Home Institution

University of Dayton

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Program Name

Switzerland: International Studies and Multilateral Diplomacy

Abstract

As climate change continues to threaten every corner of the world, one of the key features of the 21st century is migration, as a response to the myriad of effects related to a warming planet. This paper seeks to analyze the role of climate change as a motive for migration. The climate change-migration nexus is illustrated in this paper by revealing how slow-onset effects of climate change jeopardize the production of coffee in the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA), a region that is particularly vulnerable to the many effects. Thousands of people who depend on coffee production around Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador have already seen their livelihoods destroyed and consequently were forced to move. The future is uncertain with the rising temperatures in the region and millions more are employed by the industry.

This project accomplishes the analysis through a review of the climate change-migration nexus at large including in the discussion the complexity of other push factors leading to movement in the NTCA, followed by an account of the impacts of climate change on coffee production in the region. The design of this project incorporates an array of primary and secondary sources which include various government reports and academic papers in conjuncture with interviews conducted with experts around Geneva Switzerland from the Global Migration Center, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, and a world-renowned multinational coffee merchant, Sucafina.

Disciplines

Demography, Population, and Ecology | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Policy | Environmental Studies | Food Security | Latin American Studies | Nature and Society Relations | Place and Environment | Social and Cultural Anthropology | Sustainability

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