Current Research Projects

Rapid Gender-Sensitive Migration and Climate Vulnerability and Risk Assessment and Baseline Study of Selected Locations in Odisha and Telangana

This project under the joint Program looks at Enhancing the resilience to climate change of migrant and vulnerable households in the coastal areas of Odisha state and drought-prone areas of Telangana. The International Institute of Migration and Development is taking the Lead in the Odisha Study with the assistance of Policy & Development Advisory Group (PDAG) while providing Research support to the PDAG Team in the Telangana Study

The joint programme (JP), initiated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and supported by the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MMPTF), aims at enhancing the resilience of such vulnerable ‘agriculture-based households’ of Odisha, facing recurring challenges due to climate change, through migration in general and international migration in particular. The JP has been designed to address the complex interconnected challenges within the migration, agriculture, and climate change nexus, in the two coastal districts of Odisha—Kendrapada and Ganjam.

Over the span of three years, this Joint Programme (JP) aims to tackle the challenges heightened by climate change that severely affect rural communities reliant on agriculture and other livelihoods. The focus is on leveraging agricultural value chains and local economic factors to bolster resilience. The primary goal of this JP is to improve the resilience of vulnerable rural households to climate change in disaster-prone regions, support the reintegration of returning migrants into the local economy, and enable households to make informed migration decisions.

Migration Driven Transformation: The Feminization of Tamil Nadu’s Agricultural Labour Force – National Commission for Women

“Migration Driven Transformation: The Feminization of Tamil Nadu’s Agricultural Labour Force” – Funded by the National Commission for Women. This research project explores the feminisation of Tamil Nadu’s agricultural labour force, examining the drivers of this transformation, the experiences and socio-economic conditions of women workers, and its implications for gender roles and rural development to inform policies that promote gender equality and inclusive development. The IIMAD team, in collaboration with Ethiraj College Chennai, engaged in fieldwork across the state of Tamil Nadu in India.

Link4Skills – EU Project

Link4Skills is funded by the European Union and addresses the global challenge of skill shortages and mismatches through innovative, sustainable solutions that foster fair skill utilization and exchange across continents. Focusing on Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, the project seeks to bridge the gap between skill supply and demand by facilitating re/up-skilling, promoting automation, and encouraging migration as policy options. Link4Skills is creating an inclusive, participatory policy decision-making environment by integrating a diverse range of stakeholders, including EU decision-makers, inter-governmental institutions, national and subnational decision-makers, employers organizations, employees organizations, and civic society co-development institutions.Link4Skills

Kerala Development Bank Study

Diaspora communities are an important source of financial support for Kerala. But the diaspora’s full potential to support the social and economic development of Kerala is unrealized. A proposal to optimally utilize Malayali diaspora remittance and human capital is a diaspora supported development bank. This project will determine the viability and potential of a Kerala Development Bank supported by the Malayali diaspora. In particular, this project will assess the support of the Malayali diaspora; develop a policy framework; and explore the potential benefits to Kerala and its people. This initiative hopes to show Kerala’s policy decision-makers the social and economic development opportunities from a Kerala Development Bank.

_{South-South Migration and Migrant Food Insecurity: Interactions, Impacts, and Remedies (MiFood Project)}

South-South Migration and Migrant Food Insecurity: Interactions, Impacts, and Remedies (MiFood Project) builds on the strong foundation laid by the existing HCP partnership by assembling a network of partner institutions, co-investigators, and collaborators from seven Canadian universities together with teams from current partners in China, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia and Mozambique, and new partners in Ecuador, Ghana, India, Qatar, South Africa and Singapore. The time-frame planned for the project is seven years and the research aims to understand the countries and cities with significant numbers of international and/or internal migrants who face important challenges of precarious employment, inaccessibility to basic rights and services, structural inequality, uncertain futures and acute or chronic vulnerability to food insecurity.

