Addressing the land degradation-migration nexus: the role of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Although migration has always been used to cope with the impacts of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought (DLDD), in its forced forms it can contribute to further socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities. In order to relieve the effects land degradation has on migration, State parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification commissioned a study from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who worked in partnership with SEI, on “the role that the measures taken to implement to UNCCD Convention can play in addressing desertification, land degradation and drought as one of the drivers of migration.”

After an analysis of the complex interrelations between DLDD and migration, the report reviews  good practices from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Although sustainable land management and land rehabilitation strategies that can avert and minimize forced migration take many varied forms depending on the local context, those that are most successful share the following aims:

• They protect and restore fragile ecosystems through participatory approaches
• They create abundant and dignified livelihood and employment opportunities
• They tackle pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities

Interventions that are usually best able to achieve these aims concurrently present the following characteristics:

• They strive to secure land rights and access to natural resources for those most vulnerable
• They are gender sensitive and empower the most marginalize
• They support local knowledge
• They reinforce local institutional capacities
• They take into account specific local migration dynamics

The report concludes with a focus on policy recommendations targeted at UNCCD Parties and other relevant stakeholders.