Vulnerability of Farmers to Livelihood Insecurity due to Climate Change: Experiences from South India

Assessing vulnerability to climate change is very important in mainstreaming climate resilient agricultural development in any country. Though climate change is a global phenomenon, its impacts would be highly location specific. Therefore, assessing regional vulnerability is essential for designing specific interventions to build resilience of communities. This paper focuses on the status of livelihood vulnerability of farming communities in two most vulnerable districts in the state of Kerala, South India and the various factors that affect it. Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) method based on balanced weighted average was employed to assess the extent of vulnerability of households. This index would help identify vulnerable communities, understand factors contributing to vulnerability at community level and prioritize potential interventions applicable to policy makers, local authorities and development organizations. This shall also be used to decide adaptation investments specific to more vulnerable regions based on decentralized and participatory approaches. LVI was assessed based on socio-demographic profile, livelihood strategies, social network, crop health, food and nutrition, natural disaster and climate variability with various sub-components. The study revealed that access to water was the most significant factor that rendered an area vulnerable. Linear discriminant analysis showed that livelihood strategies, social network and crop health were the major factors that would differentiate the sample of farmers as vulnerable and non-vulnerable. The major issues that contributed to vulnerability were ‘crop loss due to climate change’ followed by ‘pest and disease incidence due to climate change’ and ‘weak social participation’. The results emphasized the need to assess vulnerability of communities to climate change and livelihood security at the micro level, as mitigation strategies are to be specific to local characteristics and requirements.