Migration has always been an integral part of people’s lives and livelihoods in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region. At least some of this migration is partly driven by a deterioration in environmental conditions and an increase in the frequency of weather extremes (e.g. drought, sea level rise, extreme heat and increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns) that have important implications for rural farming livelihoods. However, the relationship between migration and climate change is complex, multicausal and non-linear. Climate change interacts with other factors and shapes the viability of rural livelihoods. These linkages are most pronounced between political, environmental and economic factors in the NENA region. Growth-focused economic and agricultural policies across the region undermine the sustainable governance of resources and create loopholes that enable unsustainable and maladaptive practices. Inappropriate and ineffective policy amplifies existing social and ecological vulnerabilities, shapes the economic viability of agricultural livelihoods and often hinders adaptation to different manifestations of climate change. These impacts are observed through weakened social capital, changes in access to land and resources, constraints in access to financial and extension services, falling incomes and food insecurity. The impact of climate change on different agricultural landscapes and livelihoods is not uniform, as different social-ecological and livelihood systems have varying thresholds for coping with or adapting to climate stressors. Drought emerges as the most important threat which negatively affects all livelihood practices in the region. Other factors include variable rainfall, extreme heat, desertification, soil erosion, salinization and sea level rise. Migration as an adaptation to climate change provides rural households with the opportunity to diversify incomes, reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. Migration in the NENA regions can be broadly grouped into short-term, seasonal or circular migration to rural or urban destinations; longer-term and permanent migration to urban or international destinations; and whole household migration to other rural or urban areas. But migration is not the only adaptation strategy pursued by rural farmers in the NENA region, and it is not a strategy desired by or available to all. Rural households also deploy a number of on- and off-farm adaptation strategies, ranging from diversifying farming production through using local ecological knowledge to manage resources to seeking off-farm waged employment. Migrant remittances have the potential to improve rural households’ ability to adapt to climate change. Remittances are the social, material and in-kind transfers between migrants and their families, including skills, ideas, consumer goods, food and money. Remittances can facilitate access to land, resources and other forms of capital in settings of high climate vulnerability. They also provide an important safety net and income gap filler when farming livelihoods are compromised due to the impacts of climate change. A number of social implications also arise due to out-migration through the economic impact of remittances. Social consequences of migration in rural areas include a restructuring of rural societies, which are manifest in the emancipation of previously landless marginalized groups. Migration also leads to changes in intra-household power dynamics and affects the well-being and resilience of those who remain in rural areas, especially women. These changes, in turn, have important ramifications for the management of natural resources, agricultural livelihoods and food security. They also influence decisions about risk management and shape the adaptation strategies of households and communities.