Transcript Building upon the Adaptive Capacity to Livelihood Resilience in arid, semi arid and flood prone regions Presented by Aditi Dass Winrock International India May 11, 2006

Building upon the Adaptive Capacity to
Livelihood Resilience in arid, semi arid and
flood prone regions
Presented by
Aditi Dass
Winrock International India
May 11, 2006
Outline of presentation
Case Study on Drought and Flood in India
• Risks & vulnerabilities
• Adaptation strategies
Case Studies
States selected on the basis of the level of
vulnerability of the states to droughts, floods and
cyclones which is a function of damages reported
Villages within the most drought prone districts of
Rajasthan, Andhrapradesh and Karnataka have been
selected.
Similarly, a case study in Orissa has been taken up
within a flood prone district, which is also susceptible
to cyclones.
Damages due to extreme events between the period
1900 to 2004
180
1600
no. of events
150
133
1200
No. of events
total affected
120
90
60
800
37
37
21
30
0
400
Total no. of people affected
156
0
Extreme
Land slides
Temperature
Wind Storm
Flood
Drought
Number of people affected due to various
extreme events in India.
Probability of Occurrence of Droughts
A perennial feature
19% of area affecting 12% of
population annually
Frequency of droughts:
Tamilnadu, J&K, Telangana, West
Rajasthan - every 2.5 years
Gujarat, E. Rajasthan & Western
Uttarpradesh – every 3 years
Other states have droughts every 45 years
Based on the rainfall deficiency for
the last 100 years
Severe droughts in India in last 100
years
Year
% of country
area affected
% of less
% of less
rainfall over rainfall over
entire India drought reg.
1918
71
-26
-49
1965
41
-17
-36
1972
47
-25
-35
1979
45
-21
-38
1987
50
-18
-45
After 1987, India experienced severe drought in 2002, where 29% of
the area was affected
Temporal-spatial spread of drought & impacts
Drought is occurring in some or the other
part of the country
1984
1986
1997
2000
2001
2002
Primary impacts: water availability,
agriculture production, hydropower
generation
Secondary Impact: Agricultural GDP dips,
increase in commodity prices, livelihood
of people dependent on rainfed farming
(marginal farmers & farm laborers
surviving) affected
Rainfed areas (61%) – most affected
Damages due to droughts
1800
districts /population
1600
2500
1400
2000
1200
1000
1500
800
1000
600
400
500
200
0
0
1984 1985 1986 1987
cropped area affected/ cattle
pop.
3000
Number of Districts
affected
Population affected
(lakh)
Cropped Area
affected (lakh ha)
Cattle population
affected (lakh)
Case study analysis: Risks associated with
droughts
• Depletion in water resources for agriculture and
drinking : women walk 1-2 kms to fetch water
• Reduction in crop yields and change in cropping
pattern
• Dwindling fodder stock and declining income of
farmers lead cattle selling; esp. marginal and small
farmers who sell at depressed prices
• Increased incidences of debt:
• Decline in nutrition and health status: malnutrition
strikes (esp. among children and women) whenever
drought occurs
Adaptation
Local Level Adaptation
Case studies in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhrapradesh
Level of adaptation not same
Government Institutions and policies to combat droughts
Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)
Rural Works Programme
Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) - labor intensive schemes
such as medium and minor irrigation, road construction, soil
conservation and afforest action
Dissemination of technologies relating to soil management, water
harvesting, improved agronomic practices and drought-resistant
crops - CRIDA
Desert Development Programme (DDP)
Integrated Watershed Management Programme – rejuvenate
depleted natural resources on watershed basis
National Watershed Program for Rainfed Areas (NWSDPRA) –
around 22 mha
Traditional coping strategies in response to
drought
Physical
Household/Community
• Migration (15-30%)
• Sale of assets (land, livestock, durable assets)
• Reduce intake of food and decline in other
expenditure
• Shift from superior to inferior food grain
• Mixed cropping
State/Government
• Food distribution system
• Water supply (tanker, new wells etc)
• Employment programs
Traditional coping strategies in response to drought
(contd.)
Social
Economic
Sharing and cooperation
Borrowing
Sacrifice by senior hh
members
New Community
relationships
Imports/assistance
Diversification in source of
income
Inter and intra community Subsidy/grants
exchange programs
Relief works
Modern coping strategies
Farming techniques to retain productivity during
droughts
• Soil & water conservation practices
• Farm Pond : enables storing runoff water
• Planting drought resistant varieties: provided by the
state Agriculture Univ.
