Poverty Reduction in a Refugee-Hosting Economy: A Natural Experiment

Author(s)
Maystadt, J. F.
Publication language
English
Pages
32pp.
Date published
01 Jan 2011
Publisher
Washington: International Food Policy Research Institute
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Food and nutrition, Poverty, Forced displacement and migration, Host Communities
Organisations
International Food Policy Research Institute
Link
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01132.pdf

 

The role of migration in reducing poverty in developing countries has been investigated mainly from the perspective of migrants and their relatives. This paper exploits the time and spatial variations in the way households in the region of Kagera (Tanzania) traced between 1991 and 2004 have been affected by massive refugee inflows to assess how migration may affect poverty in the hosting communities. Large population inflows from Burundi and Rwanda have improved the welfare of the hosting population, particularly for the poor. Despite the process of structural transformation observed in the refugee-hosting economy, such pro-poor development is mainly explained by improved agricultural labour productivity and income diversification among the poor.