adaptation strategies of the poorest farmers in drought-prone gujarat
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Adaptation strategies of the poorest farmersin drought-prone GujaratOMARI MWINJAKA a , JOYEETA GUPTA b & TON BRESSER ca East African Community (EAC)/Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC),Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP II) , Re-insurancePlaza Building, P. O. Box 1510-40100, Kisumu, Kenyab IVM Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam , DeBoelelaan 1087, 1071, HV Amsterdam, The Netherlandsc UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education , Westvest 7, 2611, AX Delft,The NetherlandsPublished online: 08 Jun 2011.
To cite this article: OMARI MWINJAKA , JOYEETA GUPTA & TON BRESSER (2010) Adaptation strategies of thepoorest farmers in drought-prone Gujarat, Climate and Development, 2:4, 346-363
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3763/cdev.2010.0058
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Adaptation strategies of the poorest farmers indrought-prone GujaratOMARI MWINJAKA1,*, JOYEETA GUPTA2 and TON BRESSER3
1Water Resources Management Officer (WRMO), East African Community (EAC)/Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), Lake
Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP II), Re-insurance Plaza Building, P. O. Box 1510-40100, Kisumu, Kenya2IVM Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, 1071 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands3UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft, The Netherlands
A literature survey indicates that farmers can adopt many strategies to cope with climate change. On the basis of 160 interviewsin Gujarat, India, this paper examines which coping strategies are used by farmers and how government policies influencefarmer behaviour. This paper concludes that the impressive drought relief framework focuses more on ex post, short-termresponses and does not take into account the potential impacts of climate change or the actual experiences of the poorestfarmers. Further, some farmers are able to access the variety of policy assistance that the state offers, but credit andinsurance schemes remain out of reach for farmers with low credit ratings and large rain-fed farms.
Keywords: climate change; coping; drought; Gujarat; rain fed
1. Introduction
The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) confirms that
the impacts of climate change on agriculture
will likely be very severe, especially for those in
rain-dependent regions. Limited financial, insti-
tutional and human resources, and high
ecosystem-dependent economic and livelihood
activities such as subsistence farming leave the
poor highly vulnerable (IPCC, 2007). India is an
agrarian country and agriculture is the backbone
of the economy. Yet 68 per cent of the net sown
area (144 Mha) is prone to drought, out of
which 50 per cent is severely drought prone.
Because two-thirds of India’s population is depen-
dent on agriculture, and a large percentage of
agriculture is rain fed, droughts and rainfall pat-
terns will seriously affect the ability of these
farmers to grow crops (TERI, 2003).
Gujarat is a water-scarce state in India, very
vulnerable to droughts (TERI, 2003). The rural
population is predominantly dependent on agri-
culture, which is highly dependent on the south-
west monsoon. The incidence of droughts has
become a regular feature: in recent years, every
five-year cycle has two to three years of drought.
About 80 per cent of the population in the
Kachchh district depends on rainfall and
the population is increasingly vulnerable to the
growing number of droughts and consequent
famines. For poor farmers adaptation strategies
are vital, as failure to adapt could lead to social
problems and displacement (Downing et al.,
1997).
Against this background, this paper examines
the generic adaptation strategies of subsistence
farmers in coping with extreme weather events
and climate variability, and studies how farmers
in the arid and semi-arid state of Gujarat cope
with extreme weather events and climate varia-
bility, what strategies they use and how govern-
ment influences their behaviour. Gujarat is an
interesting case because, on the one hand, the
research article
B *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT 2 (2010) 346–363
doi:10.3763/cdev.2010.0058 # 2010 Earthscan ISSN: 1756-5529 (print), 1756-5537 (online) www.earthscan.co.uk/journals/cdev
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situation is not as extreme as in parts of Africa,
where drought is a continuous state, and
because, on the other hand, it is a relatively
well-off state in comparison to other parts of the
developing world. This implies that a better
match of government policy and autonomous
coping strategies may help residents deal with
the impacts of climate change, as compared to
more vulnerable areas where a higher order of
response may be needed ex ante and ex post. At
the same time, unless these measures are well
designed they will only help to maintain the
status quo and not ensure that the resilience of
the farmers improves over time.
In order to address these questions, a literature
review of agricultural coping strategies was
undertaken. This was followed by a brief assess-
ment of the relevant policies in India and
Gujarat, and interviews with seven key infor-
mants1 at the state level and with 160 farmers in
nine villages in Mbachau taluka in the Kachchh
district (see Table 1). Interviewees were identified
through consultations with the Kutch Nav
Nirman Abhiyan (a local non-governmental
organization (NGO)) and the snowball method.
The data collected were verified through two
group discussions with the farmers. Finally, the
data were analysed and presented at a stake-
holders’ workshop held on 12 January 2008 in
Bhuj involving 30 participants. Responses from
the stakeholders’ workshop were incorporated
into the analysis. The data were analysed both
qualitatively and quantitatively by using the Stat-
istical Package for the Social Sciences program
(SPSS).
This paper presents a literature review of
adaptation options in the agricultural sector in
general (Section 2), analyses the Gujarati
policy framework in the area of climate
change, water and agriculture (Section 3), pre-
sents the results of the interviews (Section 4),
analyses the coping capacity of the farmers
and the ability of the policy framework to
support and stimulate this coping capacity
(Section 5), and finally draws conclusions and
recommendations (Section 6).
