In Honduras, climate-caused agriculture problems hit women and girls especially hard

In Honduras, the changing climate is undermining traditional agriculture. That's particularly difficult for women and girls, who depend on farming. And it's contributing to what experts call the "feminization" of migration.

Since the start of 2021, U.S. immigration authorities have encountered more migrants from Honduras at the southern U.S. border than any country except Mexico, and climate change is one reason why.

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Uprooted: How climate change is reshaping migration from Honduras

That's apparent in the sudden devastation caused by two hurricanes that struck the country in late 2020, and also in the slow-moving catastrophe of erratic rainfall and drought that are undermining agriculture — a major blow for a country that historically relies on farming for subsistence.

NPR talked to dozens of Hondurans in rural towns and villages who told us that changing climate is making it harder to survive. It's adding one more pressure to the complicated decision about whether to migrate in search of a better life in the U.S.