Climate change and internal migration nexus in Ethiopia a narrative review of drivers, patterns, and policy responses from 2000 to 2025
- 1Department of Governance and Development Studies, Wolkite University
- 2KDI School of Public Policy and Management
Abstract
Climate change and internal migration concerns have become key development and policy topics in many developing countries. Hence, this review article examines the multifaceted link between climate change and internal migration practices in Ethiopia. This article employs a narrative review methodology to assess evidence on the complex links between climate change and internal migration dynamics in Ethiopia, drawing on 141 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and grey literature published from 2000 to 2025. This article reveals that climate change and environmental deprivation have been increasingly identified in the literature as the main drivers of the internal migration process and practices in Ethiopia, along with the usual socio-economic, political, and demographic issues. Additionally, rural-to-urban migration is a dominant form of internal migration in Ethiopia. This is driven by extending development disparity between rural and urban areas and a periodic decline in the economic returns of the agricultural sector. The review articles also find that various national policies, strategies, and programs have been designed and formulated to solve the adverse impacts of climate-induced migration in Ethiopia, though the empirical literature consistently highlights significant gaps in implementation and overall effectiveness of those policies. Therefore, this review article suggests that proper policy adoption and effective implementation systems, increasing livelihood diversification mechanisms, enhancing access to important public amenities, and creating job opportunities are vital to sustainably address climate change-induced internal migration in Ethiopia.
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BibTeX
@article{asefawu2026climate,
title = {{Climate change and internal migration nexus in Ethiopia a narrative review of drivers, patterns, and policy responses from 2000 to 2025}},
author = {Girma Senbetie Asefawu and David Sungho Park},
journal = {Discover Sustainability},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1007/s43621-026-04137-1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04137-1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Climate change and internal migration nexus in Ethiopia a narrative review of drivers, patterns, and policy responses from 2000 to 2025
AU - Girma Senbetie Asefawu
AU - David Sungho Park
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Discover Sustainability
DO - 10.1007/s43621-026-04137-1
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04137-1
AB - Climate change and internal migration concerns have become key development and policy topics in many developing countries. Hence, this review article examines the multifaceted link between climate change and internal migration practices in Ethiopia. This article employs a narrative review methodology to assess evidence on the complex links between climate change and internal migration dynamics in Ethiopia, drawing on 141 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and grey literature published from 2000 to 2025. This article reveals that climate change and environmental deprivation have been increasingly identified in the literature as the main drivers of the internal migration process and practices in Ethiopia, along with the usual socio-economic, political, and demographic issues. Additionally, rural-to-urban migration is a dominant form of internal migration in Ethiopia. This is driven by extending development disparity between rural and urban areas and a periodic decline in the economic returns of the agricultural sector. The review articles also find that various national policies, strategies, and programs have been designed and formulated to solve the adverse impacts of climate-induced migration in Ethiopia, though the empirical literature consistently highlights significant gaps in implementation and overall effectiveness of those policies. Therefore, this review article suggests that proper policy adoption and effective implementation systems, increasing livelihood diversification mechanisms, enhancing access to important public amenities, and creating job opportunities are vital to sustainably address climate change-induced internal migration in Ethiopia.
SN - 2662-9984
ER -