2. Response strategies of the agriculturalsector
2.1. Introduction
This section briefly elaborates on the types of
adaptation measures that can be taken, before dis-
cussing the generic adaptation strategies used in
the agricultural sector to deal with climatic varia-
bility and extreme events.
2.2. Types of adaptation measures
Measures taken in anticipation of a possible
change are ex ante measures calling for an
ability to predict the future. Reactive (or auton-
omous) adaptation consists of coping strategies
that actors may adopt in response to possible
climate impacts (ex post). These strategies
merely require the decision maker to be aware
of the changes that have occurred. Both ex
ante and ex post strategies have strengths and
weaknesses. The effectiveness of reactive
measures is dependent on the available resources.
The capacity to adapt autonomously depends on,
among other things, institutional support, man-
power, and financial and technological resources
TABLE 1 Names of villages and number of farmers selected
Name of village
Morgan Kadol Amarsar Bhandari Kabrau Deshalpar Ner Bhujpar Amardi
Interview number (F) 1–18 19–40 41–68 69–80 81–89 90–103 104–129 130–143 144–160
Number interviewed 18 22 28 12 9 14 26 14 17
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(see Ausubel, 1991; Yohe et al., 1996; Mendel-
sohn, 1999; Mendelsohn and Neumann, 1999).
However, Barnett (2001) argues that focusing
policy on such autonomous adaptation may be
futile because there is no guarantee that the
necessary biological, cultural and social processes
that trigger adaptation will be present.
Mendelsohn (1999) emphasizes that sectors
that can adjust quickly to climate change can
autonomously adapt to climate change as it
unfolds. The agricultural sector historically has
always adapted to the vagaries of nature, does
not generally have long-lasting capital and thus
the early depreciation of capital to adjust to
climate change is not necessary. Mendelsohn
(1999) asserts that precautionary or planned
(ex ante) adaptations to climate change should
be more appropriately aimed at capital-intensive
sectors (e.g. the coastal and forestry sectors).
These sectors either take time to respond or are
currently under such stress due to other pressures
that any further exposure due to climate change
will push them over critical threshold bound-
aries. Burton (1996) and Smit and Pilifosova
(2001) suggest that a planned approach to
address climate impacts is more efficient and
effective than reactive measures.
Bryant et al. (2000) argue that planned adap-
tations call for dynamic public policy aimed at
robust and flexible strategies, and net benefits
(Lewandrowski and Brazee, 1993; World Bank,
1998). Both ex ante and ex post adaptation
measures can be implemented at local through
to global levels. These can be assessed and incor-
porated in response strategies adopted by individ-
uals or local communities. Both direct and
indirect response strategies aimed at negating
concerns about the predicted impacts of climate
change should be included in the possible mix
of ex ante strategies (Benioff et al., 1996;
Fankhauser, 1996; Smith, 1997; Pielke, 1998;
UNEP, 1998). Such adaptation strategies can
potentially reduce long-term vulnerability as
well as realize opportunities associated with
climate change, regardless of autonomous adap-
tation (Smith, 1997; Burton et al., 1998; Fankhau-
ser et al., 1999).
Smit et al. (2000) add that the propensity of
systems (e.g. socio-economic systems) to adapt
is influenced by certain system characteristics
that have been called ‘determinants of adap-
tation’. These include terms such as ‘sensitivity’,
‘vulnerability’ and ‘resilience’, and ‘adaptive
capacity’, among others. The occurrences as well
as the nature of adaptation strategies are influ-
enced by these.
2.3. Generic adaptation measures used in theagricultural sector
The literature reveals a number of strategies used
in the agricultural sector to cope with climatic
variability. Ex post strategies at the farmer level
include crop diversification, changing cropping
intensity, changing crop mix, and changing
crop type and location. Ex ante strategies at the
market level include crop insurance, price strat-
egies, and opening up to trade and investment.
Ex-ante strategies at the government level
include extension services, promoting diversifica-
tion of income-generating opportunities, devel-
oping food reserves and storage systems for
emergencies, supporting temporary and perma-
nent migration, and land-use strategies. Ex-ante
technological options include the development
of new technologies, adoption of existing tech-
nologies and improving forecasting mechanisms.
Table 2 classifies the options in terms of the
different levels of reforms, provides the reasons
behind these strategies, elaborates briefly on the
relevant policies and provides the source of the
information.
2.4. Inferences
The literature shows that farmers have coped with
climate variability through history and have a tra-
dition of autonomous adaptation. However,
given the possible impacts of climate change,
both ex-ante and ex-post measures are becoming
increasingly important for farmers to adapt
to climate change impacts. Although many
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TABLE 2 Generic coping strategies used by farmers
Classification
of responses
Types within each
classification
Reason Relevant policies Reference
Micro-level coping strategies
Ex post Crop diversification Takes care of risks at farm
level
Promote extension
services
Benioff et al. (1996), Smit et al.
(1996), Chiotti et al. (1997),
Downing et al. (1997), Baker
and Viglizzo (1998)
Evenson (1997), Collier and
Gunning (1999), Mizina et al.
