Migration as an adaptive strategy to climate variability: A study of the Tonga-speaking people of Southern Zambia
Abstract
There is increasing consensus that the effects of extreme weather conditions in the form of drought, flooding and extreme temperature will have increasingly devastating impacts on those who depend on climate-sensitive resources and ecosystems for their livelihoods. The most affected will be the poor in developing countries who have a low adaptive capacity to climate change due to high poverty levels. Despite these projections, there are, to date, insufficient empirical studies linking the relationship between climate change and migration, particularly in the context of southern Africa. Using field-based data collected from two study locations in Zambia, this paper examines the complex relationship between extreme weather events and population movement. It is envisaged that the findings presented in this paper will contribute to current discussions on the complex relationship between extreme weather conditions and population movement specifically in the context of sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries.
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Similar evidence has been found in Zambia.
“Similar evidence has been found in other contexts in the reviewed studies, such as Zambia (see Simatele and Simatele, 2015 [10]).”
From A Systematic Review of International and Internal Climate-Induced Migration in Africa (2023) · cites this paper as Simatele and Simatele, 2015 [10]
Frequent and severe drought events, intense heat, occasional flooding or heavy rainfall, and cold episodes associated with frost are the top-most weather events that impede farming activities.
“Particularly, evidence suggests that frequent and severe drought events, intense heat, occasional flooding or heavy rainfall, and cold episodes associated with frost are the top-most weather events that impede farming activities (Simatele and Simatele, 2015 [10]).”
From A Systematic Review of International and Internal Climate-Induced Migration in Africa (2023) · cites this paper as Simatele and Simatele, 2015 [10]
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BackgroundThe impact of weather anomalies on migration in sub-Saharan Africa
Marchiori, L., Maystadt, J.-F., & Schumacher, I. (2012) · Journal of Environmental Economics and Management · doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2012.02.001 · Cited by 442 · see citing works
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Migration influenced by environmental change in Africa: a systematic review of empirical evidence
Borderon, M., Sakdapolrak, P., Muttarak, R., Kebede, E., Pagogna, R., & Sporer, E. (2019) · Demographic Research · doi:10.4054/demres.2019.41.18 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Climate change impact on migration, travel, travel destinations and the tourism industry
Semenza, J. C., & Ebi, K. L. (2019) · Journal of Travel Medicine · doi:10.1093/jtm/taz026 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of International and Internal Climate-Induced Migration in Africa
Ofori, D. O., Bandauko, E., Kutor, S. K., Odoi, A., Asare, A. B., Akyea, T., & Arku, G. (2023) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su152216105 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Among the five articles that address this theme (Lietaer and Durand-Delacre, 2021 [33]; Vinke et al., 2021 [11]; Karanja Ng’ang’a et al., 2016 [46]; Simatele and Simatele, 2015 [10]; Arnall, 2014 [29]), it is evident that interest in migration as a climate change adaptation strategy is growing.”
Influential
- Authors
- Simatele, D., & Simatele, M.
- Affiliations
- Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences University of Witwatersrand South Africa
- University of Fort Hare (ZA)
- ORCID
- Simatele, Munacinga
- Venue
- Disasters
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-03-05
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 762-781
- ISSN
- 0361-3666 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-7717
- OpenAlex
- W1976764365
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 8.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Disasters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Climate change impacts on agriculture
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Keywords
- climate-induced migration, climate variability, extreme weather events, drought, floods, southern Zambia, adaptive capacity, livelihoods, poverty, human mobility, climate change
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Social Adjustment, Zambia, Empirical Research, Climate Change, Human Migration
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