Research Programme Consortium

Media Training Workshop on Migration Patterns and Flows in West Africa

2-4 September, 2014

By

Prof. Mariama AwumbilaCentre for Migration Studies

University of Ghana

Migration Research Programme Consortium (RPC)

• The RPC focuses on understanding the relationship between migration, poverty and development and the factors that mediate it.

• Focuses on 5 regions in Asia and Africa:– West Africa – Centre for Migration Studies, UG, Ghana– East Africa – AMADPOC, Kenya– Southern Africa – ACMS, Univ of Witswarterstrand– South Asia - RMMRU, Bangladesh– East Asia – ARI, Singapore National University– Co -ordinated by University of Sussex, UK

• Funded by DFID, UK

Migration and poverty• Where poorer people do migrate, they generally do so over shorter

distances (Migration DRC 2010).

• Internal migration and South-South migration are therefore more relevant to discussions on migration and poverty.

• Internal migrants outnumber international migrants by a ratio of 4:1 (UNDP 2009)

• Household surveys suggest that internal remittances may be greater than international remittances, and often flow to a larger number of households, usually poorer.

• However research and policy action on internal and South-South migration are seriously constrained by the lack of data.

• RPC focus on Intra regional, internal, seasonal, circular migration

• The project seeks to generate data: to promote policy approaches to maximise the poverty reducing and developmental impacts of migration and minimise the costs and risks of migration for the poor

– generating new knowledge related to migration and poverty;

– creating new datasets; – engaging policy makers; – building capacity to understand & research

migration and poverty linkages.

• The global research programme is complemented by focused programmes in the regions of core partners.

Global research programme

4 Global research questions

• Under what circumstances does migration help poor people out of poverty?

• How does migration specifically affect women and girls?

• Under what circumstances does urbanisation and rural-urban migration lead to longer-term reductions in poverty.

• Which policies have worked, and which have not, in maximising the developmental impact of migration?

GHANA RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Global Research Programme •1. Survey in Migration Source Region•Nationally representative survey of rural households in areas of origin, identifying most relevant destination locations for later survey.

•1500 households surveyed in high-outmigration areas using sampling framework developed by GSS.•Data generated includes: characteristics of migrant, return migrants, patterns of migration & remittances, factors influencing the decision to migrate, how migration has been financed and assisted, employment conditions of migrants, whether migration has resulted in occupational mobility and changes in wellbeing. Etc

•To be followed by a survey of 150 households in three key destination locations identified during the source survey.

2. Global Qualitative Survey• Focus on whether and how migration strategies lead to a route

out of poverty in different contexts. • Focus on two low-paid and insecure occupations that are well

represented across the five Consortium regions- migrant domestic and construction workers

• The research will identify points of intervention for policy that can help migrants to maximise the returns from their own efforts in the face of adversity and highlight problems that need to be addressed to minimise the risks and costs associated with migration.

3. REGIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAMME

• Urbanisation, Rural–Urban Migration and urban poverty in Ghana

• Research Outputs– Research Report–Working paper– Policy Briefs– Journal articles– Stakeholder / Disemination workshops

New Research• Migration to cities in Ghana: An analysis of the

Counterfactual• Migration and Intra Household dynamics• The Migration Industry in Ghana• Migration and Destination Communities• Migration Policy in West Africa

THANK YOU

Short Term

Evidence Papers / Research, Technical reports

Policy briefs, Project Briefs Policy dialogues Stakeholder workshops Media Encounters Meetings with Boundary partners Presentations at conferences,

workshops, seminars Promote regional research

collaboration and networkingLong Term

Publications in peer-reviewed journals, books

Inform national and sub-regional migration, urban, climate change, development policies.

Research Uptake