Completed Research Projects

_{International coalition for de-centred migration knowledge (DEMIKNOW)}

Four migration research centres, located in India, China, Australia and Canada are coalition to The DEMIKNOW, with the project titled, ‘International Coalition of Research Centres in Migration’. Duration of the project is three years (from 22 March 2021 to 21 March 2024). The project is led by Ryerson University (Mehrunnisa Ali, Anna Triandafyllidou) under the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grants Program. The other partners are Migration, Mobilities and Belonging Network, University of Western Australia, Australia (Loretta Baldassar); National Research Centre for Resettlement, Hohai University, China (Sun Zhonggen); Kannur University, Kerala, India (Irudaya Rajan (Chairman, The International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD)) and Dean to the Faculty of Social sciences, Kannur University)). Research project in India aims to study the role of families in migration of international students. The Indian research centre leads a small scale study using primary and secondary data. The research is funded by The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and training in the humanities and social sciences.

Kerala Migration Survey 2023-2024

Kerala Migration Surveys, conducted every five years, provide up-to-date migration estimates and socio-economic background characteristics. This information is crucial for the government to formulate effective programs and policies. First Kerala Migration Survey took place in 1998, encompassing a sample size of 10,000 households across 200 localities throughout Kerala. These localities were selected based on the 1991 Census data. The survey’s primary focus was on the concerns of emigrants, return emigrants, migrants to other states, and those returning from other states within India. The survey provided the first credible estimates of the magnitude of migration from Kerala. In the latest survey conducted in 2023, the sample size was further increased to 20,000 households distributed across 500 localities, covering all 14 districts.

The most recent Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) was initiated in May 2023 and successfully concluded its survey process by December 2023. KMS 2023 was one of the important recommendations of Loka Kerala Sabha 2022. The comprehensive report, summarizing the findings, is anticipated to be finalized within the next three months. In contrast to previous surveys, the current iteration of the KMS has broadened its scope by including several pertinent topics. This survey has a specific focus on modules such as return migration and recruitment cost, student migration, climate change and migration, Left behind Children, Women and Older People in Migrant Households, and the intersection of health and migration.

Jharkhand Migration Study 2023

The primary goal of this study is to estimate the labour migration patterns from Jharkhand and examine the influx of remittances that contribute to the economic progress of the state’s residents. For our study, the primary sample unit is a household. The sample households have been selected through a stratified multistage random sampling method. The total sample size was 10674 households as against the proposed 10000 households.

According to the JMS, the estimated number of migrants in Jharkhand is approximately 45 lakh, with a significant proportion consisting inter-state migrants. This indicates that a substantial number of people from Jharkhand choose to relocate to other states in search of better economic opportunities and livelihoods. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal emerged as the top destinations for these migrants, suggesting that factors such as higher wages and economic prospects play a crucial role in attracting individuals from Jharkhand to these states. The majority of migrants are male, comprising 89.6 percent of the total migrant population, while females account for only 10.3 percent. The survey also provides valuable insights into the reasons for migration. The primary reason cited by migrants is the search for better work opportunities (37.8 percent), followed by the lack of employment opportunities in their home districts (34.9 percent). The experience of return migrants (ROMs) during the pandemic is also highlighted in the survey. The sudden reversal of migration patterns caused by the pandemic resulted in a large number of migrants returning to Jharkhand.

Odisha Migration Survey 2023

The Odisha Migration Study (OMS) 2023 is a multi-disciplinary empirical research project that will estimate the overall incidence of migration from the state, examine the role of agriculture, non-agriculture and remittances in rural household livelihood portfolios, study the impacts of migration focusing on women’s empowerment and well-being, and explore youth aspirations and the role of return migrants in agriculture and the rural economy. Odisha Migration Study (OMS) is led by the Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad in collaboration with the International Institute of Migration and Development, and is funded by the International Rice Research Institute.

