Community-level Climate
Change Adaptation
And

Policy Issues

Inter-linkages ofEnvironment, Poverty and Livelihood
A Case Study from Gujarat, India
Report Submitted to United Nations University
As a Part of theForum for Globally Integrated Environmental
Assessment Modeling (GLEAM)

Prepared by
The Graduate School of
Global Environmental Studies

KYOTO UNIVERSITYMarch 2005

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Report Prepared By

Rajib ShawSVRK Prabhakar
Ayako Fujieda

DISCLAIMER_____________________________________________________________________
Opinions expressed in signed contributions are those of the author (s) and do not necessarily reflect
those of the Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (KU GSGES).
Designations employed and presentations of material in this report do not imply the expression of
any opinion whatever on the part of the KUGSGES concerning the legal status of any country or
territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

2

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

PrefaceThis is the final report prepared for the research of “Community-level Climate Change Adaptation and
Policy Issues, Inter-likages of environment, poverty and livelihood a case study from Gujarat, India” conductedby the Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies as a part of theForum for Globally Integrated Environmental Assessment Modeling (GLEAM) initiated byUnited Nations University (UNU) and National Institute of Public Health and Environment(RIVM).
The report summarizes climate change impacts on India, with special focus on droughtmanagement system, initiatives taken at community level, and its possible reflection in the policy
levels. Two specific case studies were conducted, one in Kutch and the other in Porbandar, both
located in the drought affected parts of Gujarat, the western state of India. The case study
experiences show that with proper involvement at the community level, drought mitigation efforts
can be linked to the regular development projects. Innovative approaches at local levels, whenplanned properly, and linked to local government programs and policies, can lead to successful
mitigation measures, which can be effective in long run.
Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan and its associated NGOs helped in data collection and survey inKutch, while SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society) helped indata collection in Porbandar district. The current report reviewed the results of the projects
conducted by these two organizations in their respective areas. I deeply acknowledge the kindcooperation of Sandeep Virmani and his team of Abhiyan and Manu Gupta and his team of
SEEDS. Ayako Fujieda conducted the field survey in Kutch. Special thanks go to SVRK
Prabhakar for compiling the climate change impacts and its relevance to drought in Gujarat. His
visit to Japan was sponsored by the project fund.
The current report presents a quick overview of the issues with certain specific field examples.
The policy implication part is still under-developed, and need more research in this direction.
This study re-emphasized the needs of the climate change adaptation, and its potential policy andcommunity implication, which need future intensive work in a holistic way.

Rajib Shaw
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
Kyoto University3

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

CONTENTS
1. PREAMBLE ............................................................................................................................ 5
1.1 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 GOAL AND OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY ............................................................................... 6
1.3 ACTIVITIES .......................................................................................................................... 6
1.4 IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS .................................................................................................. 7
1.5 SCHEDULE ........................................................................................................................... 7
2. CLIMATE CHANGE AND INDIA ....................................................................................... 8
2.1 OVERVIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE ........................................................................................ 8
2.2 IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON INDIA.......................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Observational Evidences............................................................................................ 10
2.2.2 Future Projections.......................................................................................................11
3. ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE.......................................................................... 13
3.1
AN OVERVIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN INDIA ...................................... 15
4. CLIMATE CHANGE AND DROUGHT IN INDIA .......................................................... 18
4.1 DROUGHT VULNERABILITY OF THE COUNTRY .................................................................. 18
4.2 AN OVERVIEW OF DROUGHT MANAGEMENT IN INDIA ...................................................... 18
4.2.1 Drought Early Warning and Response Systems ......................................................... 18
4.2.2 Drought Mitigation Mechanisms................................................................................ 23
4.3 DROUGHT SCENARIO IN GUJARAT ..................................................................................... 25
4.4 DROUGHT MANAGEMENT IN GUJARAT ............................................................................. 26
4.5 CLIMATE CHANGE AND GUJARAT’S DROUGHT VULNERABILITY ...................................... 28
5. COMMUNITY LEVEL ADAPTATION TO DROUGHT ................................................. 29
6. DROUGHT CASE STUDIES............................................................................................... 30
6. DROUGHT CASE STUDIES............................................................................................... 31
6.1 CASE STUDY: PORBANDAR ............................................................................................... 32
6.1.1 Initiative in Digvijaygadh........................................................................................... 33
6.1.2 Initiative in Thoyana .................................................................................................. 34
6.2 CASE STUDY: KUTCH ........................................................................................................ 35
6.2.1 Water Related Initiatives ............................................................................................ 36
6.2.2 Livelihood Related Initiatives..................................................................................... 37
6.3 IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS: SETU........................................................................... 38
6.3.1 Establishment ............................................................................................................. 39
6.3.2 In-House Structure ..................................................................................................... 39
6.3.3 Network Structure....................................................................................................... 40
6.3.4 Role of SETU.............................................................................................................. 41
6.3.5 Future Possibility of SETU......................................................................................... 41
7. GROUND REALITIES FEEDING INTO POLICIES ...................................................... 43
8. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 47
ANNEX 1.................................................................................................................................... 49
ANNEX 2.................................................................................................................................... 55

