Family strategies of migrants in West Africa

Investigating the relationship between family and migration in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital city

This project explored alternative conceptions of human mobility based on empirical research in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria.

A series of case studies, designed and conducted in partnership with African researchers, set out to generate new data, methodologies and conceptual frameworks. The project was also designed to help develop the capacity of African institutions to undertake state-of-the-art migration research.

Our Team.

Oliver Bakewell

Senior Lecturer, University of Manchester

More Information.

Objectives

1) To understand the conditions under which migrants in Ouagadougou decide either to bring their spouse and/or their children to join them or to start new families in the city;

2) To analyse the living conditions facing migrants’ families in Ouagadougou and how they become integrated into the city;

3) To examine which factors result in the migrants and/or their family members leaving Ouagadougou and returning to their former place of residence.

Methodology

Reaching these research objectives will rely on a mixed methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data come from the Ouagadougou Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Ouaga HDSS), collected every year by the Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population of the University of Ouagadougou since 2008. Qualitative interviews will be carried out with migrants coming from rural areas, from urban areas, and from abroad, in both formal and informal areas.

Partnership

This research project will be undertaken together with the Higher Institute of Population Sciences (ISSP) of the University of Ouagadougou. Researchers from both centres will be involved in the quantitative and qualitative analyses.