Odisha migration survey conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad covered 15,000 households across the 30 districts of Odisha. The survey findings, released in 2023, highlights Ganjam district as having the highest concentration of international migrants, followed by Kendrapada. Rural to urban migration emerged as the predominant trend in Odisha, driven by a desire for more promising, well-paying, and less risky employment opportunities in urban areas. This pattern is most pronounced in the Coastal/Central division, which accounts for 80% of all migrations from this region.

Before migrating, the majority of male migrants were engaged in construction work, agriculture, and manufacturing. However, there is a substantial decline in agricultural activity post-migration, indicating a significant shift towards jobs in sectors like manufacturing and construction. Upon returning, many migrants re-engage in agricultural and allied occupations, followed by construction and trade-related activities. Despite significant structural transformations in Odisha’s economy over the past five decades, with an expansion of services and industry, agricultural dependency remains high, with nearly half the population relying on it for employment. This economic shift has not translated directly into employment changes, contributing to persistent poverty, food insecurity, and vulnerability, particularly among the poor population. Factors such as agrarian distress, employment crises, and industrial expansion through land acquisition have further exacerbated vulnerability, leading to migration as a survival strategy for seeking employment opportunities both within and outside the state.

_{The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on International Nurse Migration from India}

Dr. S. Irudaya Rajan (Chairman, The International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD)) is the Principal Investigator of Bilateral Joint Research Program by Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The project is led by the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO). Duration of the project is two years (from April 2021 to March 2023). This study aims to investigate the outcome of COVID-19 pandemic on the international migration of Indian nurses. Also, this research will combine data obtained in the previous study, which was conducted in 2016- 2017, that traced the migration of nurses trained in Kerala and Tamil Nadu with new data the focuses on (1) whether and how COVID-19 has affected their decision to migrate overseas or work in India, (2) the socio-economic characteristics of those who are working, or are about to work, overseas versus those who remain in India, and (3) analysing the factors, processes, and patterns of international migration. This study is the first of its kind that takes interviews of the same nurses before and after the COVID-19 pandemic to examine the impact of the Pandemic.

_{Women on the Move (WEMOV)}

‘Women on the move’ is an international EU funded network that focuses on unveiling the presence and economic contribution of women migrant workers. The COST Action (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) was launched in September 2020 and is due to end in September 2024, and over its lifetime it will organize events such as conferences, training schools and exhibitions. Its Grant Holder is Université de Paris.

South-South Migration and Migrant Food Insecurity: Interactions, Impacts, and Remedies (MiFood) Project -Return Female Migrants Household Survey

South-South Migration and Migrant Food Insecurity: Interactions, Impacts, and Remedies (MiFood Project) builds on the strong foundation laid by the existing HCP partnership by assembling a network of partner institutions, co-investigators, and collaborators from seven Canadian universities together with teams from current partners in China, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia and Mozambique, and new partners in Ecuador, Ghana, India, Qatar, South Africa and Singapore. The time-frame planned for the project is seven years and the research aims to understand the countries and cities with significant numbers of international and/or internal migrants who face important challenges of precarious employment, inaccessibility to basic rights and services, structural inequality, uncertain futures and acute or chronic vulnerability to food insecurity.

7th wave of Kerala Ageing Survey (KAS)

The Kerala Ageing Survey was first conducted by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in 2004 and initially included 4980 participants who were over the age of 60. It’s believed that this survey is the first of its sort in Kerala and potentially India. Once every three years is the regular interval at which the survey is conducted. The years 2004, 2007, 2020, 2013, 2016, and 2019 were covered by the survey. The most recent survey was carried out in 2022 by IIMAD.

4th wave of Kerala Ageing Survey (KAS)

The II wave was introduced by the CDS since the first wave’s participants’ were dwindling. It started in 2013 with 7768 participants who are at least 60 years old. Similar to the first wave of Kerala Ageing Survey this survey was also conducted in a time period of every three years has been conducted in 2013, 2016, and 2019. In 2022, IIMAD accomplished in the latest survey.