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Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

1. PREAMBLE
1.1 Background
Available observational evidence indicates that regional changes in climate,particularly increases in temperature, have already affected a diverse set ofphysical and biological systems in many parts of the world (IPCC 2001).
International communities have tried to respond to these changing phenomena
though establishing high level Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC). Adaptation to climate change has the potential to substantially reducemany of the adverse impacts of climate change and enhance beneficial impacts,though neither without cost, nor without leaving residual damage. While theclimate change adaptation has been discussed over past several years throughorganizational response, adaptive response, little has been focused on thecommunity level adaptation, and integrating the adaptation methods in thepolicy perspective. Needless to say that international level interventions are
essential for the commitments and negotiations among the governments,
however at the community level, there is an urgent need to send the messages
to impacts of climate change, and its possible adaptation strategies.
Since the worst sufferers of climate change impacts are the rural communities,(who depends mainly on agriculture as their livelihoods), it is important to focus
on the impacts of climate change on livelihoods, and re-establish the links
among poverty, livelihood and environment. However, focusing on thecommunities only are not enough, and so long the community initiatives do not
become part of the government policies, it is difficult to sustain the efforts.
Perhaps the most important prerequisite for creating sustainable livelihoods,
and for achieving sustainable development, is good and accessible
government (Helmore and Singh 2001). Thus, the link between local, state,
and national governments to the community is of utmost importance.
Therefore, the current research proposes a case study to be undertaken in thestate of Gujarat, India. The purpose is to find the sustaining elements from thecase study, and apply it to other areas in form of an adaptation model. In
past forty years, Gujarat has experienced 12 years of drought, and four major
scarcity situations. However, the intensity and return period of major drought

5Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

events have increased substantially in last couple of decades, and it is often
correlated to the climate change impacts. Although there is a need to study
systematically the impact phenomenon, the fact is that the rural masses arehighly affected in terms of their livelihood.
India, being a major
agriculture-based country, and almost 70% of the population living in the ruralarea, this impact will be a vital one in the long term. Therefore, a preliminary
study is needed, based on which a model of community level climate change
adaptation can be established, and further focus areas can be stressed.

1.2 Goal and Objective of This Study
The goal of this study was to study the interrelationship of environmental
impacts, and suggests possible mitigation measures as policy options, andprepare a community adaptation model. For the environmental impacts,
climate change issues are considers, and its effects as a drought in the arid tosemi-arid climate will be studied. To achieve this goal, specific objectives
were:
1. To analyze the current policies on drought management in the casestudy country (India)
2. To study the current issues at community level, focusing on livelihoods,
3. To suggest possible community adaptation schemes, and integratethese schemes in the policy options

1.3 Activities
The case study was conducted in Gujarat, in the western state of India. Two
districts were selected as the case study areas: Porbandar in the south (with asemi-arid climate), and Kutch in the west (with an arid climate). Following
activities were conducted:
1. Analyze the current policies on drought management in the case study
country:
1.1
Collect and analyze the documents on drought policies of Gujarat
and India
1.2
Conduct interviews with key policy makers at central and statelevel
2. Study the current issues at community level, focusing on livelihoods
2.1
Field survey in the two target districts
2.2
Conduct interviews with community, local governments and6Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

non-government organizations
2.3
Analyze exiting livelihood issues and options
3. Suggest possible community adaptation schemes and integrate theseschemes in the policy options
3.1
Conduct participatory workshops in the field through PRA(Participatory Rural Appraisal) Methods
3.2
Analyze the workshop results and suggest possible community
adaptation schemes
3.3
Compile the findings in the form of policy recommendations,community adaptation model, and final report
In reality, there were minor deviations from the proposed activities. The casestudies were conducted in the above two districts through the combination ofdifferent activities (field survey, interviews, hearing, focus group discussions,and small workshops).

