Research Project (Ongoing)

Journeys for Human Security in Africa

Human security denotes a reasonably acceptable guarantee for the survival, well-being, and dignity of a human being. When they feel insecure or seek better opportunities, individuals would continue to decide to leave their place of residence or work and set forth on an arduous journey. Even as the world passes through a period of uncertainty with respect to immigration policies in different regions of the world, the movement of people both within and across national borders and continents is therefore bound to continue.

It is important to note in relation to sub-Saharan African migrants that the vast majority of them do not migrate to Europe or North America but within sub-Saharan Africa itself. According to International Migrant Stock 2024 (*), the figure for intra-sub-Saharan African migrants was more than four times that of migrants to Europe and more than nine times that to North America. This has been the trend for many years. And yet the study of intra-sub-Saharan African migration continues to receive relatively little attention.

In 2025, the year in which the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) will be held and the Japan–Africa ties are expected to be strengthened, the JICA Ogata Research Institute has launched a research project on sub-Saharan African migration from the perspective of human security. This research focuses on the narratives of individuals who migrated within sub-Saharan Africa ― and to Japan. Researchers familiar with the local contexts will interview migrants and collect narratives about their individual journeys for human security in around ten sub-Saharan African countries and Japan.

The interrelated goals of this project include:
a) better understanding the lived experiences of migrants, how the patterns of their migration are shaped by structural drivers and agency of people, and what kinds of challenges and opportunities they face, as perceived by individuals, and expressed in their narratives;

b) raising the awareness about the intra-sub-Saharan African migratory process;

c) attempting to bolster the ability of individuals in sub-Saharan Africa to migrate out of choice rather than out of necessity and make migration flow as safe and as productive as possible; and

d) contributing to the making of international cooperation policies more focused on the needs of the migrants, more systematic in their promotion of human security in sub-Saharan Africa, and more effective in maximizing their development impact.

*United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2020). International Migrant Stock 2024.