Climate change is reshaping agricultural sustainability, rural livelihoods, and mobility patterns across climate-sensitive regions. This study develops and empirically tests an integrated sustainability–resilience framework to examine how pro-environmental practices and livelihood capacities shape food insecurity and climate-induced migration among smallholder farming systems in western Iran. Drawing on an extended sustainable livelihoods framework and ecological resilience theory, the research employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) based on survey data from 296 farming households. The findings demonstrate that biodiversity stewardship, soil and water conservation, climate-smart and low-emission practices, and institutional knowledge systems are strongly associated with enhanced perceived agricultural productivity and lower food insecurity. Food insecurity emerges as a central mediating mechanism linking environmental degradation and livelihood fragility to migration intentions. Socioeconomic resilience and institutional engagement amplify sustainable resource management practices, strengthening adaptive capacity and reducing migration pressures. The results indicate that climate migration intention is not merely a response to environmental shocks but reflects cumulative interactions among ecological sustainability, productivity stability, and household vulnerability. By integrating environmental, institutional, and socioeconomic dimensions within a unified structural framework, this study advances understanding of sustainability transitions in smallholder systems. The findings provide actionable insights for aligning rural development strategies with SDGs 1, 2, 13, and 15 through integrated policies that simultaneously enhance resource efficiency, resilience, and food security.
Kalantari et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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