MiFOOD and IMRC Seminar
Migrant remittances are increasingly positioned as a potential game changer in the context of a significant, and indeed growing, climate finance gap which is a key obstacle to achieving decarbonization at the speed and scale required. Portrayed as stable, resilient and (almost) crisis-proof financial flows, there is emerging research which suggests that ‘green’ remittances can act as complementary finance enabling micro-level household adaptation and mitigation across a range of arenas including food security. This paper seeks to think through potentials and challenges arising from the intersection of remittances, food security and climate change paying particular attention to dietary transitions, urban gardening, and remittance fatigue. Based upon qualitative research with UK based Zimbabwean communities, it centres migrants as its vantage point. In so doing, the paper unpacks the multi-directional dimensions of remittances as flows and practices; of climate change challenges in places of emigration and immigration, and of dietary change which span from nutrition to nourishment.
About the Speaker
Kavita Datta is Professor of Development Geography and Director of the Centre for the Study of Migration at Queen Mary University of London. Her research spans migration studies coalescing around issues of money, food and gender. She has a long-standing interest in remittance studies, the financial, emotional and infrastructural dimensions of these practices, and impacts upon migrant well-being. More recently, she has explored the interplay between food and migration in relation to food cultures and insecurities among migrant communities and food/ remittances in contexts of severe acute malnutrition. Her current collaborative project, Remitting for Resilience, is exploring the climate adaptation, migrant remittances and food insecurity nexus. She deploys gendered intersectional perspectives to better understand diverse aspects of transnational mobility. Her research is based in the UK, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Kavita’s books include Global Cities at Work: New Migrant Divisions of Labour and Migrants and their Money: Surviving Financial Exclusion in London. She is co-editor of the Elgar Companion on Migration and the Sustainable Development Goals.
MiFOOD is hosting a series of webinars on various topics about migration and food security that highlight the progress of the project. These webinars include conceptual discussion, empirical findings and policy analysis. Through these webinars, we intend to build a community with various stakeholders for knowledge sharing, deepen the understanding of the complex intersections between migration and food security, and facilitate the discussion of effective policy interventions. Follow the MiFOOD Twitter (Moving on Empty), Like the MiFOOD Facebook page to be notified about upcoming webinars.
