RURAL ECONOMIES AND LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EXPLORING PROSPECTS OF THE EMERGING CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS

Abstract

Even though rural economies are widely informal, they have created a variety of income, employment opportunities and food security for rural communities. In most developing countries, particularly those in Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Latin America, rural economies comprise economic activities in sectors such as agriculture, tourism and fisheries amongst others. However, in recent years, the emergence of climate change has resulted in the collapse of some of the rural businesses leading to the increase in the unemployment rate in most rural economic sectors. Climate change encompasses modification in average weather conditions or in the distribution of weather leading to unprecedented and sometimes extreme weather events. Recently, climate change has been linked with extreme episodes of rising sea levels. El Nino, La Nina, hurricanes, floods and droughts have caused a lot of damage in the rural economic sectors. The purpose of this paper is to review the prospects of climate change’s impact on the rural economy with respect to employment trends. In other words, the question the paper intends to answer is: To what extent does climate change impact on rural economy including livelihood activities? The research method this paper used is based on theoretical knowledge derived from literature material such as academic articles, books and other sources of academic publications. The paper argues that the slow growth of rural economy, livelihood insecurity and lack of creation of new employment opportunities in rural areas can also be linked to the emergence of climate change in recent times. For instance, drought and floods have destroyed most of the rural livelihood activities and agricultural products, while tourism and fishery businesses have suffered the same fate, thus leading to fewer employment and job losses. The article concludes that, a diversification of measures to respond to climate change impacts on rural economy and needs to be devised if employment opportunities are to be created for rural communities.