surveys from deltas in Ghana, India and Bangladesh, this paper explores the 'migration as an adaptation' versus 'migration as a failure of adaptation' debate. We examine the factors that drive a range of adaptations, including migration. We also examine the extent to which deltaic communities view migration as a successful adaptation strategy, and the extent to which migration can contribute to long term sustainability in the delta.