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Liquid Debts: credit, groundwater and the social ecology of agrarian distress in Andhra Pradesh, India

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  • Marcus Taylor

Abstract

This paper uses an approach grounded in political ecology and political economy to explain the social and ecological foundations of groundwater overexploitation and agrarian distress within semi-arid Andhra Pradesh It emphasises how relations of credit/debt have become intertwined with the tenuous social and ecological foundations of smallholder production to create a new dynamic of vulnerability across the agrarian environment. It thereby links cycles of groundwater depletion to the debt-driven survival strategies of India’s small and marginal farmers within a context of dramatic changes in Indian agrarian social relations over the past three decades. In so doing, it critiques established perspectives that portray the trend towards acute groundwater overexploitation as stemming from inadequate regulation or information deficits among rural producers. Ultimately it argues that groundwater overexploitation represents a common tragedy of debt-driven livelihoods within an austere agrarian environment.

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  • Marcus Taylor, 2013. "Liquid Debts: credit, groundwater and the social ecology of agrarian distress in Andhra Pradesh, India," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 691-709.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:34:y:2013:i:4:p:691-709
    DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2013.786291
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    Cited by:

    1. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Janssen, Marco A. & Kandikuppa, Sandeep & Chaturvedi, Rahul & Rao, Kaushalendra & Theis, Sophie, 2018. "Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in Andhra Pradesh, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 40-53.
    2. Mader, Philip, 2024. "Orchestrating self-empowerment in tribal India: Debt bondage, land rights, and the strategic uses of spirituality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Baccar, Mariem & Raynal, Hélène & Sekhar, Muddu & Bergez, Jacques-Eric & Willaume, Magali & Casel, Pierre & Giriraj, P. & Murthy, Sanjeeva & Ruiz, Laurent, 2023. "Dynamics of crop category choices reveal strategies and tactics used by smallholder farmers in India to cope with unreliable water availability," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    4. Nithya Natarajan & Katherine Brickell & Laurie Parsons, 2021. "Diffuse Drivers of Modern Slavery: From Microfinance to Unfree Labour in Cambodia," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(2), pages 241-264, March.
    5. Sowmya Dhanaraj & Vidya Mahambare & Pragati, 2021. "Are India’s farm debt waivers a political tool that impacts government finances?," Working Papers 2021-211, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    6. Sandeep Kandikuppa & Clark Gray, 2022. "Climate change and household debt in rural India," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 1-27, August.
    7. Robert, Marion & Bergez, Jacques-Eric & Thomas, Alban, 2018. "A stochastic dynamic programming approach to analyze adaptation to climate change – Application to groundwater irrigation in India," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(3), pages 1033-1045.
    8. Monika Grubbauer, 2020. "Assisted Self‐help Housing in Mexico: Advocacy, (Micro)Finance and the Making of Markets," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 947-966, November.

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