IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i17p6830-d402805.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Insecurity, Resource Scarcity, and Migration to Camps of Internally Displaced Persons in Northeast Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Frederic Noel Kamta

    (Research Group Climate Change and Security (CLISEC), Institute of Geography, Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), University of Hamburg, 20144 Hamburg, Germany
    School of Integrated Climate System Sciences (SICSS), University of Hamburg, 20144 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Janpeter Schilling

    (Research Group Climate Change and Security (CLISEC), Institute of Geography, Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), University of Hamburg, 20144 Hamburg, Germany
    Research Group Landuse Conflicts, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, 55118 Mainz, Germany
    Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate, University of Koblenz-Landau, 76829 Landau, Germany)

  • Jürgen Scheffran

    (Research Group Climate Change and Security (CLISEC), Institute of Geography, Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), University of Hamburg, 20144 Hamburg, Germany)

Abstract

For almost two decades, the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) in general and northeast Nigeria in particular have been subject to the insurgency of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. This region is also known for its poor environmental conditions that mostly manifest in land desertification and water scarcity. We analyze the impact of the insecurity and conflict on migration from the most affected rural areas of northeast Nigeria to Maiduguri. We also explore the role that water scarcity and land desertification play in the decision of local people to migrate. Data were collected by interviewing 204 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Bakassi IDP camp in Maiduguri between March and May 2019. Experts were also interviewed at various governmental, non-governmental, and international institutions in Abuja. Respondents at the Bakassi IDP camp came from Guzamala, Gwoza, Marte, Monguno, and Nganzai. Though insecurity created by the conflict between Boko Haram insurgents and government forces was mentioned by all respondents as the main factor that triggered migration, this study shows that the decision to migrate was also a function of other factors that differ between communities. These factors include the geographical location of the community, land ownership, the socioeconomic status of the migrants, access to water and land, and wealth. This study reveals that in some communities, it was possible for people to live with conflict if they were still able to practice farming or if they had additional sources of income such as small businesses. The decision to migrate was only taken when the practice of such activities was no longer possible and they had nothing to hold on to.

