ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN MIGRATION: WATER STRESS

Abstract

Water is a critical resource for every dimension of human life and water scarcity thus has consequential impacts on human society. Access to safe drinking water and for use in agriculture is critical for sustainable economic development and human health. There are more than 1 billion migrants in the world today and water deficits are linked to 10% of the rise in global migration. The World Bank’s recently-released flagship publication on water shows that it is a lack of water, rather than too much, that has a greater impact on migration. Classical understanding of migration remain focused on political and economic drivers. Currently environmental and climate crises has resulted in newer pathways, trends and patterns. Although research on climate migration has been steadily growing in the last few decades, the role of water in the dynamics of migration has received less attention. This paper linked water insecurity with increasing migration. The main aim of this paper is to study water stress as a leading environmental factor for migration.