Impact of migration on land and water use

1. Impact of migration on land and water use Prof. Rida A. Shibli

2. Migration • Migration is increasing in all over the world, and it has diverse consequences for the people remaining behind, their livelihoods, and the way they manage their land

3. An increasing number of people worldwide are migrating to improve or secure their livelihoods, and mountain regions play an important role in this trend. • Migration is often the result of a combination of push factors (eg conflict, poverty, disaster) and pull factors (eg job opportunities)

4. Migration • Over one billion people are on the move, and this level of migration is not a new phenomenon. • Implication of migration and its complex inter-linkages with agriculture and natural resource management • Migration has led to demographic shifts.

5. Statistical trends show that more people are on the move today than ever before. According to the evidence there are now 258 million international migrants, comprising 3.3% of the world's population. • This figure does not even account for people who migrate within their countries; the most recent estimates suggest that there are now upwards of 760 million domestic migrants globally (IOM World Migration Report, 2018). 

6. These migration flows are often linked to the scarcity of natural resources. Consequently, the importance of managing natural resources has been increasingly recognized in the migration debate. Water resource governance has become an important consideration within multiple regional, national, and international policy frameworks on migration.

7. Migration impacts on water and agriculture • Water and agriculture go hand-in-hand. However, access to water is becoming increasingly erratic due to climate change. • The economic stress that results from the uncertainty encourages people to move away from farming and look for alternate incomes. 

8. Migration often has a negative impact on agriculture, water access, and water governance. • When key members of the household travel abroad, it significantly increases the vulnerabilities of those who stay behind, who often lack access to information, adequate agricultural knowledge, and water.

9. Migration also directly impacts the sustainability and functionality of irrigation institutions as there is limited (and, at times, even an absence of) women’s participation in its management. 

10. The intensification of water challenges and resulting migration flows have created a strong impetus to integrate migration policy concerns into water governance at the global level.

11. Migration impacts on Land • Time and labor constraints, availability of remittances, and low productivity of the land can thus lead households to leave their land fallow or to stop investing in terrace maintenance and irrigation. • This phenomenon has been already observed in several other regions

12. Lands that are farther away or less suitable for farming are often abandoned first. The main cultivated areas are around the homesteads. 

13. Consequences of migration • The low number of men in the watershed has led to a severe shortage of labor, reducing local human capital. • The consequences of migration, are important as there is no sign of reversal of the migration trend

14. When men migrate, the remaining family members must manage the household and the land. • Women are particularly affected, facing both increased drudgery and increased decision-making responsibilities. • They gain confidence in handling these affairs and in managing community life in the absence of men, but constraints remain.

15. Women cannot, for cultural reasons, take over certain tasks, such as plowing, and there is a shortage of male laborers who could do it for them. This may help explain the decrease in the size of farms and farm income, which is compensated for by increasing off-farm income, including remittances 

16. This development threatens to erode the local production base and increases dependency on external food sources. • The clearest signs of the lack of labor are abandonment of 36% of the terraced cropland in the upper part of the watershed and reduction in the number of crops. 

17. The policies need to catch up with this change.” • Policies need to adapt to the new reality of migration especially for the people who are left behind. “Water management interventions need to be sensitive to demographic change”.

18. Most of the water programs on women are still focused on traditional areas, like kitchen gardens or sanitation. • While these are important, we also need to take note that women are now managing major irrigation canal systems and they are responsible for staple grain production. They are taking up roles which have been male dominated in the past. The policies need to catch up with this change.”

19. Migration positive impacts • Migration has positive impacts as well. Not only do migrants help in transferring new knowledge in the places they go, • They also send back remittance money which is steadily increasing to help their families manage expenses back home.

20. Conclusion • There are huge opportunities and equally huge gaps because of the changing nature of labor migration. • Even as badly needed cash remittances flow in from overseas, different labourburdens are placed on those who remain behind—especially where agriculture is concerned.

21. Migration is happening right now. We need to seek solutions for the people who have left, but we can’t forget about those who have been left behind.

22. Thanks for listening