Links between environmental degradation and migration flows in Africa: Challenges and Impacts | Focus on North Africa and the Sahel

LThe international community is increasingly concerned with the relationship between  global migration flows and environmental disturbances, including the degradation of  ecosystems and the effects of climate change. Indeed, this relationship has been proven  and the links between these two phenomena have become a major political issue on a  planetary scale. With a growing world population and deteriorating environmental  conditions, the challenges related to migration are likely to increase in the years ahead of us. Strongly impacted by the effects of climate change, Africa is one of the areas most  affected by environmental migration flows. 

However, the impact of environmental disturbances on the mobility of the populations is  not accurately assessed because of the coexistence of socio-economic, demographic  and political difficulties and for the difference between environmental refugees and other  refugees is yet to clarify. 

This note is an attempt to explain this phenomenon in Africa, with a focus on North Africa and the Sahel, and provides recommendations and good practices, in order to lay the foundations for advocacy.