Forced Migration and Food Crises

Jordi Paniagua
Associate Professor of Applied Economics
University of Valencia (Spain)

Former visiting fellow Jordi Paniagua (2021-22) returns to the Kellogg Institute to present a paper on the link between migration and food crises: 

The rising levels of food insecurity due to the war in Ukraine and rising food prices have led to concerns about the effects of food crises on international migration. This paper uses data on asylum seekers originating in 114 developing countries and destinations in 155 developed and developing countries to uncover new facts on the link between food and migration. We show that mild food security crises tend to lead to a surge in forced migration to developed nations, relative to internal displacement. When food crises are more severe, this gap between the effect on international migration and internal displacement reduces, and migrants are more likely to choose a developing country destination. The expected persistence of a food crisis may also play a role in forced migration.