Environmental Mobility and Adaptive Geographies: Reshaping Human-Environment Futures Across African Drylands

African drylands represent critical frontiers where human societies engage in complex and dynamic interactions with highly variable environments. This paper explores the multifaceted phenomenon of environmental mobility and its role in shaping adaptive geographies across these vulnerable regions. Far from being merely a symptom of environmental degradation, mobility is conceptualized here as a fundamental, often proactive, adaptive strategy employed by communities to navigate climatic variability, resource scarcity, and socio-economic pressures. We synthesize current understanding of human-environment interactions in drylands, highlighting how diverse forms of movement—from pastoral transhumance and seasonal labor migration to more permanent relocation—contribute to livelihood diversification, risk management, and the emergence of novel spatial configurations. The paper argues that a nuanced understanding of these adaptive geographies is crucial for informing resilient development policies that transcend conventional, often static, approaches to climate change adaptation. By recognizing mobility as an intrinsic element of human-environment futures, we advocate for governance frameworks that support, rather than impede, adaptive capacity, thereby fostering more equitable and sustainable outcomes in the face of ongoing environmental change.