Assessing differential vulnerability of communities in the agrarian context in two districts of Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Climate variability causes multiple difficulties to rural poor. The loss in agriculture production is the most predominant impact among many, especially in drought-prone regions of India. Aggravating this further are the non-climatic risks like depletion of groundwater, land fragmentation, lack of post-harvest structures and disappearing and deteriorating common property resources among many others. Within this context, the current study presents how agrarian livelihoods in rural Maharashtra has been transforming to adapt to both the changing climate and non-climatic drivers. A community engaging vulnerability assessment tool was used to explore the climate risks and vulnerabilities of different social groups. Insights indicate that vulnerability is socially differentiated and across farmer categories and social groups. Caste and social standing play a significant role in access to resources, land ownership, livelihoods choices and approachesimpacting their vulnerability to climate change. The study concludes that vulnerability assessments need to be conducted at lower scales, as climate risks vary even within small clusters of villages. This understanding helps designing programmes and policies that build adaptive capacities of rural poor and thus recommends integrating community engagement into academic research is critical.

Dynamics of banks' lending practices to farmers in India

“…The sample supports the generally held belief that farming in India is male dominated and is seen as less attractive Banks' lending practices than working in commerce or industry or often, to working overseas as a migrant worker. In India, the stratified caste system influences the individual's rights to access to resources and little effective voice (Sugden et al, 2014;Kuchimanchi et al, 2019). However, the Jat Sikh community belongs to the upper economic segment of the rural society.…”

Exploring windows of opportunities of smallholder farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

“…It may be questioned for how long the aim could realistically be to intensify: farmers indicated to be challenged by labor availability, low soil fertility, unpredictable climate, land fragmentation, land availability, crop pests and diseases and water availability. These challenges are recognized in literature: Chauhan et al (2012) stated that increasing labor shortages and deteriorating soil and water resources made the wheat-rice cropping system uneconomical and unsustainable and Kuchimanchi et al (2019) stressed that non-climate related risks like depletion of ground water and land fragmentation aggravate vulnerability and crop diseases affected production, but also affected human and livestock health when spoiled cereals are consumed. On top of these farm-internal challenges, climate change will put pressure on these smallholder farming systems (Jat et al, 2020a;Khatri-Chhetri et al, 2017).…”

“…Simultaneously, the demographical development has led to fragmentation of farms, so that a large proportion of the farmers are currently considered as small and marginal farmers with a farm area of less than two ha (Kuchimanchi et al, 2019;Manjunatha et al, 2013). These developments have compromised the livelihoods of farmers and made them more vulnerable for economic and climatic volatility.…”

Less to Lose? Drought Impact and Vulnerability Assessment in Disadvantaged Regions

“…The implementation of water harvesting programs to reduce localized vulnerability can also be practiced at this level, where communities are sufficiently aware, organized and empowered to do it. It is important to recognize that the feasibility and effectiveness of systems for local monitoring and management of hydrological vulnerability to drought depend on local people and their livelihoods; therefore, these types of assessments cannot be divorced from the people-centered and livelihood-oriented approaches described in the previous section [63].…”