Climate anomalies and international migration: A disaggregated analysis for West Africa

Migration is one measure that individuals can take to adjust to the adverse impacts of increasingly extreme weather that can arise from climate change. Using novel geo-referenced high-frequency data, we investigate the impact of soil moisture anomalies on migration within West Africa and towards Europe. We estimate that a standard deviation decrease in soil moisture leads to a 2-percentage point drop in the probability of international migration, equivalent to a 25 percent decrease in the number of international migrants. This effect is concentrated during the months that immediately follow the crop-growing season among areas in the middle of the income distribution. The findings suggest that weather anomalies negatively affect agricultural production, leading to liquidity constraints that prevent people from moving internationally.