(1999)
Mizina et al. (1999), Kherallah
et al. (2002)
Change cropping
intensity
Improves soil water holding
capacity, holding nutrients
and minimizes soil erosion
Use pricing policies
Change crop mix Takes care of risks Promote extension
services
Use pricing policies
Change crop type
and location
Improves soil water holding
capacity and overcoming
long-term climate impacts
Promote extension
services
Use pricing policies
Matarira and Mwanuka (1996)
Market responses
Ex ante Crop insurance Enables improved risk
coverage
Risk management through
risk reduction and risk
sharing
Improve access to
insurance
Improve supervisory
capacity
Revise price incentives
Improve affordability/
availability of coverage
for catastrophes
Moreddu (2000)
Ex ante Develop market
efficiency such as
pricing reform, open
markets and
agriculture markets
Promotes more efficient use
of resources
Remove barriers
Property rights; pricing
policy
Adjust input subsidies
that constrain adaptation
Land-use regulation
Smit and Skinner (2002)
Ex ante Promote trade Promotes economic growth
Strengthens long-term food
supply and production
limitations
Pricing and exchange
rate reform and
stabilization
Adjust agricultural
subsidies and tariffs
Rosenzweig et al. (1993)
Ex ante Promote investment Overcomes financial
limitations to adapt
Property rights; design
innovating financial tools
O’Brien (2000)
Classification
of responses
Types within each
classification
Reason Necessary supporting
policies
Policy changes at state level
Ex ante Extension services Improves agricultural
productivity, information and
knowledge sharing
Institutional support, for
example, farmers
cooperatives
Mizina et al. (1999)
Continued
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TABLE 2 Continued
Ex ante Diversify income
earning and
employment
opportunities
Stabilizes income Institutional support Burton (2001), Ellis (1998)
Ex ante Food reserves and
storage
Temporary relief Promote private sector
participation
Harold and Paxton (1992)
Ex post Temporary migration Risk diversification strategy
to withstand climate shocks
and seasonal effects
Employment training/
opportunities
Locke (2000), Desanker (2002)
Ex post Permanent migration Diversify income earning
opportunities
To overcome long-lasting
climate impacts
Employment training/
opportunities
Locke (2000), Desanker (2002)
Ex ante Institutional
strengthening,
planning,
implementation and
decision-making
structures
To support long-term
planning
Reduce vulnerability
Provide information on the
changing socio-economic
structure, demographics,
technology, and public
preferences
Improve organizational
capacity, responsibility and
operational effectiveness
Reform existing
institutions that support
agricultural sector
Price incentives; improve
regulations and
technology standards
Legal reform for
stimulating domestic and
international investment
Changes in international
and domestic
competition
Smit and Skinner (2002),
Hernes et al. (1995)
Technological measures
Ex ante Development of new
technologies and
modernization
of farm equipments
Increases production and
reduces vulnerability
Promotes technology
adaptation
Hayami and Ruttan (1985),
Houghton et al. (1990),
Rosenberg (1992), Reilly and
Fuglie (1998), Evenson (1999),
Gopo (2001)
Ex ante Adoption of
technological and
other adaptation
measures
Increases agricultural yields
Reduces average fixed
costs
Reduces variable costs
Price incentives
including tax reform and
extension services
Gabre-Madhin et al. (2002)
Ex ante Short-term forecast
Improve forecasting
mechanisms
Improves preparation for
medium-term climatic
impacts
Strengthens ability to cope
with climate change
Improve preparation for
medium-term climatic
impacts
Institutional support (e.g.
establishment of farmer
cooperatives to spread
knowledge)
Barnett (2001)
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adaptation strategies at the farmer level are
ex post, the government and the private sector
play an important role in supporting ex-ante
adaptation. Governments can build sustainable
livelihoods through drought relief measures
and, by moving from ad hoc measures to
planned relief interventions, can create longer-
term livelihood options. Although the literature
promotes many neoliberal ideas for adaptation
such as property rights, pricing strategies, open
trade and investment, it is important to investi-
gate whether such strategies may work in specific
country contexts.
3. Response strategies in policy
3.1. Introduction
This section briefly discusses national and state
policy on agriculture and climate change, before
assessing how farmers perceive the effectiveness
of such policies in helping them respond to cli-
matic variability.
3.2. Gujarat and drought
Our review of the available models indicates that
there may be a general increase in rainfall in
western India with more intense rain events.
While the increased rainfall is welcome, an
increase in rainfall intensity might lead to a high
surface runoff and loss of water from the region.
An analysis of past rainfall data for Gujarat indi-
cates a different picture. Gujarat has experienced
12 years of drought, and four major scarcity situ-
ations. The intensity and return period of major
drought events has increased substantially in the
last two to three decades. This is in line with the
projected impacts of climate change.
Traditionally, Gujarat had a drought cycle of
five years, including two years of moderate rain-
fall, two years of low rainfall and one year of
good rainfall. Two consecutive years of low rain-
fall make it difficult for the communities to
sustain their livelihoods. It becomes worse when
there are three consecutive years of low rainfall.
Statistical data indicate that in the last two
decades, the intensity of the three-year period of
consecutive low rainfall is increasing, thereby
creating a severe drought situation (Shaw, 2005).
The increased droughts have also led to increased
famine (De Vries and Goudsblom, 2002).
