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Climate Vulnerability in Rainfed Farming: Analysis from Indian Watersheds

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  • Archana Raghavan Sathyan

    (Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for Bio Systems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany)

  • Christoph Funk

    (Department of Statistics & Econometrics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Licherstrasse 64, 35394 Giessen, Germany)

  • Thomas Aenis

    (Extension and Communication Group, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Luisenstrasse 53, 10099 Berlin, Germany)

  • Lutz Breuer

    (Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for Bio Systems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany
    Centre for International Development and Environmental Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Senckenbergstrasse 3, 35390 Giessen, Germany)

Abstract

India ranks first among the rainfed agricultural countries in the world. The impact of changing climate threatens rainfed food production as well as the food security of millions of people in the tropics and subtropics. The Government of India initiated Watershed Development Programmes (WDPs) for the overall development of these areas. We, therefore, established a comprehensive, location-specific, bottom-up tool to analyse and compare the climate vulnerability of watershed areas. For this, we deducted a new Climate Vulnerability Index for Rainfed Tropics (CVI RFT ) to evaluate the potential effectiveness of programmes to adapt to climate change impacts. The CVI RFT comprises of three dimensions of vulnerability, i.e., adaptive capacity , exposure and sensitivity . These dimensions consist of ten major components and 59 indicators with emphasis on rainfed farming and WDP interventions. To test the tool, we collected primary data through household surveys ( n = 215, split among three watershed communities) in Kerala. We show that there were strong variations in the exposure dimension, moderate in sensitivity and negligible in adaptive capacity across the watersheds. After analysing the major components under the dimensions, we suggest focusing on policy orientation towards redesigning of the WDPs with emphasis to economic diversification, livelihood strategies, social networking coupled with stakeholder participation, natural resource management and risk spread through credit and insurance flexibility. The CVI RFT is replicable to similar physio-geographic areas of rainfed farming, with the refinement of indicators suited to the locality.

Suggested Citation

  • Archana Raghavan Sathyan & Christoph Funk & Thomas Aenis & Lutz Breuer, 2018. "Climate Vulnerability in Rainfed Farming: Analysis from Indian Watersheds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-27, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:9:p:3357-:d:170941
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Reddy, A Amarender & Bhattacharya, Anindita & Reddy, Venku, 2021. "Significance of Farmers’ Distress Index in Reducing Agrarian Crisis: An Approach to Study Vulnerability in the Context of Dryland Farmers in India," EconStor Preprints 273421, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Alem Redda & Tamado Tana & Yibekal Alemayehu & Gebre Hadgu & Bisrat Elias & Atkilt Girma, 2022. "Maize Farmers' Perceptions of Climate Change and Determinants of Adaptation Decisions in Northern Ethiopia," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(3), pages 1-38, August.
    3. Reddy, A. Amarender & Bhattacharya, Anindita & Reddy, S. Venku & Ricart, Sandra, 2021. "Farmers’ Distress Index: An Approach for an Action Plan to Reduce Vulnerability in the Drylands of India," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(11), pages 1-1.
    4. Redda, Alem & Tana, Tamado & Alemayehu, Yibekal & Hadgu, Gebre & Bisrat, Elias & Girma, Atkilt, . "Maize Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change and Determinants of Adaptation Decisions in Northern Ethiopia," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(3).

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