• low adaptability of the above
Livelihood: Education & skill based diversification of
occupation
Livestock: ownership pattern changed from few people
owning bigger herd size to almost all hh owning few
small animals
Govt. efforts: area – specific development programs
initiated for drought prone areas to mitigate poverty
Conclusion - drought
• Marginal & small farmers and landless hh are most
vulnerable to drought
• Middle level farmers in AP have also fallen prey to
recurrent droughts due to:
– Decline of crop acreage
– Fall in water table & water harvesting structures
– Fall in employment & purchasing power
– Scarcity of food and fodder
– Lack of change in cropping pattern & lack of drought
resistant seeds
– Inability of farmers to repay loans with continuous
droughts
• Drought in Rajasthan was effectively managed
• Dominant strategies in drought prone areas:
– Adopting mixed farming system (crop, livestock &
agro-forestry)
– Resources conservation approach
– Collective sustenance
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Area affected (Mha)
1986
1988
2000
1953
1955
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
1953
1955
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
Population affected (millions)
Floods in India and its impacts
2001
2003
20
15
10
5
0
150
100
50
0
86.0
80.4
79.3
67.7
63.7
39.3
37.8
25.4
20.9
20.4
18.0
17.6
16.6
8.4
4.8
4.3
3.3
2.4
2.3
1.6
1.3
0.7
0.6
200
148.9
130.0
250
Uttar
Bihar
West
Orissa
Kerala
Himachal
Assam
Punjab
Rajsthan
Gujarat
TamilNadu
Jammu &
Andhra
Haryana
Karnatka
Mahrashtra
Arunachal
Meghalaya
Madhya
Tripura
Manipur
Sikkim
Pondicherry
Delhi
Mizoram
Nagaland
Govt. spending on irrigation and flood
control (RS. IN CRORES)
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
1981-82
1982-83
1983-84
1984-85
1985-86
1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-90
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
0
205.0
Damages in Crores
(Crop+houseing_public utilities)
Government expenditure and Damages due to floods
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
Impact of floods
Floods play major role in poverty & vulnerability, esp. of marginalized
communities
• Damage on Infrastructure: health, sanitation, water supply, roads,
educational institutions and opportunities for environment
• Loss of individual property:
– destroy of ‘kachcha’ houses, stored food & hh goods
– Poor looses assets each time flood occurs
– Poor have to take loans at high rate of interest for survival
• Health:
– water borne diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid & other
gastrointestinal diseases are common
– Lack of effective health care system
– Unavailable & inaccessible due to prohibitive costs
– Lack of clean drinking water, well water mixes with flood water
• Effect on women:
– loose control over food, fodder, fuel & cattle rearing
– In post-disaster recovery phases, women suffer the most
– Can’t get loans against lands because it is never in their name
Coping with Floods
Structural measures:Construction of storage dams, reservoirs, embankments,
drainage structures as required at suitable locations
•Raising the levels of the roads and constructing houses at higher
heights or raising the plinth level of the houses
Non-structural measures:
•Flood forecasting & warning. The Central Water Commission
(CWC) has a flood forecasting system covering 62 major rivers in
13 States with 157 stations for transmission of flood warnings on
real time basis.
•Post-flood activities for rescue, relief and rehabilitation
operations.
People’s Participation
Case study : Measures taken by Jagatsinghpur
in Orissa (worst flood affected in 2001)
• Heights of embankments raised by 3-4 ft
• Repairing jobs of weak points of embankment was taken
up by govt.
• Elevated spot “merdha’ were used for immediate shelter to
flood affected people
• Mud houses which were completely washed away, were
rebuilt at an elevated area
• Just before onset of monsoon people got ready with dry
food reserve and other essential items
• Different variety of paddy is sown in flood prone areas
which are not destroyed even if the plant remains under
water until 10 days
Conclusion - flood
• 3 successive disasters have seriously affected
sustainability of livelihoods in Jagatsinghpur
– Super cyclone 1999
– Flood 2001
– Flood 2003
• Loss of thousands of lives
• Areas most affected by flood of 2001 and 2003 were
areas affected by cyclone in 1999
• Poor disaster preparedness
• Restoration works have to extend beyond normal
time frame
• Devastating flood has given opportunity to reflect
gaps in our disaster preparedness methods &
mechanisms
Mainstreaming Climate Change,
Vulnerability & Adaptation Concerns
Why
Climate change long term & impacts may be irreversible
Long gestation period required for adaptation (such as developing
drought resistant varieties)
Infrastructure lifetimes are long and are at risk
Long time scales required for institutional arrangements to be in place
for combating impacts of CC (national to village level)
Policy Question
What do we need to do differently because
of the expected adverse impacts of climate
change?
Thank You