Themes in climate change and variability within the context of rural livelihoods : a systematic literature review

Rural livelihoods will continue to face the consequences of climatic change in the short and long term, and the outlook is likely going to deteriorate further with the increasing frequency and intensity of weather extremes. This paper aims to investigate the common traits and heterogeneity of climate change impacts on rural livelihoods across the globe. This study focused on systematically reviewing 86 publications using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The review of these articles resulted in the identification of 4 main themes and 11 sub-themes. The results indicate that the substantial body of literature on climate change and rural livelihoods emphasizes the vulnerability of natural-resources based livelihoods to climate-related impacts. Our analysis found that worldwide, the indicators of climate change and variability vary in terms of how climate change affects rural livelihoods and accordingly how rural communities cope with or adapt to climate change also differ. Based on the analysis, the study concludes that these differences are attributed to exposure to various climate change conditions and non-climatic factors, namely social, economic, cultural, and political factors. To employ effective and sustainable rural livelihoods in the face of climate-induced events, it is crucial for internal and external institutions to recognize such heterogeneity, making the formulation of adaptation plans and policies context-specific.