Climate change could affect human livelihood and increase migration pressure in various parts of Africa, potentially posing a security threat in transit and destination regions. To investigate and influence the seemingly conflicting relationship between migration and climate change the paper discusses three concepts which integrate migration into the climate adaptation policy framework. The most common concept, “adaptation preventing migration” aims at sustaining the livelihoods of affected populations in order to reduce their propensity to migrate. The second concept, “migration as adaptation” considers mobility is a legitimate adaptive response to climate change. Policy and institutions are required to support relocation and help integrating newcomers in destination regions. The third and new concept is “migration for adaptation”. Migrant social networks can be resourceful in increasing resilience and adaptive capacities of home communities. Migrants can trigger innovations across regions through co-development activities and the transfer of knowledge, technology and remittances, preventing conflicts by linking strategies for development in the communities of origin and destination. Institutional support in both regions needs to be directed towards channelling Diaspora contributions into climate adaptation measures. To combine theoretical concepts and empirical evidence, three case studies from countries across Africa – Morocco, Senegal and Rwanda – are analysed in view of this integrated framework.