Soil quality and human migration in Kenya and Uganda
Open accessAbstract
Soil degradation is widely considered to be a key factor undermining agricultural livelihoods in the developing world and contributing to rural out-migration. To date, however, few quantitative studies have examined the effects of soil characteristics on human migration or other social outcomes for potentially vulnerable households. This study takes advantage of a unique longitudinal survey dataset from Kenya and Uganda containing information on household-level soil properties to investigate the effects of soil quality on population mobility. Random effects multinomial logit models are used to test for effects of soil quality on both temporary and permanent migration while accounting for a variety of potential confounders. The analysis reveals that soil quality significantly reduces migration in Kenya, particularly for temporary labor migration, but marginally increases migration in Uganda. These findings are consistent with several previous studies in showing that adverse environmental conditions tend to increase migration but not universally, contrary to common assumptions about environmentally-induced migration.
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Diminished soil quality in Kenya has led people to travel to diversify their income.
“Diminished soil quality in Kenya has led people to travel to diversify their income.”
From Migration as adaptation (2011) · cites this paper as [4]
The Discussion reports a strong association in Kenya between low soil quality and temporary labor migration, and suggests that households send migrants to generate additional income. The claim presents this suggested response as an established causal effect; the paper does not establish that diminished soil quality caused people to migrate. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn 2004-05, temporary labour migration in households farming high-quality soils in Kenya was 67% lower than in those using poor soils.
“In 2004-05, for example, temporary labour migration in households that were farming land with high-quality soils was 67% lower than in those using poor soils 4 .”
From Migration as adaptation (2011) · cites this paper as [4]
Results §5.1 (Kenya; page not provided) reports that the odds of temporary labor migration were 67% lower for households with high-quality soil. The citing sentence presents this as a 67% reduction in migration itself, rather than in its odds. Data Collection §3.1 also says the Kenyan surveys were conducted in 2004 and 2007, not 2004–05. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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References 76 · Cited by 108
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Matsumoto T Yamano T Nyoro J 2008 Intensification of maize production in Kenya and Uganda Centre for the Study of African Economies Conference Oxford March 16–18 http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2008-EDiA/papers/256-Matsumoto.pdf
- Authors
- Gray, C. L.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gray, Clark L.
- ORCID
- Gray, Clark L.
- Venue
- Global Environmental Change
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-05
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 421-430
- ISSN
- 0959-3780 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3194045
- OpenAlex
- W1981379365
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 25.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Global Environmental Change (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
- UNC Libraries
- Funders
- National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- National Institutes of Health (2r24hd050924-06)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24 HD-050924, K99HD061752)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration and Labor Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Land Rights and Reforms
- Keywords
- soil quality, soil degradation, human migration, rural exodus, temporary labour migration, permanent migration, household vulnerability, agricultural livelihoods, Kenya, Uganda
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