Benjamin Schraven

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik · Environmental Policy and Management of Natural Resources

Altogether, this report is organized into five sections. Section one entails an analysis of the existing national governance frameworks and legislation on climate change, environment, disaster and human mobility nexus, and reintegration in Lesotho. Afterwards, the discussion delves into the questions of climate change, hazards and the impact on pop...

In the past 15 years, research activities focusing on the interlinkages between climate change and human mobility have intensified. At the same time, an increasing number of actors and processes have sought to address human mobility in the context of climate change from a policy perspective. Hitherto, research has been limited in terms of geographi...

Migration is one response to climatic stress and shocks. In this article we review the recent literature across various disciplines on the effects of climate change on migration. We explore key features of the relationship between climate change and migration, distinguishing between fast-onset and slow-onset climatic events and examining the causes...

This article analyses the dynamics between rainfall variability, food insecurity and human mobility in eight case studies, namely Ghana, Tanzania, Guatemala, Peru, Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Vietnam. It covers a large spectrum of rainfall-related climatic events, including floods, drought, seasonal shifts and dry spells, and their impact on fo...

This chapter examines the interrelationship between rainfall variability, migration, and social inequality in a savannah district of Northern Ghana affected by environmental change. The analysis shows that seasonality is a crucial factor shaping smallholders’ livelihood decisions in semi-arid Northern Ghana, an area characterised by a unimodal rain...

This edited volume explores the circumstances under which vulnerable communities can better adapt to climate and environmental change, and focuses in particular on the centrality of migration as a resilience and adaptation strategy for communities at risk. The book features important case studies where migration is being used as a risk management s...

In the debate on the relationship between human migration and environmental degradation and climate change, migration is more and more understood as an adaptation strategy. Moreover, when migration is perceived as a response to underdevelopment or ecological change, it may serve as a strategy to increase resilience and livelihood and food security...

There is increasing interest in the issue of migration’s links to climate change and environmental degradation. In the coming decades climate change will adversely affect a large percentage of the world’s population. Although there is still much uncertainty, it is certain that migration is a fundamental strategy to adapt to the adverse effects of e...

Within the debates on the consequences of climatic and ecological change, international attention has become increasingly focussed on the links between environmental change and migration. Several international organisations such as UNHCR, UNFCCC, IOM and UNICEF are addressing this issue. Furthermore, a series of research initiatives focusing on the...

Like many irrigation schemes in Central Asia, the one in Khorezm faces a twofold challenge: on the one side, the severe problems inherited from the past need to be remedied and on the other side, the rising supply–demand gap driven by sharpening competition for water and climate change must be dealt with. Located in the lower part of the Amu Darya...

This article examines the interrelationships between rainfall variability, livelihood/food security and migration in rural Savannah communities in Northern Ghana. It addresses the question of how strong dry season migration is pronounced and whether the recent dominant migration type is a coping or adaptation mechanism. The analysis is based on emp...

Climate change and land degradation result in decreasing yields and crop failures in Northern Ghana and have caused further impoverishment of Ghana’s poorest region. Farmers have diversified their livelihoods to adapt to uncertain environmental conditions in various ways. While traditionally a diversification of the production and migration were th...

The construction of knowledge maps, demonstrated in this paper, is designed to show the epistemic landscape of cities, countries or regions. Knowledge assets, knowledge producing and disseminating organizations are referenced to spatial objects and integrated into Geographic Information System (GIS). They are further represented in thematic maps an...

To achieve a better understanding of the diverse vulnerabilities of different social groups affected by the tsunami in December 2004 in Sri Lanka, a survey of 500 households in the Sri Lankan urban area of Galle has been conducted in cooperation with several institutes under the direction of the Institute of Environment and Human Security of the Un...

Climate change and land degradation have considerably altered the conditions for rain-fed agriculture in Northern Ghana. Furthermore, population pressure has led to continuous farming of available agricultural lands and thus caused land degradation. Crop failure and decreasing yields that result from these environmental changes have caused further...