Reducing human trafficking in irregular migration through alternative livelihoods in a remote Kenyan county: A randomized controlled-cluster trial

• In Event: Interventions and Measurement to Combat Human Trafficking

Abstract

Climate-induced environmental hazards have drawn growing attention in research and policy discourse as enabling factors in forced migration and increased vulnerability to trafficking. Severe droughts in recent years in Kenya are decimating livestock, destroying farming land and community infrastructure, hence devastating the traditional livelihoods, and placing millions at risk of displacement and forced migration. This paper reports findings from a baseline study of current trafficking victimization situation and vulnerability factors among eight communities randomly selected in Marsabit County, Kenya, as part of an intervention experiment to stabilize local population through the development of climate-resistant livelihoods. These eight communities represent rural agro-pastoral and semi-urban pastoral regions. A household-based probability sampling was carried out and a minimum of N=500 households were surveyed in this baseline study.

Authors

• Sheldon X Zhang, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Audrey Beck, San Diego State University