Environmental Aspects of Internal Migration in Tanzania

In recent years, the issue of the nexus of climate change and human migration has attracted a growing amount of interest among scholars and policy-makers. Using individual-level data from the Tanzania National Panel Survey conducted in 2008-2009, we examine the roles played by droughts or floods, crop diseases, and severe water shortages in inter-district migration in Tanzania. Findings reveal that droughts or floods and crop diseases are associated with an overall decrease in the likelihood of inter-district mobility, providing support for the "environmental scarcity" hypothesis. Yet migration becomes a likely response to droughts and floods among individuals with no education suggesting mobility is a key livelihood strategy among those most disadvantaged. Future examination of domestic migration-environment processes at the individual-level is critical for informed policy and programs.