When you think of migration, you perhaps think primarily of people moving to cities in the search for work, but new research from Utah State University reminds us that things might not be quite so straightforward, not least because many migrants leave behind land that they used to work.

“Migrants we see today, including from Central America, often come from rural communities where people depend on small-scale farming–which is becoming more difficult,” they explain. “Sometimes people cut ties to the land when they leave–but our research shows that they also leave to afford to rent land or to buy seeds so they can keep farming, or to support family who keep using the land.”

They may then return home with a host of new ideas and resources, with clear plans and expectations for the place they left behind.  The authors highlight how this can have an impact on things such as the changing price of land.

Land poverty

This matters, because, as the researchers highlight, many of those in the economic margins lack access to land, which can make them especially vulnerable to things such as climate change or food insecurity.  This vulnerability can in turn prompt many to migrate elsewhere in the search for opportunities.

The researchers believe that some drivers of migration, such as deforestation, are pretty well understood, but the relationship between environmental conditions of land (and it’s use) and migration are highly complex, with markets and politics shaping the way land can drive changes in migration patterns, and indeed vice versa.

The authors believe that much more work is required to fully understand the impact environmental changes can have on migration, but a number of key themes are already evident, whether that’s the globalization of agriculture, stubbornly persistent socioeconomic inequality, climate change or the growing hostility towards migration.

“One thing is certain,” the authors conclude. “To understand and manage human migration, we need to understand how migration is linked to land and to the environment.”