Based on the questionnaire survey and key informant interview conducted in Baoshan prefecture located in western Yunnan province, this paper explores, while government promoted farmers’ out-migration as a response to local drought, the impacts of out-migration on local farmers climate change adaptability, through a comprehensive and comparative study on the difference of income source, drought response, family income distribution between remittance-recipient families and non remittance-recipient families. Results show that the remittance brought back by out migrated farmers had a positive effect on the climate change adaptability of their families stayed in the origin. On the other hand, the mass out-migration of rural laborers also created potential problems, such as laborer shortage, for local agricultural development. It is suggested that in the future, vocational training for out-migration farmers, should include important courses such as family financial management, climate change and other related content to strengthen the climate change adaptability for farmers and rural communities; government should promote the concept of climate smart agriculture and localized adaptation strategies.
