While some people around the world are taking small but meaningful steps to combat climate change, such as using reusable bags, switching to metal straws, or installing solar panels, many others remain unconvinced, indifferent, or unaware of how climate change affects their everyday lives. Yet, the evidence is all around us: crop failures, rising food prices, erratic weather patterns, wildfires, floods, and even scarcity of clean drinking water.
Unfortunately, the widespread indifference is not always rooted in denial; more often, it stems from a lack of understanding. In rural communities especially, there is a notable silence in the climate discourse, not because these communities are unaffected, but because they remain unaware of the influence they hold in shaping both local economies and global sustainability conversations.
Rural communities play a vital role in national development. They are home to a large share of agribusinesses, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry and timber production, traditional handicrafts, natural resource extraction, and tourism. These sectors not only sustain millions of livelihoods but also contribute significantly to economic growth. Despite their critical contributions, rural communities are often undervalued and overlooked in national planning and development efforts. Recognising this gap, organisations like the United Nations have stressed the need to support rural areas by providing essential inputs that foster environmental sustainability and improve living conditions.
While environmental challenges in these communities are widely acknowledged, one issue that receives less attention is the economic toll of climate change. This often-overlooked burden threatens the stability and progress of rural economies and calls for more targeted and inclusive interventions.
In recent years, there has been a decline in the means of livelihood of people in rural communities as a result of climate changes, which grapple with their lives psychologically, ecologically, and socially, culminating in an economic decline.
For many rural entrepreneurs, business depends on nature’s consistency; for instance, farmers seek rain and sunlight at the right times and have formed a bond with what they can produce throughout the year based on predictable climate conditions. However, the current environmental situation has left them in despair due to various challenges that directly affect their profits. The status of rural communities, including poverty, gender disparity, and age, allows climate change to widen the existing problems within these communities significantly. The climate crisis affects rural communities in various ways, often exacerbating existing economic challenges:
- Limitations in Diversification: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, rising temperatures directly impact rural communities, where much of their capital is invested in farming. While this might initially seem like a positive development, allowing them to achieve higher profits on crops that thrive in warmer conditions, they are limited in diversity and must face the harsh realities of unstable climate conditions, which ultimately affect their crop yields and restrict what they can sell to the general public.
- Decline in Labour Productivity: Just as rising temperatures harm crop production, fisheries, and water tables, they also reduce the productivity of those working under these harsh conditions. Farmers who spend significant time tending to their agricultural products are impacted by unpredictable climate conditions, where anything can go wrong at any moment. Similarly, construction workers and rural industries with outdoor labourers are constrained by these conditions, limiting their daily contributions to community development.
- Infrastructure Damage: Extreme weather events such as floods, wildfires, and hurricanes wreak havoc on rural infrastructure. Roads, bridges, and marketplaces that connect rural areas to urban communities may be damaged or destroyed by these severe climatic occurrences. The cost of repairs further strains their incomes, keeping them trapped in poverty.
- Loss of Cultural Heritage: Certain rural communities are renowned for specific products tied to their local entrepreneurs. For example, artisans specializing in wooden crafts rely on particular forest products. Current issues of deforestation and desertification hinder their production capability, reducing their annual income from these crafts.
- Increased Cost of Living: Climate change exacerbates poverty by raising the living costs for people in rural areas. It leads to water and food scarcity, disrupting supply and demand dynamics and forcing households to spend more on procurement.
- Chain Reaction: Sales directed towards big cities also decline, depriving rural entrepreneurs of profits from these transactions. Their deteriorating road networks, a result of climate change, force them to incur higher transportation costs while yielding lower outputs than ever before. This situation directly affects urban areas as they bear the consequences of reduced capital from rural communities.
- Limited Access to Climate-Resilient Tools and Technologies: Rural areas lack access to climate-resilient tools that could help mitigate climate issues, trapping them in a cycle of poverty. This technology gap exacerbates their vulnerability, which already stems from insufficient funds to purchase the necessary tools. The revolution requiring the use of treated seeds and climate-resilient irrigation systems enables competitors with less land access to compete effectively against them.
Achieving a stable climate requires sustained, collective effort. Everyone has a role to play, whether by taking action directly or supporting those most affected. Rural communities, often on the frontlines of climate change, frequently lack the financial resources and infrastructure needed to implement climate-resilient solutions. To bridge this gap, it is essential for governments, development partners, and relevant institutions to step in with targeted support. Organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Green Climate Fund (GCF) can play a critical role by channelling appropriate technologies, and incentives to rural areas, either through partnerships with local actors or by establishing community-level initiatives.
Rural communities should also be trained on diversifying their businesses as a climate adaptation strategy, alongside implementing resilience actions to combat climate change. These communities should be taught to utilize resources readily available in their environment to address and combat their challenges. For example, in Bangladesh, farmers in flood-prone regions have successfully revived the practice of building floating gardens. These gardens, made by weaving together aquatic plants, provide a stable platform for crops during floods. This practice helps local farmers maintain agricultural production even during extreme weather, offering a resource-based solution to climate adaptation. This innovative approach can be a model for rural communities to use the resources available in their environment to address and combat climate challenges.
The economic toll of climate change on rural livelihoods is undeniable, but it does not have to define their future. With targeted support, practical education, and context-specific innovations, rural communities can strengthen their resilience and safeguard their means of survival. When equipped with the tools to adapt, such as diversifying income sources and harnessing local resources, they not only protect their livelihoods but also become powerful contributors to national and global economic stability.
- https://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/ruralwomen/overview-climate-change.html
- https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/62b46527-6ddc-4b8b-9078-bc32c14978f5/content
- https://toolkit.climate.gov/rural-impacts
- https://www2.fundsforngos.org/articles-searching-grants-and-donors/12-funding-organizations-that-support-climate-resilient-agriculture/
