Empleo rural decente

Sustainable agriculture can mitigate climate-induced migration

06/07/2017

06 July 2017, Rome - Today, José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, and William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), discussed during a FAO's Conference Side Event how to mobilize agriculture and rural development as an adaptation alternative to climate-induced migration.

"Climate change poses a major risk for rural people in developing countries, often leading to distress-driven migration" said Graziano da Silva. "Bolstering sustainable agriculture is an essential part of an effective policy response".

Swing added that "Although less visible than extreme events like a hurricane, slow-onset climate change events tend to have a much greater impact over time. Many migrants will come from rural areas, with a potentially major impact on agricultural production and food prices."

FAO and IOM, chosen as co-chairs for 2018 of the Global Migration Group - an inter-agency group of 22 UN organizations - are collaborating on ways to tackle the root causes of migration, an increasingly pressing issue for the international community.

Drivers of rural migration

Since 2008, one person has been displaced every second by climate and weather disasters - an average of 26 million a year - and the trend is likely to intensify in the immediate future as rural areas struggle to cope with warmer weather and more erratic rainfall. Such vulnerabilities have been worsened by years of underinvestment.

FAO and IOM called for explicit recognition of migration - both its causes and its potential - in national climate change and rural development policies. Using migration as an adaptation strategy can be positive - as remittances can strengthen food security and productive investment in places of origin - but can also perpetuate more vulnerability if not supported by adequate policies.

"We need to systematically integrate migration and climate change into national development and poverty reduction programmes, disaster risk reduction and crisis planning and develop agricultural policies and practices that enhance resilience in the face of climate-induced forced migration" Swing stated.

The role of agriculture

Farming and livestock sectors typically bear more than 80 percent of the damage and losses caused by drought, underscoring how agriculture stands to be a primary victim of climate change. Other impacts include soil degradation, water scarcity and depletion of natural resources.

"Agricultural and rural development must be an integral part of solutions to weather and climate-related challenges, especially as they link with distress migration" Graziano da Silva said. "Investment in resilient rural livelihoods, decent employment opportunities, especially for youth, and social protection schemes geared to protecting people from risks and shocks, is necessary" he added.

Related resources