Suggested Citation

  • Frederic Noel Kamta & Janpeter Schilling & Jürgen Scheffran, 2020. "Insecurity, Resource Scarcity, and Migration to Camps of Internally Displaced Persons in Northeast Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:17:p:6830-:d:402805
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6830/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6830/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marion Borderon & Patrick Sakdapolrak & Raya Muttarak & Endale Kebede & Raffaella Pagogna & Eva Sporer, 2019. "Migration influenced by environmental change in Africa: A systematic review of empirical evidence," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(18), pages 491-544.
    2. Janani Vivekananda & Janpeter Schilling & Shreya Mitra & Nisha Pandey, 2014. "On shrimp, salt and security: livelihood risks and responses in South Bangladesh and East India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1141-1161, December.
    3. Héctor Morales-Muñoz & Srijna Jha & Michelle Bonatti & Henryk Alff & Sabine Kurtenbach & Stefan Sieber, 2020. "Exploring Connections—Environmental Change, Food Security and Violence as Drivers of Migration—A Critical Review of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Magdalena El Ghamari & Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, 2020. "(Un)Sustainable Development of Minors in Libyan Refugee Camps in the Context of Conflict-Induced Migration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ludolph,Lars & Šedová,Barbora & Talevi,Marta, 2022. "Inequality and Security in the Aftermath of Internal Population Displacement Shocks :Evidence from Nigeria," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10053, The World Bank.
    2. Frederic Noel Kamta & Janpeter Schilling & Jürgen Scheffran, 2021. "Water Resources, Forced Migration and Tensions with Host Communities in the Nigerian Part of the Lake Chad Basin," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-14, March.
    3. He Huang & Yong Zhou & Yu-Jie Liu & Liang Xiao & Ke Li & Meng-Yao Li & Yang Tian & Fei Wu, 2021. "Source Apportionment and Ecological Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Cultivated Soils of Xiangzhou, China: A Combined Approach of Geographic Information System and Random Forest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Oluwatuyi S. Olowoyeye & Rameshwar S. Kanwar, 2023. "Water and Food Sustainability in the Riparian Countries of Lake Chad in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-24, June.
    5. Van Heugten, Loes & Bicker Caarten, Ashleigh & Merkle, Ortrun, 2021. "Giving Up Your Body to Enter Fortress Europe: Understanding the gendered experiences of sextortion of Nigerians migrating to the Netherlands," MERIT Working Papers 2021-050, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    6. George, Justin & Adelaja, Adesoji, 2022. "Armed conflicts, forced displacement and food security in host communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frederic Noel Kamta & Janpeter Schilling & Jürgen Scheffran, 2021. "Water Resources, Forced Migration and Tensions with Host Communities in the Nigerian Part of the Lake Chad Basin," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Dupre, Samuel I. & Harvey, Celia A. & Holland, Margaret B., 2022. "The impact of coffee leaf rust on migration by smallholder coffee farmers in Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Yongwang Cao & Xiong He & Chunshan Zhou, 2023. "Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Population Migration under Different Population Agglomeration Patterns—A Case Study of Urban Agglomeration in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-25, April.
    4. Qirui Li & Cyrus Samimi, 2023. "Assessing Human Mobility and Its Climatic and Socioeconomic Factors for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Abu Nasar Mohammad Abdullah & Kerstin Katharina Zander & Bronwyn Myers & Natasha Stacey & Stephen Thomas Garnett, 2016. "A short-term decrease in household income inequality in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, following Cyclone Aila," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(2), pages 1103-1123, September.
    6. Emma Hakala & Ville Lähde & Antti Majava & Tero Toivanen & Tere Vadén & Paavo Järvensivu & Jussi T. Eronen, 2019. "Northern Warning Lights: Ambiguities of Environmental Security in Finland and Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Md. Jahangir Kabir & Mohammad Alauddin & Steven Crimp, 2016. "Farm-level Adaptation to Climate Change in Western Bangladesh: An Analysis of Adaptation Dynamics, Profitability and Risks," Discussion Papers Series 576, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    8. Bhaskar Jyoti Neog, 2022. "Temperature shocks and rural labour markets: evidence from India," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Mengistu Dessalegn & Liza Debevec & Alan Nicol & Eva Ludi, 2023. "A Critical Examination of Rural Out-Migration Studies in Ethiopia: Considering Impacts on Agriculture in the Sending Communities," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Cris Beauchemin, 2020. "Profil démographique des personnes d'origine subsaharienne en France," Working Papers 2020-2, French Institute for Demographic Studies.
    11. Helga E. Lister & Karien Mostert & Tanita Botha & Simoné van der Linde & Elaine van Wyk & Su-Ané Rocher & Richelle Laing & Lucy Wu & Selma Müller & Alexander des Tombe & Tebogo Kganyago & Nonhlanhla Z, 2022. "South African Healthcare Professionals’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-14, August.
    12. Hélène Benveniste & Jesús Crespo Cuaresma & Matthew Gidden & Raya Muttarak, 2021. "Tracing international migration in projections of income and inequality across the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 1-22, June.
    13. Helbling, Marc & Auer, Daniel & Meierrieks, Daniel & Mistry, Malcolm & Schaub, Max, 2021. "Climate change literacy and migration potential: micro-level evidence from Africa," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 169(1-2), pages 1-1.
    14. Thiede, Brian C. & Chen, Joyce & Mueller, Valerie & Jia, Yuanyuan & Hultquist, Carolynne, 2020. "It’s Raining Babies? Flooding and Fertility Choices in Bangladesh," SocArXiv cz482, Center for Open Science.
    15. Kerstin K. Zander & Stephen T. Garnett & Harald Sterly & Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson & Barbora Šedová & Hermann Lotze-Campen & Carmen Richerzhagen & Hunter S. Baggen, 2022. "Topic modelling exposes disciplinary divergence in research on the nexus between human mobility and the environment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    16. Dimitri Defrance & Esther Delesalle & Flore Gubert, 2020. "Is migration drought-induced in Mali? An empirical analysis using panel data on Malian localities over the 1987-2009 period," Working Papers DT/2020/01, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    17. Marion Borderon & Kelsea B. Best & Karen Bailey & Doug L. Hopping & Mackenzie Dove & Chelsea L. Cervantes de Blois, 2021. "The risks of invisibilization of populations and places in environment-migration research," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    18. Erik Aschenbrand, 2022. "How Can We Promote Sustainable Regional Development and Biodiversity Conservation in Regions with Demographic Decline? The Case of UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Elbe River Landscape Brandenburg, Germany," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, September.
    19. Baghdadi, F. & Rauktis, M.E. & Hands, C. & John, A. & Khanom, A. & El Mhamdi, S. & Soussi, A. & Snooks, H., 2024. "Using a systems perspective to examine child protection systems and practice: A scoping review on child abandonment and institutionalisation in the Maghreb," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    20. Richard Kombat & Paolo Sarfatti & Oluwole Abiodun Fatunbi, 2021. "A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technology Adoption by Farming Households in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:17:p:6830-:d:402805. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.