3.3. State policy and how it is experienced atground level
Disaster management in India is a state-level issue,
with the central government playing a facilitative
role. Generally, central government will deal with
major disasters when states are unable to do so. At
the national level, the Ministry of Home Affairs is
responsible for disaster relief while the Ministry of
Agriculture is responsible for drought manage-
ment, because droughts potentially impact
heavily on the agricultural sector and will have
secondary impacts on the rest of the society in
terms of food availability and access.
The Government of India’s climate change
policy tends to be defensive (Gupta, 1997, 2001).
While the Government of India’s National Com-
munication on Climate Change (GOI, 2004) to
the secretariat of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change recognizes that
climate change is likely to have an impact on
Indian agriculture, it pays relatively little attention
to adaptation measures and policies at the federal
level. In the federal context of India, policies do
not always trickle down to the states and the
states are unlikely to develop policies if there are
no financial incentives provided by the centre. In
this context, existing agricultural policy in the
state of Gujarat simply focuses on promoting agri-
cultural productivity in the arid and semi-arid con-
ditions that exist in the state and does not
explicitly take climate change into account.
3.4. Measures at national level
At the national level, the responsibility for
weather forecasting, an important aspect in
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early warning for droughts, lies with the Indian
Meteorological Department under the Ministry
of Science and Technology. The role of the
Meteorological Department is restricted to
making meteorological observations and fore-
casting information for optimum operation of
weather-dependent activities such as agriculture
and water management. However, the National
Drought Early Warning System functions
through an inter-departmental Crop Weather
Watch Group (CWWG) (Ministry of Agriculture,
personal communication). The CWWG consists
of a group of administrators representing
various government departments responsible for
managing essential inputs for agriculture, and
scientists from the national agricultural system
(Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Minis-
try of Agriculture). Table 3 shows the composition
and the roles of its members.
The CWWG meets once every week during the
monsoon season from June to September and
assesses the monsoon situation and various
other parameters that may be relevant for
drought. The information flow after the CWWG
identifies that an impending drought can take a
long time. Interviews reveal that the procedure
is such that at the state level, the state govern-
ment assesses the situation and sends a request
for central assistance after identification of the
drought situation in the state. It takes up to
three weeks for the central government to send
Central Assessment Teams to assess the drought
situation in the state and to respond to the assess-
ment request by the state government. Figure 1
shows the flow of information and the time it
takes for various responses.
A report prepared by the Community Level
International Research Institute for Climate Pre-
diction and the Asian Disaster Preparedness
Centre (Someshwar and Subbiah, 2003) identifies
a crucial gap in climate information dissemina-
tion to the end users and states that an end-to-end
climate application system for drought mitiga-
tion does not exist in India. The report,
however, states that India has a fine institutional
mechanism that connects the central govern-
ment via the state governments down to the dis-
trict administration, and that this mechanism is
responsible for better delivery of relief services,
safeguarding and ensuring the recovery of liveli-
hood systems and ultimately avoiding or mitigat-
ing the worst impacts of famines.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Income
Guarantee Act of 2005 aims to provide employ-
ment of a maximum of 100 days per year per
rural adult in public schemes and this can, inter
alia, help to soften the impact of drought on
farmers. This scheme is slowly expanding its cov-
erage and may turn out to be a critical policy in
the future.
3.5. Measures at state level
Drought management in Gujarat is not very
different from other states in India and it is very
much a reactive strategy. However, the state has
established a drought early warning system –
TABLE 3 Composition of the Crop Weather Watch Groupand the role of the members
Composition Role
Central Relief
Commissioner, Chairman of
the group
Promotes overall coordination
Economic and statistical
advisor
Reports on behaviour of
agro-climatic and market
indicators
Indian Meteorological
Department
Monsoon forecast and progress
of monsoon
Central Water Commission Water-level situation in major
reservoirs
Crop specialists Crop conditions and prospects
Agricultural input supply
divisions
Agricultural extension
specialists
Supply and demand for all
agricultural inputs
Reporting on field-level farm
operations
Ministry of Power Managing electrical power for
ground water use
Ministry of Petroleum Supply for ground water use
Indian Council of
Agricultural Research
Information for technology
transfer
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the Weather Watch Group – under the chairman-
ship of the Principal Secretary, Revenue. The
working of the WWG resembles that of the
CWWG formed by the Ministry of Agriculture
and Cooperation. This group meets once every
week and assesses the drought situation by moni-
toring parameters such as rainfall, irrigation
facilities, water in reservoirs and electricity
supply. The state has a clear response mechanism
to drought. The state cabinet committee, which is
a standing committee, gets activated as soon as
drought is declared in the state. A state cabinet
sub-committee is responsible for policy making,
monitoring and implementation of the drought
relief work. The Chief Secretary heads the group
responsible for policy making while the Relief
Commissioner heads the implementation
group. A State Relief Manual facilitates the relief
work and outlines clear implementation guide-
lines. Appropriate institutional mechanisms
check the quality of drought relief implemen-
tation, which includes the provision of monetary
relief (loans, grants, etc.), food, water and fodder
supply, and crop contingency relief measures
such as the supply of seeds and fertilizers.
The practice has been that food grains are dis-
tributed to the affected population in return for
the work they do in the government drought
relief programmes. Typically, the affected popu-
lation is engaged in public works such as deepen-
ing of village ponds, agricultural ponds,
construction or repairing of check dams, and con-
struction or repair of roads. Cattle camps are one
such activity that provides centralized facilities
for arranging feed and water facilities.
