The influx of new city-dwellers gives rise to informal settlements with poor access to amenities and sanitation, the building-up of environmental buffer zones which increases risks of flooding, and a large-scale commodification of agricultural land in the surroundings of the cities.

Young men used to make up the largest part of people moving into cities. Now whole families are increasingly moving, preferring low-paid, informal work to the increasingly risky rain-fed cereal agriculture.

We had very interesting discussions on informal urban settlements in West Africa. According to Joachim Ouedraogo, a mix of political insecurity and declining food security in rural areas is fuelling continued migration into cities like Ouagadougou.