THE LINKAGES BETWEEN MIGRATION, AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTTechnical reportby the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme Cover photograph: Turkey. Trainees learning to dry peppers in the field as part of agricultural training program provided by FAO. FAO in Turkey is helping job seekers training both Syrian refugees and Turkish workers with the skills that are needed, and helping to get them into highly-skilled jobs in agriculture.© FAO Carly LearsonTHE LINKAGES BETWEEN MIGRATION, AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTTechnical reportby the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme Published bythe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsandthe International Fund for Agricultural Developmentandthe International Organization for Migrationandthe World Food ProgrammeThe designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Organization for Migration (IOM) or World Food Programme (WFP) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The designations “developed” and “developing” countries are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached in the development process by a particular country or area. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO,IFAD,IOM or WFP in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO, IFAD, IOM or WFP. ISBN 978-92-5-130832-5 (FAO) ISBN 978-92-9072-849-8 (IFAD) ISBN 978-92-9068-770-2 (IOM)© FAO, 2018Some rights reserved. This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; creativecommons/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). 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The original English edition shall be the authoritative edition.”Any mediation relating to disputes arising under the licence shall be conducted in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) as at present in force. Third-party materials. Users wishing to reuse material from this Work that is attributed to a third party, such as tables, figures or images, are responsible for determining whether permission is needed for that reuse and for obtaining permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement of any third-party-owned component in the Work rests solely with the user.Sales, rights and licensing. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (fao/publications) and can be purchased through publications-salesfao. Requests for commercial use should be submitted via: fao/contact-us/licence-request. Queries regarding rights and licensing should be submitted to: copyrightfao.Required citation: FAO IFAD IOM WFP. 2018. The Linkages between Migration, Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development. Rome. 80pp. (fao/3/CA0922EN/CA0922EN.pdf). Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGOiiiAbstractUnderstanding contemporary migration, both international and internal, remains a challenge. The decision by people to migrate either within their own countries or across borders is influenced by an intricate set of factors. This report examines the complex interlinkages between migration, agriculture, food security and rural development and the factors that determine the decision of rural people to migrate; including economic factors, employment opportunities, conflict, poverty, hunger, environmental degradation and climate shocks.The relationship between food security and migration can be direct, when people do not see viable options other than migrating to escape hunger. The linkages between agriculture, food security and migration can also be indirect as a strategy by households to cope with income uncertainties and food insecurity risks. Sending one or more family member to work in economic sectors other than agriculture can increase their capacities to cope in the event of adverse shocks. Moreover, migration gives rise to both opportunities and challenges. The report assesses the impact of migration on the countries of origin and destination, with a focus on rural areas and the agricultural sector. It also discusses how agricultural and social policies can address these challenges and capitalize on the opportunities created by migration trends.vContentsAbstract iiiAcknowledgements viAbbreviations and acronyms viiIntroduction 1Part I; Migration patterns 3International and internal migration 4Rural-to-urban and rural-to-rural migration 5The continuum of migration decisions: From voluntary to forced migration 6Internally displaced persons, asylum seekers and refugees 7Data issues 9Part II; The drivers of migration 15Theories of migration 16Empirical evidence on migration drivers 18Income differences, poverty and food security 18Education, family reunification and social networks 23Demographic asymmetries, rural youth and gender inequalities 24Environmental factors, agricultural incomes and food security 26Conflicts, political instability and protracted crises 30Migration and food security: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia, Uganda and Nigeria 32Part III; Impacts of migration and policy implications 39Migration impacts at the origin 40Implications on labour markets and rural development 42The role of diasporas and returnees 47Migration impacts at places of destination and the potential of agriculture to promote regular and safe movements of migrants 50Summary and key points 55Endnotes 58THE LINKAGES BETWEEN MIGRATION, AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTviAcknowledgementsThis report on “The Linkages of Migration, Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development” was jointly prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). At FAO, the team consisted of Marina Mastrorillo (consultant and lead author), Evgeniya Koroleva (consultant, econometrics), Luca Lodi (data management) and George Rapsomanikis (senior economist and technical editor) of the FAO Trade and Markets Division. From FAO, valuable comments were provided by Andrea Cattaneo, Andre Croppenstedt, Elisenda Estruch, Julius Jackson, Erdgin Mane, Panagiotis Karfakis, Jakob Skoet. Overall guidance was provided by Kostas Stamoulis, Assistant Director-General of FAOs Economic and Social Development Department, and by the Economic and Social Development Department management team. FAOs Araceli Cardenas, Emily Carroll, Jessica Mathewson, Raffaella Rucci and Kim Des Rochers provided invaluable assistance with publication and communications issues. Luigi Minciarelli is also acknowledged for his excellent work on the design and layout of the report.At IFAD, the team contributing to this report included Paul Winters (Associate Vice-President, Strategy and Knowledge Department), Torben Nilsson (Senior Technical Specialist) and David Suttie (Senior Consultant) from the Global Engagement and Multilateral Relations Division; Kashi Kafle (Post-Doctoral Fellow), Aslihan Arslan (Senior Economist) and Rui Benfica (Lead Economist) from the Research and Impact Assessment Division; and Mauro Martini (Remittances and Development Officer) from the Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division.At IOM, valuable contributions were made by Johan Grundberg, Sam Grundy, Manuel Hoff, Ginette Kidd, Sieun Lee and Kieran Munnelly. General support was provided by the Labour Mobility and Human Development Division; the Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division and the Transition and Recovery Division at IOMs Headquarters.WFP provided inputs and Claudia Ah Poe (Senior Food Security Advisor), Susanna Sandstrom (Economist) and Nigussie Tefra (Econometrician) reviewed the final report.viiAbbreviations and acronymsCFS Committee on World Food SecurityFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsGDP Gross domestic productIDCs Internally displaced personsIFAD International Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentIOM International Organization for MigrationLDCs Least developed countriesNELM New economics of labour migrationOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentPoU Prevalence of UndernourishmentRAI Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food SystemsSAWS Seasonal Agricultural Workers SchemeUNHCR United Nations Refugee AgencyUSD United States dollarWFP World Food Programme