ABSTRACT
This chapter presents data showing the extent to which circular migration was adopted as a strategy for coping with the drought of 1983–1985 using survey data from a longitudinal survey of migration in Mali’s Senegal River Valley. It outlines the circumstances under which families in the region might choose circular over permanent migration as part of their drought survival strategy. The chapter also presents data from the survey, documenting the rise in circulation during the drought and highlighting family and community factors which affect circulation and more permanent migration. It provides some observations about how our models for development and drought-resistance could change to better accommodate the realities of circulation. Circulation, or the temporary migration of persons between rural and urban areas, enables families to deploy part of their labor in the urban labor markets, where jobs are available or better paid than in the rural area.
