Abstracts

Land-based livelihoods and associated assets are crucial elements of rural economies. Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released a special report (48th Session of the IPCC) in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. The report highlighted the impacts of higher global and local temperatures on various sectors key to the prosperity of people and rural economies like agriculture. It is argued that the IPCC Special Report’s anticipated climate change may well make core current land-based livelihoods such as agricultural practices unviable. This makes interrogating factors that affect smallholder systems’ resilience and productivity essential so as to fulfil the “Leaving No One Behind” agenda as the rural milieu is home to some of the world’s most vulnerable households and communities especially in the global south.  This article situates the IPCC Special Report (SR 15) and the Leaving No One Behind agenda in the context of the rural milieu using case study from South Africa.