Rural migration under climate and land systems change

Abstract

Human migration is both a consequence and a cause of environmental change. Related scientific and policy discourse focuses largely on international and urban migration, while rural migration receives far less attention. This is despite rural mobility being a key adaptive strategy for smallholders globally in the face of climate, environmental and social change. The integration of migration studies and land system science may serve to advance understanding of rural migration processes, and in turn advance the science of the fields themselves. Such efforts are relevant in an increasingly mobile world where new models and theory will be needed to meaningfully understand migration dynamics within sustainable socio-environmental systems. Migration has become a key research topic in recent years, but rural migration is relatively understudied despite the vast number of people and areas affected around the world. This Perspective lays out critical dimensions and dynamics that are worth examining.