Climate change is here. Beyond doing
everything we can to slow the pace of global warming, there is a need to adapt
to, so that we can protect ourselves, our livelihoods, and our communities. While
the case for adaptation is clear, many communities who are most vulnerable to
climate change are actually the least able to adapt - they are poor and in
developing countries already struggling to provide the basics, like healthcare
and education!
India
is identified as one of the highly vulnerable countries to climate change. In particular, climate change poses serious
risks to Indian agriculture as half of the agricultural land of the country is
rainfed. It is a major concern, as 85
percent of farmers have low financial resilience.
In
this context, farmers are at the ‘frontline of climate change’ and the ultimate
practitioners of adaptation actions to mitigate the adversities on the food and
fibre production system. So how is
Ambuja Foundation enabling them with the knowledge and skills to adapt to the
‘new normal?’
1. 1. Disseminating
Knowledge: The perception of climatic
changes has long been recognized as a pre-condition for adopting adaptation
actions. Farmers who ‘perceive’ climate change and its detrimental effects are
more likely to embrace policy initiatives to address it. Ambuja Foundation
is actively disseminating continous knowledge through its capacity building
programs be it in the form of seminars, expert talks, sharing climatic data
patterns, technical trainings and demonstrations, so as to ensure that farmers
are aware of the situation and its possible impacts.
2. 2. Providing
Support Mechanisms: Adaptation in agriculture sector
means disseminating the knowledge on the negative impacts of climate change to
reduce farmers' vulnerability by improving their adaptive capacity. But as with
anything new, its tough to do it on your own!
Ambuja Foundation is providing a variety of support systems to support
farmers in this new journey – forming farmer learner groups & farmer
producer organizations; guiding them to tap into government schemes and
policies; and providing agricultural
extension services and advice on the ground.
3. 3. Enabling Technical Know-how & Investment: Unfortunately there are many barriers
to adoption of adaptation measures. Technical knowhow is often lacking and
Ambuja Foundation steps in to fill this gap and show farmers the way. Additionally, investment is often a huge
hurdle for these already marginalised farmers.
Whilst schemes are there, Ambuja Foundation helps farmers apply for
subsidies, provides an additional supprt and helps farmers access credit where
needed to invest also.
4. 4. Rolling out Adaptation Strategies: Ambuja Foundation is actively promoting a vast range of
adaptation technologies to support famers in adapting to, and preparing for,
the new normal
5. 5. Empowering Women on Climate Change Adaptation
In any extreme climatic condition
(drought or flood) the ones who suffer most in a family is the women,
especially in the vulnerable households. ACF is building their capacity to
absorb shocks from climatic variability by institutional capacity, additional
income from other than agriculture, market linkages and access to credit.
We promote SHGs and Women’s Federations,
not only for saving and credit, but also to access the market for farm inputs,
and for the sale of crop produce. We
also increase their access to financial institution like bank and government
schemes.
ACF is also working with women to
build their capacity in key aspects of farming, like preparing homemade bio-inputs
for pest and nutrient management, or livestock management with the aim to
reduce the costs and increase the profits.
6. 6. Leading Transformational Adaptation: Of course, adaptation measures come in a variety of shapes
and forms. There are incremental, system
and transformation changes that farmers can make to adapt to climate
change.
Many Indian farmers have adopted a
wide range of incremental and systemic measures – easier to digest for farmers
due to their limited complexity, cost and risk. Ambuja Foundation however, is
going one step further and promoting transformational adaptations in the form
of substantial changes in land use, resource and labour allocations,
occupational pattern, and cropping systems. Work in both Darlaghat (Himachal
Pradesh) and Kodinar (Gujarat) have reached this level of transformation due to
the almost 2 decades of collaboration and empowerment of farmers within these
communities.
Given the scale of climate change, and
the many areas of life it will impact, adaptation work needs to take place on a
much greater scale to help the rural farmers become more resilient to climate
impacts. This requires large-scale efforts.
Large
scale investors like NABARD, Better Cotton, HDFC bank, IDH, GIZ and other
partners have stepped forward to help Ambuja Foundation scale up this important
work. But as we all know, the need in
India is vast, and we urgently need more stakeholders who can invest in this
crucial area.
To explore partnership
opportunities – reach out to Chandrakant Kumbhani (Chief Operating Officer) on chandrakant.kumbhani.ext@ambujafoundation.com
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