On Thursday 30th January 2020 – 5pm UK time – Professor Teye, Director of the Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) of the University of Ghana,  will discuss the impact of climate change on West Africa and will look a migration as a climate change adaptation strategy.

Although West Africa’s contribution to global climate change is very minimal, the continent is the worst affected by the effects of climate change because of its geographical location and weak adaptive capacity. Farming communities in the dry and poor regions of West Africa, in particular, are affected by increased temperature and fluctuating rainfall patterns because they depend on rain-fed agriculture. However, only a few researchers have examined the nature of climate induced migration in the region. This presentation will focus on how migration is used as a strategy to deal with climate change in the region. While it is difficult to separate climatic drivers from the socio-economic causes of migration, seasonal and permanent migration are being used by households to deal with climate change and variability in West Africa. Yet, migration is not adequately incorporated into climate change adaptation strategies. It is recommended that migration should be considered positively in the formulation of climate change adaptation policy.

Speaker: Prof Joseph Teye (University of Ghana)

The webinar will be chaired by Dr Gunvor Jonsson (SOAS).

Register here: bit.ly/GDAIwebinar4_ClimateInducedMigration_WestAfrica

Speaker’s bio:

Professor Joseph Kofi Teye is the Director of the Centre for Migration Studies (CMS) of the University of Ghana. He holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Leeds and a Master of Philosophy Degree in Social Change from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His current research interests include migration and development, migration policy development, environmental change and migration, and natural resource governance. Prof Teye has participated (either as a PI or Co-I) in large research projects funded by international organisations, including, UKRI, DFID, EU, ACP Observatory on Migration, and ILO/OECD. Prof Teye has facilitated migration policy development in several African countries.