This paper seeks to fill a gap in the literature by carrying out an empirical study where longitudinal data from the Demographic Surveillance System of Kersa, Ethiopia addresses the spatial and temporal dynamics of the nexus between drought, poverty and immobility.
Paper long abstract:
In Ethiopia, droughts are frequent and their effects are exacerbated by deep rural poverty, limited government capacity and exposure to additional political, economic and health crises. How do households and individuals cope with repeated droughts? In a deprived rural area where climate-related policy interventions are extremely limited, the paper examines the influence of drought and poverty on the migration patterns of individuals by exploring a longitudinal dataset of 24,000 households and 148,000 individuals from the Demographic Surveillance System of Kersa, Ethiopia. By doing so, we locate the epistemology at the scale of deprived rural areas and commit to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by providing granular data to understand better the needs and experiences of vulnerable populations. Policy contributions in climate-related (im)mobility ought to be derived from empirical studies based on disaggregated poverty data.