Migration Dynamics in the Savannah Region, Togo: The Role of Socioeconomic and Environmental Factors

Abstract

Migration has become a phenomenon experienced by most young people in the Savannah Region, the northern region of Togo, bordering Burkina Faso, Benin and Ghana. The region has been subject to the adverse effects of climate variability and climate change in recent years, including irregular rainfall, drought and advancing desert. To overcome these problems, a large segment of the population of the region, especially young people, are crossing national borders in search of better living conditions. The objective of this study is to analyze the migration dynamics of populations and the impacts of socioeconomic and environmental factors on migration, to evaluate migration as a method of adaptation and to propose some approaches to solutions for a sustainable management of the migration phenomenon. To achieve this objective, a data collection methodology based on quantitative and qualitative methods was adopted; it was found that the region experiences irregular rainfall coupled with pockets of drought, evidence of climate variability and change. The emigration of populations is a response to these environmental changes that the region is experiencing and which are causing an economic crisis for the population. More young, married, poorly educated men are migrating to the countries of the sub region. Migration is not always a measure of adaptation to environmental changes; even if the migrants participate in improving the living conditions of their families in the departure zone, it causes imbalance in the areas of departure and the conditions to which migrants are exposed in the host environments are often not favorable to them. This leads us to set up sustainable management policies for the migration phenomenon.