Migration, food security, environmental challenges and livelihood strategies

Overview

The relationship between migration and food security is explored by analysing two food security measures at the household level: dietary diversity and the share of the budget spent on food expenditure. The research aligns with SDG 2 (zero hunger) by informing whether migration is used as a mechanism for attaining food security. Many households in developing countries use migration as a strategy for diversifying their income sources and buffering against shocks to income. It is therefore informative to determine the extent to which migration has an impact on food security. A key objective of the research was to provide recommendations for a more explicit inclusion of migration in the SDGs.

• Sustainable Development Goals

  This project examined the following SDGs:

  SDG 2 – Zero Hunger
  SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being
  SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
  SDG 13 – Climate Action

  Find out more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Project description

The objective of our project was to produce a publication in a peer-reviewed journal that informs on the relationship between migration and food security. We worked with a research analyst to clean up the datasets and produced various preliminary analyses. We revised the working paper and then re-wrote the paper once a comprehensive set of results had been agreed on.

Timeline and funding

Timeline	April 2017-December 2018
Funding	£12,300

The team

• Principle Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigators

  Principal Investigator

  • Dr Farai Jena, University of Sussex Business School

  Co-investigators

  • Dr Julie Litchfield, University of Sussex Business School

  • Dr Priya Deshingkar, School of Global Studies

• Project team

  Research Assistant

  • Pierfrancesco Rolla, University of Sussex

Where we worked

UK and Zimbabwe.