Climate change resulting in migration of people in developing nations Saturday, 08 July, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST] Rome Climate change poses a major risk for rural people in developing countries, often leading to distress-driven migration, and bolstering sustainable agriculture is an essential part of an effective policy response.
“Although less visible than extreme events like a hurricane, slow-onset climate change events tend to have a much greater impact over time,” he said, citing the drying up over 30 years of Lake Chad, now a food crisis hotspot.
“Many migrants will come from rural areas, with a potentially major impact on agricultural production and food prices,” Swing said.
FAO and IOM, chosen as co-chairs for 2018 of the Global Migration Group – an inter-agency group of 22 UN organisations – are collaborating on ways to tackle the root causes of migration, an increasingly pressing issue for the international community.
Such vulnerabilities have been worsened by years of underinvestment in rural areas.
“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 said.
FAO and IOM called for explicit recognition of migration – both its causes and its potential – in national climate change and rural development policies.
Role of agriculture Farming and livestock sectors typically bear more than 80 per cent 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.