3.6. Drought mitigation mechanisms
Watershed development and other social devel-
opmental programmes mainly drive drought
risk mitigation in India, aiming at the overall
development of stressed environments. These
programmes include the Drought Prone Areas
Programme (DPAP), the Desert Development Pro-
gramme (DDP), the Watershed Programme
(a hydro geological approach for in situ soil
and water conservation), the Food for Work
Programme, the Employment Assurance
Scheme, Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana,
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Antyodaya
Anna Yojana, the National Old Age Programme,
the Integrated Child Development Scheme and
the Mid-Day Meal for schoolchildren.
Some programmes, such as the DPAP, the DDP
and the Integrated Wasteland Development
FIGURE 1 State-level drought reporting mechanisms and estimated time response
Source: Key informant 1 and 7.
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Projects (run by the Ministry of Rural Develop-
ment) and the National Watershed Development
Programme in rain-fed areas (under the Ministry
of Agriculture), mainly rely on a watershed-based
approach driven by governmental and non-
governmental organizations. It aims to conserve
natural resources, including water. Studies on
these programmes show that their drawbacks
include a top-down approach leading to less ful-
filment of local needs, poor community partici-
pation, low development of community-based
assets, lack of sustainability of the programme,
and greater focus on financial monitoring of pro-
jects rather than on effectiveness or how such
interventions could lower the drought vulner-
ability of the programme’s villages or regions
(Kerr et al., 2002).
The existing policies of the state government
can be classified as economic, regulatory and
suasive. Economic instruments include credit
schemes, subsidies and insurance policies.
Although economic instruments are clearly
defined in policy documents, their implemen-
tation is problematic. Interviews reveal that
poor rain-dependent farmers do not benefit
from credit and insurance programmes because
they do not have property or investments that
can be used as security to obtain credit and are
seen as high-risk debtors. Regulatory instruments
include institutional arrangements and water
management practices. Interviews with key infor-
mants reveal that there is poor integration and
coordination between ministries dealing with
climate-related issues to address cross-cutting
and high-level policy questions. Suasive instru-
ments include information and knowledge
tools, for example, climate change information.
However, as interviewees explained, the lack of
quality research centres and networks to provide
training and extension services and to dissemi-
nate information to farmers is a bottleneck. At
the same time, the government can build on
and support existing initiatives. For example, in
the Kachchh district, 31 villages are involved in
a drought-proofing pilot programme, organized
by the federal and state government, in collabor-
ation with other organizations and communities
to reduce community dependence on drought
relief work and relief subsidies. This programme is
coordinated by Abhiyan, a network of 30 diverse
rural development NGOs covering 450 villages
that emerged as a response to the 1998 cyclone
and emphasizes collaborative advocacy, commu-
nity governance, self-rehabilitation of individuals,
decentralization and capacity building. Chaired
by the District Collector in Bhuj, Abhiyan has
established cluster-level community facilitation
centres (SETU).2 SETU works with local people as
well as cooperating with the government, inter-
national organizations and NGOs (see Figure 2).
Within these arrangements there is K-Link
(Kachchh Local Information Kendra), established
after the 2001 earthquake, which coordinates
data collection on damage to each village and
household. K-Link collects information from each
village through SETU, analyses it and distributes
it to governmental organizations and other NGOs
or private agencies that work in the villages.
Although SETU was established for earthquake
response, it has become important in the villages
and with other stakeholders. Because of its
unique characteristics, the establishment of
such local-based network organizations in
drought-prone areas might work well to assist
the state government to disseminate information
to local communities more effectively and effi-
ciently and, in particular, in Kachchh where
most communities live together in newly con-
structed houses after the earthquake. There is
also a need for the government to work more
closely with the Tata Consultancy Services,
which provides research assistance and extension
services. The consultancy conducts various
research into agriculture and climate change.
The research information produced by the
centre is shared with the Gujarat State Disaster
Management Authority for planning and distri-
bution to farmers for various interventions.
3.7. Agricultural policies in Gujarat
Although farmers administer their farms, they
operate within the broader political context. The
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government has been active in assisting farmers
since the economic recession of 1920 and formu-
lates policies and programmes such as the pro-
vision of subsidies, guaranteed prices and disaster
relief (Ilbery, 1985; Bradshaw and Smit, 1997).
The literature (e.g. Found, 1971; Body, 1984;
Bowler, 1985; WCED, 1987; de Wit, 1988;
OECD, 1989, 1993; Abler and Shortle, 1992;
Sopuck, 1993; Tweeten, 1995; Anderson and
Strutt, 1996; Lewandrowski et al., 1997; Potter
and Goodwin, 1998) argues that government pol-
icies do not reduce the environmental impacts of
agricultural activities but may, in fact, aggravate
the impacts through subsidies on pesticides and
herbicides. This has influenced policy within
the World Trade Organization that promotes
reform, the removal of subsidies and market liber-
alization internationally (Bradshaw and Smit,
1997). These trends (regulation, deregulation
and liberalization) and their impacts on pro-
duction, the environment and farmers have
been the focus of recent scholarly literature.
However, these ignore the fact that the funda-
mental relationship between government pol-
icies and environmental degradation is more
complex, and that while the removal of certain
subsidies may be environmentally and economi-
cally efficient, it may not be socially justified.
