Translation of Information and Data

It is evident from the brief outline of the focus group interviews conducted in different regions of Burkina Faso that the lifestyles and migration tendencies of the inhabitants vary considerably.

While inhabitants of the dry northern region, Sahel, reported that it was generally not possible to grow enough food during the wet season to last an entire year, those in the wetter Southwest stated that no such necessity to migrate exists due to the relative abundance of food there. While individuals from a region such as Sahel therefore report the need to migrate for survival, those in the Southwest report a similar level of migration but largely for the purpose of increasing household income. Furthermore, while individuals from Sahel may commonly migrate to other destinations within Burkina Faso, most migration is reported by people in the Southwest as being aimed at travel to neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire.

The construction of a standard framework from which the different qualitative migration patterns/tendencies evident across Burkina Faso could be translated into a manner that can be quantitatively assessed was an important step in enabling field interview data to be incorporated into this research. Focus group comments from all rainfall regions that related to external influences of migration and the three theory of planned behaviour components were investigated. The criteria identified for each of these levels of analysis are displayed as Figure 4.8.

Figure 4.8: Components identified by focus group interview respondents as affecting an individual’s migration decision-making.

Figure 4.8 identifies the components referred to by focus group participants from across Burkina Faso as commonly affecting migration. The components are broken down into external influences, factors affecting an individual’s attitude towards migration, the factors affecting an individual’s subjective norm and the factors relating to their perception of the cost of migration and their ability to invest in a move. In terms of external influences, focus group participants in the northern zones of Burkina Faso mentioned the importance of the harvest yield following a wet season as an important component affecting migration. Furthermore, it is evident from the range of responses gained from each zone that the average rainfall conditions that influence each zone of Burkina Faso play an important part in governing the migration decisions of individuals.

With reference to the attitude of individuals towards migration, focus group participants cited age, gender, marital status, work activity, assets and migration experience as significant determinants. In age terms, participants referred to 15 years being the threshold at which an individual starts to make their own migration decisions. After the age of 15, migrants were

described as having differing tendencies towards migration depending upon the age range within which they fall. Crucial differences were described as existing between the age ranges 15-20 years, 21-35 years and 35+ years giving rise to the age categories identified in Figure 4.8.

In gender terms, males and females were identified by participants as having different attitudes towards migration. So too were individuals, both male and female, that were single or married.

Although different forms of employment were mentioned by participants to be directly linked to the level of income that an individual receives, simple distinctions were made by participants in terms of whether an individual is likely to migrate when employed, unemployed, retired or a housewife. Participants also cited that assets beyond a specific (but varying from location to location) threshold generally enabled migration while previous experience of migration also increased an individual’s propensity to do so again.

The subjective norm, or influence of others upon migration decisions, was referred to by focus group participants as depending largely upon attributes relating to the individual decision-maker. The impact of others upon an individual were described as being dependent upon the potential migrant’s age, gender, marital status, dependents, eligible siblings and relation to the household head. Focus group participants largely agreed that individuals aged between 15 and 35 years were affected by the influence of others in a different way to those aged under 15 or over 35 years. Furthermore, while males and females are subject to different influences, so too are people who are single or married. Different influences were also cited as existing for individuals with other siblings eligible to migrate in their place or with differing relationships to the head of their household.

Finally, Figure 4.8 displays the factors described by focus group participants as affecting their perceptions of the cost of migration or perceived behavioural control. As well as numerous asset components, also cited as affecting such perceived costs was previous experience of migration.

Increased experience of migration was reported by respondents to increase the ability of a potential migrant to accurately perceive the cost of planned migration. The asset factors proposed by focus group participants across Burkina Faso as affecting an individual’s ability to invest in migration included owning parcels of developed land, houses, livestock and vehicles.

As a result of the significant contributory factors identified from the focus group interviews conducted across Burkina Faso, the core components contributing to the Burkinabé decision to migrate could be considered. Using the components identified under the structure of the theory

of planned behaviour, further analysis of the EMIUB dataset could be undertaken to provide a quantitative basis from which the ABM was developed. The attitude of an individual towards a type of migration was therefore approached from a statistical perspective by considering the relevant components identified in Figure 4.8.