Voices of rural people: Community-level assessment of effects and resilience to natural disasters in Odisha, India

Abstract

Globally, natural disasters have caused a large scale of damage and destruction every year, affecting millions of people, the economy, and development – and developing countries are the most severely affected. Odisha is one of India’s most disaster-prone states. This study explores the effects of, and resilience to, cyclones, floods, droughts, and heatwaves in Odisha, and identifies government strategies that help mitigate these natural disasters. We mainly used primary data collected through a qualitative study undertaken from April 2017 to June 2017 in three districts of Odisha. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with community members and key stakeholders at different levels. In addition, our study analyzed secondary data on natural disasters using DesInventar, a disaster information management system data source. The findings show that floods, cyclones, and drought in recent years, along with heatwaves and lightning, have severely affected the people of Odisha. The impacts of these natural disasters are calamitous – particularly on livelihoods, food security, health, water, and sanitation. These natural disasters, which have affected agriculture, fisheries, prawn cultivation, roadside vendors, and daily wage laborers, have both short- and long-term effects on the livelihoods of people in Odisha, leaving them with scarce employment opportunities. The vulnerable and marginalized sections of the population have been the most severely affected, and common coping mechanisms have included selling off livestock, borrowing food, taking loans and mortgages, and migration. The government’s measures/programs, such as an Early Warning System, Public Distribution System, Multipurpose Cyclone Rehabilitation Centers, Seasonal Residential Care Centers, and Indira Awas Yojana, play a major role in mitigating the effect of disasters among rural communities. Our study indicates that natural disasters have impacted the population of the state socioeconomically, physically, and psychologically. The effect on livelihoods, directly and indirectly, exacerbates income, food security, and health. There is an urgent need to focus on reducing people’s underlying vulnerabilities by taking proactive measures, engaging the community in decision-making, and generating alternative and sustainable livelihoods.

Values, environmental vulnerabilities, and implications on adaptation: Evidence from an indigenous Raika community in Rajasthan, India

“…Further, these choices trap older adults in villages, without adequate financial means and family support, to pursue livestock management. A similar development was recorded in Odisha, where the youth migrated to urban areas (after natural disasters), leaving the older adults to fend for themselves (Patel, Mathew, Nanda, et al, 2020). Therefore, adaptation can involve intergenerational tensions as well as the sacrifice of short-term adaptive capacity to bolster long-term adaptive capacity.…”

District-level analysis of climate vulnerability and household nutrition status among rural communities in Odisha, India

“…Unfortunately, the agriculture production ecosystem is widely affected by various climateinduced vulnerabilities. Many past studies have documented the same (Mishra, 2007;Chhotray and Few, 2012;GoO, 2016;Duncan, Tompkins, Dash, et al, 2017;Patel, Mathew, and Nanda, 2019;Patel, Mathew, Nanda, et al 2020). This vulnerability not only affects agriculture production systems but also impacts nutrition outcomes of the household in terms of creating a scarcity of food, particularly nutrient-rich quality food for the agriculturally dependent households.…”

“…Using 45 years of data for seven selected crops (panel data) of Odisha Das (2017) observed that changing climate, particularly at the rainfall and temperature level, has significant impacts on the crop production in Odisha (Das, 2017). Research studies using panel regression analysis found that climate change has a significant influence on the agriculture production system in Odisha (Mishra and Sahu, 2014;Mishra, Sahu and Sahu, 2015;Patel, Mathew, Nanda, et al, 2020). IPCC (2007) working Group-II estimates that changing climate in India will lead to a drop in wheat production by 4-5 million tones, 4-35% reduction in rice yields, and negative impacts on livestock (WG-II, IPCC-2007).…”

Classifying climate vulnerability and inequalities in India, Mexico, and Nigeria: a latent class analysis approach

“…Droughts have been linked to early marriage in certain settings, as families offset financial harms from crop loss by securing dowries [37][38][39] or reducing the number of mouths to feed. Droughts have also been linked with food insecurity [40][41][42], children joining families in the brick-kiln industry [43] and dropping out of school [44,45]. Rural agricultural households may be more likely to be harmed by droughts, resulting in economic and food insecurities.…”