Interviews with key informants and farmers
reveal that there are several policies that assist
farmers in coping with extreme weather events
and climate variability. These include the Rural
Infrastructure Development Fund, launched in
1995/1996; the Kisan Credit Card Scheme,
which was introduced in 1998/1999 to facilitate
short-term credit to farmers; and the National
Agricultural Insurance Scheme, which was intro-
duced in 1999/2000 to provide cover against
losses on account of natural calamities (this last
scheme covers all food crops, oilseeds, and
annual horticulture and commercial crops).
There is also a pilot scheme on seed crop insur-
ance that was launched in 1999/2000 to provide
cover to seed breeders/growers in the event of a
failure of seed crops (TERI, 2003) and income
stabilization programmes that are all part of the
National Agricultural Policy of 2000.3
Interviews reveal that some schemes are
working well while others are not. Local farmers
and key persons indicated that their existing
coping strategies are mainly influenced by gov-
ernment policies. For example, most farmers par-
ticipate in labour-intensive schemes such as road
construction.
Traditional risk management practices such
as fodder storage, keeping bullocks, applying
FIGURE 2 Illustration of disaster information management. K-Link: Kachchh Local
information Kendra; SETUs: cluster-level community facilitation centres; TCS: Tata
Consultancy Services; GSDMA: Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority
Source: Key informant 4 and Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan (NGO), Bhuj, Kachchh district.
Adaptation strategies of the poorest farmers in drought-prone Gujarat 355
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farmyard manure and land preparation are increas-
ingly less common. Farmers perceive that in
addition to changing weather patterns, limited
access to credit, lack of extension offices, lack of
information and crop insurance, depletion of
ground water and salt intrusion are the causes of
their current vulnerability, along with several
other external factors such as improper subsidies,
the high prices of agricultural inputs and lack of
clear policies (see Figure 3).
3.8. Inferences
The above analysis leads to the following infer-
ences. First, drought is a serious issue for
Gujarat, and an elaborate institutional frame-
work has been set up at the central, state and dis-
trict level to provide early warning and to support
farmers in times of crises. The advantages of this
framework are (a) its inter departmental charac-
ter; (b) its multi level governance character reach-
ing from the central government to the district
level; (c) the regularity of official meetings
during the potential drought seasons; and (d)
the elaborate set of programmes and instruments
at the disposal of the government and the
obvious prioritization to drought.
Second, the programmes also have a number of
weaknesses: (a) the reactive strategies of the gov-
ernment, while useful for coping with changing
weather patterns, have not taken into account
the structural demands that climate change will
make on policy responses; (b) the strategies tend
to be paternalistic and top-down and the links
down to the farmer level are relatively poor –
using discussions with and inputs from farmers
to develop policies appears to be a less common
strategy; (c) while some programmes such as the
income stabilization programme and the pro-
vision of loans are seen as successful, the
poorest farmers with no or low credit ratings do
not benefit from loans and insurance schemes;
(d) the dissemination of information and
awareness-raising practices are poor, which
reduces the ability of farmers to adopt ex-ante
FIGURE 3 Farmers’ views on government interventions
356 Mwinjaka, Gupta and Bresser
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adaptation measures; (e) technological assist-
ance, weather monitoring and research inputs
are less easily available to poor farmers, even
though at the state and central government
level there is access to considerable information
and technology; (f) furthermore, most govern-
ment programmes (e.g. income stabilization pro-
grammes) are short-term, ex-post adaptation
measures that help farmers in times of drought.
However, these programmes do not focus on
structural solutions to build the resilience of the
poorest farmers to cope with such drought; ex-
ante adaptations, such as improving water man-
agement practices, institutional support and
technological development such as research on
hybrids and drought-resistant crops and pro-
vision of climate information, are not taken into
account.
4. Response strategies of farmers andinfluence of state policy
4.1. Introduction
Farmers in Gujarat have long faced critical water
shortages; climate change will likely further
exacerbate the situation. Farmers thus have a
record of trying to cope with these shortages.
This section provides some anecdotal stories of
how farmers cope with variability, before discuss-
ing the instruments they adopt to deal with cli-
matic variability.
4.2. Anecdotes reflecting response strategies
A farmer4 from Morgan village explained that
farmers used to store seeds and corn traditionally
in their homes. However, the earthquake in
Gujarat destroyed their storage facilities and the
new structures that have since been built did
not take storage into account. Thus, the knowl-
edge and practice of how to store is being lost.
Another farmer from Ner village5 in Kachchh
explained that bullocks are essential on farms
because they help to prepare the land for
agricultural purposes. However, during times of
drought, poor farmers bring their bullocks to gov-
ernment or other private ranches where the
animals are taken care of. However, they have to
pay for this care. If the drought is severe and no
income is generated, farmers are not able to
raise the resources to redeem their bullocks.
They thus lose their bullocks, and the following
season they are in a worse position to farm effec-
tively and are caught in a spiral of poverty.
A farmer from Amarsar village6 explained that
although there are relief works where farmers
get paid for the services they render, this only
benefits those who can work on these relief
works and those with ration cards. Another
farmer7 from Bhandari village explained that irri-
gated farms are generally small, and because
insurance premiums are calculated per hectare,
they have to pay relatively low premiums and
their outputs are high. Rain-fed farms are larger
and the premiums are higher even though the
productivity is lower. A villager from Amarsar
village8 explained that such insurance is
only paid out when there is general crop failure
from drought. But if there are other reasons for
crop failure on one farm, the insurance does not
pay out; therefore, no farmer in that village has
insurance. In Kabrau village, farmers9 noted that
there is an increase in pests and diseases, and
they think this has to do with changing weather
patterns.
