Enhancing Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Arid and Semi-Arid Agriculture of India: Evidences from Indigenous practices: Developing International Public Goods from Development-oriented Projects.Working Paper Series no. 32.

The primary focus of this paper is on farmers’ adaptation strategies against climatic variability in arid and semi-arid regions of India. The farmers’ perceptions and coping practices are largely governed by village level variables governed by the weather conditions. The paper is based on the synthesis of village, farm and plot level information collected through different studies in arid and semi-arid regions of India over a period of nearly thirty years. The discussion is broadly grouped under: A) Adaptation practices determined by (i) risk generating features of the communities’ natural resource base; (ii) long and short term weather patterns; and (iii) extreme events such as severe droughts. B) The farmers’ (experience-based) perceptions about climate (weather) variability and their potential adaptation practices (including preparedness, covering both collectively and individually managed steps) are considered. These adaptation measures are classifi ed as (a) fi rst (b) second and (c) third order adaptations, which cover different aspects of agricultural systems affected by climatic variation. To facilitate effective adaptation to climate change (recognizing the uncertainties and information gaps in the micro-level spatial contexts), the following important points are relevant: a) The collection,analysis and dissemination of reliable information on climate-response related variables (including farmers’ perceptions) in a diverse micro-level spatial context; b) The search for indicative adaptation options for the above inventory should focus on (i) prevailing farmers’ practices in different areas with varying degree of vulnerability (eg, water scarcity or aridity) and other environmental constraints; (ii) agricultural R&D and location specifi c usable scientifi c results; (iii) effective formal and informal institutions. The overarching suggestions incorporating the above points is to diagnose and understand farmers’ adaptation strategies against climate variability with a focus on the dynamics, diversity and fl exibility of adaptations, implying search for and promotion of approaches and options to harness the opportunities in the changing economic, technological and institutional opportunities, which may even exceed the ones evolved by farmers in the subsistence-oriented, locally-focused contexts. The implementation of the above suggestions highlighting dynamism, diversity and fl exibility would need both enhancement and reorientation of the capacities of the farmers and rural communities, as well as that of the institutional arrangements and innovations supporting them.