Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience in

Drought

Experiences from India

Global Drought Scenario

1975-2010

Asia Eastern 88 South-Central 125 South East 57 Western 35 Total 305

Africa Eastern 155 Middle 42 Northern 36 Southern 52 Western 103 Total 388

Europe Eastern 78 Northern 13 Southern 80 Western 30 Total 201

Americas Caribbean 22 Central 50 Northern 90 Southern 99 Total 261 Oceania

Australia- NZ 39 Melanesia 8 Micronesia 2 Polynesia 1 Total 50

248

51

1602

1533

1559

Drought resilience framework

Meteorological Drought

Hydrological Drought

Agricultural Drought

Sociological Drought

Disaster

Irrigation, water conservation & management

Drought resistant crop, soil conservation,

Relief, cash assistance, subsidized food etc

Major Droughts in

Colonial India Year Deaths Year Deaths 1770 10 ml 1877 10 ml 1801 2 ml 1891 ½ ml 1804 ½ ml 1899 10 ml 1806 2 ml 1901 2 ml 1812 1 ml 1904 1 ml 1819 2 ml 1905 ¼ ml 1825 1 ml 1907 ½ ml 1832 ½ ml 1911 1 ml 1833 3 ml 1913 ¼ ml 1837 1 ml 1915 ¼ ml 1853 2 ml 1918 2 ml 1860 ½ ml 1920 1 ml 1862 3 ml 1925 ¼ ml 1866 ¼ ml 1939 ¼ ml 1868 ¼ ml 1941 ½ ml

1873 ½ ml 1943 4 ml

Major Droughts in

Independent India Year Deaths Year Deaths 1951 1116 1974 - 1952 - 1979 - 1965 - 1982 - 1966 2353 1985 - 1968 129 1986 - 1969 - 1987 - 1971 - 2002 - 1972 - 2009 -

While India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence … they disappeared suddenly with the establishment of a multiparty democracy and a free press. … a free press and an active political opposition constitute the best early-warning system a country threaten by famines can have.

Amartya Sen Hunger and Public Action

Green Revolution

Production of Food Grains in Million Tons

Food grain Area Rank

Rice 42.86 1st

Wheat 28.46 1st

Coarse grains 27.43 2nd

Oilseeds 34.45 2nd

Agri. Area (Million hectares))

Type Utilization

Major & Medium 28.02

Minor irrigation 10.12

Groundwater 42.50

* 34% of net area sown is irrigated

Irrig. Area (Million hectares)*)

Horticulture

Area under horticulture

20.95 ml. hectare

Horticulture products

220.87 ml. tons

White revolution

Milk production* 108.5 ml. tons

Cattle population 185 million

Buffaloes 98 million

* India is the largest producer of milk

Public Distribution

System

Food Corporation of India (FCI) • Procures around 50 million tons of

food grains annually at MSP • Maintains buffer stock for exigencies • Supplies rest to State Governments

for distribution to consumers Targeted PDS (TPDS)

• 20 million tons of food grains are distributed at subsidized rate to people Below Poverty Line (BPL)

• 13 million tons to people Above Poverty Line (BPL)

• 500,000 fair price shops maintained under TPDS

Supplementary Nutrition

• 2.8 million tons of food grains supplied to schools for serving cooked mid day meals to students

• 9 million tons of food grains supplied to Mother & Child Care Centers

Food Subsidy • Central Government

spends US$ 9 billion annually on food subsidy for maintaining the TDPS and Supplementary Nutrition programme.

Village Grain Bank • 20000 Village Grain

Banks set up in remote and isolated areas to provide safeguard against starvation during natural calamity or lean season

National Food Security Bill NFSB envisaged as a path-breaking legislation, to protect all children, women and men in India from hunger and food deprivation.

Legal and Institutional Framework

Legal Framework Disaster Management Ac 2005 provides the overarching legal framework of management of all natural disasters India

Institutional Framework • National Disaster

Management Authority • State Disaster

Management Authority • District Disaster

Management Authority • National and State

Executive Committees • National Disaster

Response Force • National Institute of

Disaster Management

Nodal Responsibility • Ministry of Agriculture

Government of India has the nodal responsibility of management of droughts in the country

Guidelines, Manuals, Plans • Manual for Drought Management • Guidelines on Drought Management • Crisis Management Plan on Drought • State Drought Management Plans

Early Warning Agencies • India Meteorological

Department • Central Water

Commission • National Centre for

Medium Range Weather Forecasting

• National Remote Sensing Centre

• National Rainfed Area Authority

Research Institutions • Indian Council of

Agricultural Research •Central Research

Institute for Dryland Agriculture •Central Arid Zone

Research Institute

Drought Monitoring

System

Crop Weather Watch Group in Ministry of

Agriculture

Standarized Precipitation

Index (SPI)

Aridity Anomaly Index (AAI)

NCMRWF Weekly Crop Advisories

IMD 48 hours Farmers Weather Bulletin

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

Drought Mitigation Schemes

•Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) •Desert Development

Programme (DDP) • National Agricultural

Insurance Scheme • Weather Based Crop

Insurance Scheme

• National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas

• National Food Security Mission

• National Horticulture Mission

• Rashtrya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)

• Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWWP)

•Artificial Recharge of Ground Water •Rainwater Harvesting

• Integrated River Basin Planning • Inter-Basin

Transfer of Water

Drought Relief

Mechanism

Institutional Response • Central and Government • District administration • Panchayat Raj • NGOs

Contingency Crop Planning

Water Resource Management

Food security Relief employment

Cattle Camps and Fodder Supply

Health and Hygiene

Gratuitous assistance Tax waivers & Concessions

Financing Relief • Disaster Response Funds - -

- NDRF, SDRF • Development Programs

Levels of resilience and indicators

National Resilience

State Resilience

Community Resilience

Family Resilience

At national and state level India has achieved drought resilience • Droughts lo longer lead to famine or famine like conditions

• Droughts no longer kill people; although large number of people are affected the impacts are contained at manageable level

• Droughts do longer affect economy in any significant way

At community & family levels droughts do create significant distress • Drought aggravates poverty and affects nutritional standards of poor people • Drought affects women, girls and children disproportionately • Droughts leads to distress selling of land, and moveable assets of households • Drought leads to distress migration of people

Threats to drought resilience

• Slow down of agricultural growth

• Rising water scarcities

• Population growth

• Climate change