Rural-urban migration in West Africa: contexts, trends and recommendations

Dick, Eva / Benjamin Schraven
External Publications (2021)

in: Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), Policy Brief (February 2021)

Rural-urban migration constitutes the principal pattern of internal and cross-border migration in West Africa. In alignment with environmental and health agendas, its drivers and effects need to be explicitly accounted for in migration and urbanization policies. For example, that households use rural-urban migration as a risk-diversification and livelihood strategy is a key consideration. Highly vulnerable migrant populations such as children, women, the elderly, or the forcibly displaced should receive particular attention.