Behind the research: Fekadu Adugna

Over the course of the last 10 years, the Migrating out of Poverty consortium has drawn on the enthusiasm and expertise of many people across the globe. This blog series focuses on the people behind the research, who have kindly shared personal reflections and learning from their experience of working with the consortium.

Fekadu is an assistant professor of Social Anthropology at Addis Ababa University, and researcher at the Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA). Fekadu worked as principal investigator for the migration industry theme in Ethiopia.

The biggest lesson I have learnt through my involvement in the Migrating out of Poverty programme is the gap between actors in migration governance, and the migrants and their families concerning their perception about migration. Unless that gap is narrowed, migration cannot be properly understood and governed. 

Participation in Migrating out of Poverty totally re-shaped my present and future research. I came from a totally different research focus, and now my research agenda is all on migration, forced displacement and refugee studies. 

What I am really proud of is the fact that I somewhat succeeded in understanding the organisation of migration and migration facilitation from below, the way the migrants and their families understand it. 

The Migrating out of Poverty programme has been a true team effort, and we appreciate the role each individual has played in producing and disseminating the research.

Thank you for all your hard work with the Migrating out of Poverty programme, Fekadu!