Context: 

This Article is based on the news “UN warns of climate change impact on farms and rural households run by women in poor countries” which was published in the PTI. Recently, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a report: “The unjust climate: Measuring the impacts of climate change on rural poor, women, and youth”. 

Key Finding of the Unjust Climate Report

• Economic Impact of Climate Stress:

• • Disparities between Poor & Non-Poor Households 

• • • Income Loss: low-income households suffer an Average loss of 5% & 4.4 %  of their total income due to heat stress & floods compared to wealthier households,
    • Income Gap:  Between Poor & Non-poor household by USD 20 to USD 21 billion per year, respectively. 

• • Disparities Between Women & Men:

• • • Income loss: Female-headed households experience income losses of 8 % & 3 % due to heat stress & floods compared to male-headed households.  
    • Income Gap: Between Female & Male Headed Household by USD 37 billion and USD 16 billion per year, respectively. 

• Long-Term Temperature Effects: 

  • Greater reliance on climate-sensitive agriculture among poor households compared to non-poor households. 
  • A 1°C rise in long-term temperatures results 
    • in a 53 per cent increase in farm incomes for poor households and a 33 per cent decrease in off-farm incomes relative to non-poor households. 
    • There was a 34 per cent reduction in the total incomes of female-headed households relative to those of male-headed households. 

• Effects on Young and Older Households: 

  • Young households see a only 3 % & 6 % increase  in total income compared to older households due to floods & heat stress.
  • Their annual off-farm income increased only by USD 47 billion relative to other households due to Heat stress.

• Impact on Children and Work Burden: 

  • Increased weekly working time: of children compared to prime-aged adults by 49 minutes 

• Invisibility in National Climate Policies: 

• • Overlooked Climate vulnerabilities for Rural people : in national climate policies, such as the low representation in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and national adaptation plans (NAPs). 
  • Small percentage of climate action proposal: for Women, Youth, poor people & farmers in rural communities which is 6 % ,2 %,less than 1% about 6 %, respectively. 
  • Low Climate finance allocation: only 7.5 percent directed towards adaptation and a meager amount (1.7 percent, roughly USD 10 billion) reaching small-scale producers.

Suggestions for Addressing Rural Climate Vulnerabilities

• Integration of Social Protection and Advisory Services: It recommends linking social protection programmes to advisory services that can encourage adaptation and compensate farmers for losers, such as cash-based social assistance programs.
• Gender-Transformative Methodologies: Adopt the methodologies that directly challenge discriminatory gender norms, empowering women to exercise full control over decisions impacting their economic well-being.