HABITABLE: Habitability and Adaptation to a Changing Climate: Impacts of climate change on agriculture and human mobility in the Kayes and Sikasso Regions, Mali

February 2025

This background brief investigates climatic impacts on livelihoods and human mobility patterns in Mali, particularly focusing on two communities in the Kayes Region (Fatao and Gory) and two communities in the Sikasso Region (Dogo and Kignan). After an analysis of the climatic and socio-economic challenges faced in Mali, it presents preliminary findings on migration as one of the locally adopted adaptation strategies, based on qualitative interviews conducted in these agricultural communities. The challenges encountered by these communities share common themes.

This background brief, therefore, explores Mali’s policies and legal frameworks that recognise distinct dimensions of human mobility in the context of climate change. It assesses the extent to which these instruments provide solutions to the issues affecting these communities, which, in turn, exacerbate migration patterns. The brief concludes with a summary of potential measures available to address climate-induced migration in the country, concentrating on the gaps in normative instruments while bolstering community resilience.

Read the full brief here.