Variation by Geographic Scale in the Migration-Environment Association: Evidence from Rural South Africa

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dc.citation.doi10.12765/CPoS-2017-11enen_ZA
dc.citation.epage148en_ZA
dc.citation.spage117en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHunter, L.M.
dc.contributor.authorLeyk, S.
dc.contributor.authorMaclaurin, G.J.
dc.contributor.authorNawrotzki, R.
dc.contributor.authorTwine, W.
dc.contributor.authorErasmus, B.F.N.
dc.contributor.authorCollinson, M.
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-31T13:58:04Z
dc.date.available2019-10-31T13:58:04Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.departmentGlobal Change Institute (GCI)
dc.departmentEpidemiology and Biostatistics
dc.description.abstractScholarly understanding of human migration’s environmental dimensions has greatly advanced in the past several years, motivated in large part by public and policy dialogue around “climate migrants”. The research presented here advances current demographic scholarship both through its substantive interpretations and conclusions, as well as its methodological approach. We examine temporary rural South African outmigration as related to household-level availability of proximate natural resources. Such “natural capital” is central to livelihoods in the region, both for sustenance and as materials for market-bound products. The results demonstrate that the association between local environmental resource availability and outmigration is, in general, positive: households with higher levels of proximate natural capital are more likely to engage in temporary migration. In this way, the general findings support the “environmental surplus” hypothesis that resource security provides a foundation from which households can invest in migration as a livelihood strategy. Such insight stands in contrast to popular dialogue, which tends to view migration as a last resort undertaken only by the most vulnerable households. As another important insight, our findings demonstrate important spatial variation, complicating attempts to generalize migration-environment findings across spatial scales. In our rural South African study site, the positive association between migration and proximate resources is actually highly localized, varying from strongly positive in some villages to strongly negative in others. We explore the socio-demographic factors underlying this “operational scale sensitivity”. The cross-scale methodologies applied here offer nuance unavailable within more commonly used global regression models, although also introducing complexity that complicates story-telling and inhibits generalizability.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianNLB2019en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Aeronautics and Space Administration and Agricultural Research Council; Wellcome Trusten_ZA
dc.funderNICHD-funded University of Colorado Population Centeren_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHunter, L.M., et al. 2017. Variation by geographic scale in the migration–environment association: Evidence from rural South Africa. Comparative Population Studies 42, pp.117-148.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1869-8980(PRINT)
dc.identifier.issn869-8999 (ONLINE)
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/28312
dc.journal.titleComparative Population Studiesen_ZA
dc.journal.volume42en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherFederal Institute for Population Researchen_ZA
dc.rightsCopyright (c) 2017 CC BY-SAen_ZA
dc.subjectClimateen_ZA
dc.subjectEnvironmenten_ZA
dc.subjectLivelihoodsen_ZA
dc.subjectNatural resourcesen_ZA
dc.subjectMigrationen_ZA
dc.subjectOperational scale sensitivityen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectScaleen_ZA
dc.titleVariation by Geographic Scale in the Migration-Environment Association: Evidence from Rural South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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