When Crops Fail, Migration Becomes Survival in Rural Guatemala
From
Ibukun Taiwo
Published on
26.09.25
At 4 a.m. in Xöconilaj , women gather in the dark with plastic tubs balanced on their hips, waiting their turn at the only well still holding water. By 6 a.m., the well will run dry.
Twenty years ago, there were several rivers where the women could draw water. Now, they walk for hours with their children to wash clothes, fetch water for their animals, and haul enough back to cook the day’s meals.
Climate change is not the main reason people leave Guatemala. But in villages already grappling with poverty, limited access to basic services, insecurity, and lack of opportunities, it is the stress multiplier. It takes daily responsibilities (such as putting food on the table, earning money for school fees, fetching water to drink) and makes them harder to bear until migration becomes the only perceived escape.
Our team spent a month in four rural Guatemalan communities – Chisnan, El Rincón, Las Uvas, and Xöconilaj – to understand how climate extremes deepen existing hardships and shape decisions to migrate. These communities, spread across four departments, face some of the country’s highest rates of irregular migration to the U.S., compounded by climate risks and security challenges, including gender-based violence.
More:
https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/when-crops-fail-migration-becomes-survival-in-rural-guatemala/