Health impacts of climate change on smallholder farmers

Byomkesh Talukder; Gary W van Loon; Keith W Hipel; Sosten Chiotha; James Orbinski

doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100258

Health impacts of climate change on smallholder farmers

One Health. 2021 Apr 29:13:100258. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100258. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Byomkesh Talukder¹, Gary W van Loon², Keith W Hipel³, Sosten Chiotha⁴, James Orbinski^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Canada.
² School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
³ System Engineering Department, Waterloo University; Canada Centre for International Governance Innovation Coordinator, Conflict Analysis Group, Waterloo, Canada.
⁴ LEAD Southern and Eastern Africa, Malawi.
⁵ Faculty of Health, York University, Canada.

Abstract

The health of smallholder farmers is crucial for ensuring food and nutritional security for two billion people. However, their health is in jeopardy for several reasons including challenges from climate change impacts. Using a narrative literature review supported by field observations and informal interviews with key informants in India, Bangladesh and Malawi, this paper identifies and discusses the health impacts of climate change under four categories: (i) communicable diseases, (ii) non-communicable diseases, (iii) mental health, and (iv) occupational health, safety and other health issues. The health impacts of climate change on smallholder farmers will hamper the realization of many of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and a series of recommendations are made to regional and country governments to address the increasing health impacts of accelerating climate change among smallholder farmers.

Keywords: Climate change; Health impacts; SDGs; Smallholder farmers.

Publication types

Review