4.3. Change in traditional rain-fed farmingpractice
Owing to weather events and other social reasons,
there have been a number of changes in agricul-
tural practice that have made farmers more vul-
nerable. Table 4 summarizes the changes that
have taken place in recent years.
4.4. Response strategies used by farmers
Interviews reveal that almost all the adaptation
strategies mentioned in the literature are also
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mentioned in state policy documents. Figure 4
shows the coping measures used by Gujarati
rain-fed farmers in the case study district.
Among them, different planting dates, changing
from farming to non-farming activities and parti-
cipating in income stabilization programmes are
the most used strategies. Other measures that
are partly or somewhat used include soil conser-
vation techniques, moving to different areas,
the use of weather information, planting differ-
ent crops, drawing down or selling investments,
and defining land-use and tenure rights. The
TABLE 4 Changes from traditional practice in agriculture in Kutchch
No. Traditional practice Change
1 Previously farmers kept bullocks and carried out all farming
operations with the help of the bullock. This made the land
preparation process efficient.
As poor farmers increasingly lose their bullocks, the
efficiency of their farming practices decreases and also their
resilience.
2 Farmers used to prepare the fields and construct the bunds
and fences after Holi to avoid the scorching summer. In the
summer they did the ploughing, which helps to reduce soil
erosion and conserves the moisture of the first rainfall.
Nowadays farmers work on drought relief work until the
summer. They do not go in the field to carry out summer
ploughing until first rainfall and so they lose the ability to
harness the first rains. In the meanwhile, the unrepaired
bunds and the barren soils are vulnerable to wind and water
erosion.
3 The availability of the bullock implied that farmers could start
sowing operations right after the rainfall. The sandy soil of
Kutchchh becomes wet and dry rapidly so that timely and
regular seed sowing is a must.
However, with reduced availability of bullocks, farmers have
to hire a tractor for sowing. After the onset of the first rain, the
farmers start competing for the few available tractors which
pushes up the price of the tractors and delays the sowing
process. Keeping the right seed rate is difficult because of
the high and varying speed of the tractor, which causes either
over or under utilization of seeds. This makes it difficult to
have the right plant population.
4 Farmers were regularly applying farmyard manure in the
fields to maintain the soil fertility and also improve the
physical condition of the soil and improve the water-holding
capacity in the soil.
Farmer without bullocks has to buy chemical fertilizers which
further deteriorate the land.
5 Bullock keeping was facilitating regular inter-cultivation
operations to remove weeds and to reduce the evaporation
loss from the soil through capillary action. Because of this
farmers were able to get at least some production even in low
rainfall years.
Sowing operations are now taken over by tractor. In the
absence of bullock, operations like inter-cultivation are not
possible. Hence, the crop cannot survive during a moisture
stress period, which finally results in crop failure.
6 Farmer’s livelihood requirement influenced crop selection.
First preference was given to edible crops and traditional
varieties of crops were used for cultivation; seed
conservation techniques were used to conserve traditional
seeds. Local seed varieties were preferred because of their
resilience under harsh climatic conditions and their ability to
survive droughts and long dry spells during two successive
rainfalls. Crops like pearl millet, green gram, moth bean and
cluster bean were used for sowing during the kharif season.
Over a period of time the choice of crop has changed.
Farmers prefer crops that give higher economic return. Such
crops are mainly non-edible and their biowaste cannot be
utilized as fodder for cattle, like castor and sesame. The
increased failure rate of traditional varieties due to prolonged
moisture stress and long maturity period led to the
introduction of the hybrid variety; hence, in the absence of
fertilizer and moisture stress, these varieties are failing to
produce, like pearl millet, castor, etc.
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remaining adaptation measures are hardly used,
including crop insurance, modernization of
farm operations, permanent migration, adoption
of technology, increasing market efficiency, and
promoting trade and investment.
4.5. Inferences
Poor farmers use some mechanisms more than
others. The most popular measures (different
planting dates, changing from farming to
non-farming activities and participating in
income stabilization programmes) are possibly
effective, economically efficient, easy to
implement and compatible with government pol-
icies. Another contributing factor is the improve-
ment of infrastructure since the recent
earthquake, which has enabled farmers to travel
and undertake non-farming activities as well as
participate in income stabilization programmes.
Other measures (such as soil conservation tech-
niques, moving to a different area, use of weather
information, planting different crops, drawing
down investments, and defining land-use and
tenure rights) are less popular because of poor gov-
ernment support, since the poor farmers have little
influence and no capital to invest in these
measures while government has access to the
research and information required.
The anecdotal stories and the changed prac-
tices of farmers show how increasing vulner-
ability to droughts has led to the loss of bullocks
and how this has had a spiralling effect on pro-
ductivity. The poor with a low credit rating and
large and unproductive lands are unable to
access credit and the multi-purpose insurance
they need in order to become more resilient.
