Presenter(s): Sara Fatimah − Interntional Studies
Faculty Mentor(s): Kathie Carpenter, Leigh Johnson
Poster 122
Research Area: Social Science
Funding: Global Studies Undergraduate Award; Undergraduate Studies; International Studies; DC Ducks Alumni Award
Afghanistan is the second largest source country of refugees with one-tenth of its population applying for asylum in 2015 alone (UNHCR, 2016). Already plagued with conflict, violence, and war, Afghanistan was also ranked second at most risk of risk of water shortage, conflict and displacement of people on the 2014 Global Climate Risk Index. This research investigates how climate change has affected food production in Afghanistan and therefore added to the number of Afghan refugees seeking asylum in the United States between 2001-2016. Four-fifths of Afghans depend on rain-fed agriculture and cattle grazing; the country’s main water sources are glacier-fed rivers and rainfall causing Afghans to face many climate risks in securing their livelihoods. In 2017, I collected data on more than 30 individuals to investigate the relationship between climate change, conflict, and out-migration from Afghanistan. I reached out to members of the Afghan refugee community living in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia to learn about challenges created by climate change. The results showed that they faced plenty of hardships in farming over the past 15 years. A consistently recurring theme across interviews was the lack of water available to farmers due to unsustainable water management and the constant occurrence of droughts over the past decade. My results show a strong correlation between livelihood security and climate change, and therefore serves as a case-study for lawyers, policymakers and environmental activists to obtain additional evidence on the close relationship between climate change and outmigration. This research contributes to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report’s plea for more comprehensive evidence, collected across multiple locations, to test theories about relationships between climate change and livelihoods, culture, migration, and conflict. As currently, UNHCR’s international protection mandate does not recognize climate refugees.