How does food insecurity affect irregular migration, and what role can a needs-based humanitarian response play? A recent collaboration between IFPRI and the World Food Programme took a route-base approach to looking at irregular migration in West Africa—examining migrant origins, their transit experience, and the situation where their journey stalls or ends. The mixed method study includes case studies of the Ténéré desert crossing, across the south-central Sahara, for Malian and Libyan migrants. The resulting report and interactive website designed by MIT’s Civic Design Lab illustrate the migrant journey and associated risks as migrants make their way from West Africa to the Maghreb and, for some, on to Europe.

This virtual seminar will present study results and the website, with discussion by researchers from IFPRI, WFP, and MIT as well as other experts.

The “Migrants on the Move” website features data analysis of risks that migrants face while traveling from West Africa to Libya and, emphasizes the related report findings that migrants often become extremely vulnerable and food insecure throughout their journey. Explore the risks of West African migration further at: migrantsmove.migration.mit.edu.

Speakers

• Sara Moussavi, Policy Advisor, World Food Programme (WFP) Italia (Presentation) 
• Alan de Brauw, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI (Presentation) 
• Sarah Williams, Director of the Civic Data Design Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Presentation) 

Discussant

• Ganesh Kumar Seshan, Senior Economist, the World Bank (Presentation) 

Moderator

• Daniel Gilligan, Director, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI), IFPRI