5. Conclusions
This article set out to understand how policy
makers and farmers in the state of Gujarat are
coping with existing drought situations and
whether they will be in a position to cope with
the more harsh impacts of climate change in the
future. It presented a variety of adaptation
options listed in the literature and then examined
the policy framework in India and Gujarat and
the situation of poor farmers. The following
conclusions can be drawn.
First, Gujarat has a long experience in
dealing with drought situations. The exacerbated
FIGURE 4 Coping measures used by farmers
Adaptation strategies of the poorest farmers in drought-prone Gujarat 359
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drought situation of the last few years and other
factors (e.g. the last severe earthquake), however,
have further marginalized poor farmers and
many of their existing adaptive practices. If the
government in this region is to successfully help
the poorest farmers cope with the potential
impacts of climate change, structural long-term
proactive ex-ante assistance is necessary, as
opposed to ad hoc, short-term drought relief. The
latter will help them survive, and the former will
help them out of the poverty cycle. The existing
policy framework has many strengths that are
interdepartmental and has a multilevel govern-
ance character, regular meetings in the drought
season and a variety of instruments at its disposal,
and might be the basis on which to build a stronger
more adaptive framework.
Second, although the government framework
takes rainfall patterns into account, it does not
explicitly deal with climate change. Nor does it
take into account how existing rainfall patterns
affect the lives and livelihoods of farmers and
their farm animals. As such, government policies
tend to be based on a partial understanding of
how to craft effective policies that can enhance
the resilience of people to cope with impending
impacts of climate change.
Third, the government does not appear to have
made effective links with the research, monitor-
ing and technological institutes in order to be
able to provide tailor-made (not universal) rec-
ommendations to farmers on how they may be
able to help themselves.
Fourth, while a number of policy instruments
are available to help the poorest farmers access
funds and food during droughts through the
state’s food for work programme, access to credit
and insurance are not available for them.
A key question is: What are the barriers to effec-
tive policies in Gujarat? Although this was not
focused on in the research, one can speculate
that the sheer size of the populations affected,
the degree of resources needed and the relatively
poor communication infrastructure may have
been reasons affecting such adaptation policy.
However, with increasing national income and
access to information technology, many of these
barriers may be overcome in the future, if there
is political will.
The four conclusions above lead us to make the
following recommendations. The policy frame-
work of the federal and state government may
be strengthened by a permanent working group
on needs assessments of the poorest farmers.
The needs assessments will probably differ from
village to village and from state to state. Such a
needs assessments group will be better able to
evaluate the combined effect of state policies
and weather impacts on poor farmers and hence
make relevant suggestions about how better
policy instruments should be crafted. For
example, our limited research shows that a key
priority for poor farmers is to find ways to get
their bullocks back after the period of drought,
or that small-scale credit schemes should be pro-
vided to farmers even without a good credit
rating in order to help them develop a good
credit rating in the future. Second, a detailed
downscaling of the impacts of climate change
on agricultural productivity at local scale within
India is badly needed in order to be able to
devise ex ante policy, which we think is necessary
to build up the resilience of the people and enable
them to further develop. Third, a working group
should translate farmer needs in terms of
research, monitoring and technology into a
research agenda for the agricultural research
organizations of India and communicate research
results back to policy makers. Finally, a key weak-
ness in the system is communicating and trans-
lating the available information in a usable form
for farmers. It might be the main task of a
working group to find ways of communicating
how farmers can advance their own interests
while adapting to the possible impacts of
climate change. Such a group could collaborate
with local communities in the manner of SETU.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge financial support from
the Netherlands Ministry of Spatial Planning
and the Environment; the Water Mill Project;
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support from the NGO Kutch Nav Nirman
Abhiyan based in Kutch, Gujarat; financial
support from the Netherlands Organization of
Scientific Research VIDI project on International
and Private Environmental Governance: Sustain-
able Development, Good Governance and the
Rule of Law (contract number 452-02-031); and
the European Commission-financed Adaptation
and Mitigation (ADAM) Project (contract
number 98476); and support from the Nether-
lands Environmental Assessment Agency to
UNESCO-IHE for research on the relation
between climate change and water management
in general and this research in particular.
Notes
1. Key informants include one government official,
two academicians, one researcher, one indepen-
dent consultant and two non-governmental
organizations.
2. SETUs: Established on the third day after the 26
January 2001 earthquake with support from UNDP.
During the relief phase, 33 sub-depots were formed
as facilitating cluster centres to ensure effective
coordination in the earthquake-affected areas
between community, NGOs, government, experts
and aid agencies. During relief and rehabilitation,
33 SETUs covered 468 villages. Since 2002, 18 SETUs
cover 360 villages in six talukas (blocks) of Kutch.
They have a workforce of 112 members in all and
are guided by an eight-member Governing Board.
3. The National Agriculture Policy aims to attain, over
the next two decades, a growth rate in excess of
4 per cent per annum in the agricultural sector.
This growth should be resource-efficient, equitable,
demand-driven and sustainable. The policy expli-
citly recognizes that agricultural growth should
cater to domestic markets and maximize benefits
from exports of agricultural products in the face of
the challenges arising from economic liberalization
and globalization (MoA, 2000).
4. Interview 2008: F 18.
5. Interview 2008: F 110; see also F 62.
6. Interview 2008: F 62.
7. Interview 2008: F 74.
8. Interview 2008: F 68.
9. Interview 2008: F 88, F 68.
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