1.4 Implementing Partners
The Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies was
the lead implementing organization for the study. The study was conducted inclose cooperation with a wide range of stakeholders, which included: national
government (National Institute of Disaster Management), state government(Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority) and district governments(Porbandar and Kutch district offices), and non-government organizations(SEEDS and KMVS).

1.5 Schedule
The study was conducted in nine month from July 2004 to March 2005.
Activities were conducted as per the following schedule:
1) Data collection, literature survey (July 2004)
2) Field survey, hearing, interview, focus group discussion in Kutch (August
2004)
3) Focus group discussion in Porbandar (July-October 2004)
4) Analysis of data and findings (October 2004 - January 2005)
5) Compilation and report preparation (February-March 2005)

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Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

2. CLIMATE CHANGE AND INDIA
2.1 Overview of Climate Change
Since the First Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) made available in 1990, global climate change has beendrawing attention of many to this very important topic, though it was a difficult
proposition for many to accept. As the understanding of global climate and itschange, mostly human induced, increased over the time, one could see anincreasing number of scientists and administrators accepting it as happening.
Today, global climate change is a fact with an observed rise in the global
surface temperatures to the tune of 0.6 deg Celsius and with a projected rise in
the range of 1-3.5 deg centigrade by 2100. Questions have also been raised
about the influence of global climate change on the El-Nino and Southern
Oscillations (ESNO) and vise versa with some evidences to suggest that thehuman induced global change is in fact leading to increasingly El-Nino kind ofenvironments in the Eastern Pacific (Timmerman et al., 1999), though it isdifficult to quantitatively associate the present changes to the climate change
phenomenon. The scientific community, finally, agree that the global climatechange is expected to modify the hydrological cycle and hence argue for an
increased incidences of droughts and floods globally (Trenberth, 2002).
The 2001 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has
identified following major impacts of climate change related extreme events(Table 1):
Table 1: Climate Change and its potential impacts
Extremes

Projected impacts
Simple extremesHigher maximum
temperatures and hotter
days (very likely)

Increased illness and deaths in older age groups
Increased heat stress in livestock and wildlife
Shift in tourist destinations
Damage to number of crops
Increased energy demand due to coolingrequirements

Higher minimum
temperatures; fewer cold

Decreased human morbidity and mortality
Decreased risk of damage to a number of crops

8Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Extremes
days and cold waves(very likely)

Projected impacts
and increased risk to others
Extended range of activity of some pest anddisease vectors
Reduced heating energy demandMore intense
Increased flood, landslide, avalanche, andprecipitation events (very mudslide damage
likely over many areas)
Increased soil erosion
Increased flood runoff leading to recharge of somefloodplain aquifers
Increased pressure on insurance and flood relief
systems
Complex extremes
Increased summer
drying over most
mid-latitude continental
interiors and associatedrisk of drought (likely)

Decreased crop yields
Increased damage to building foundations causedby ground shrinking
Decreased water quality and quantity
Increased risk of forest fires

Increased tropical
cyclone peak windintensities, mean andpeak precipitation
intensities (likely oversome areas)

Increased risk to human life, risk of infectious
disease epidemics, and many other risks
Increased coastal erosion and damage to coastalbuildings and infrastructure
Increased damage to coastal ecosystems such ascoral reefs and mangroves

Intensified droughts andfloods associated with El
Nino events in manydifferent regions (likely)

Decreased agricultural and rangeland productivity
in drought- and flood-prone regions
Decreased hydro-power potential in drought-prone
regions

Increased Asian summer
monsoon precipitation
variability (Likely)

Increased flood and drought magnitude anddamages in temperate and tropical Asia

Increased intensity of
mild-latitude storms (little
agreement between
current models)

Increased risks to human life and health
Increased property and infrastructure losses
Increased damage to coastal ecosystems.

9Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

The above impacts are projected to spread unevenly over the continents.
Though broader evidences are available, there are still speculations on what
exact changes occur where and in what magnitude. However, it is universally
accepted that the number of extreme events would grow from the present level
and hence the associated debilitating impacts. All these impacts would also
have socio-economic and cultural ramifications as well.
Among all the impacts, the rise in drought events and increased summer drying
is most apparent due to reduction in amount of rainfall in some regions andincreased surface runoff associated with the intense precipitation events inother areas. The access to the quality water resources will also go down due toincreased water temperatures. The number of people living in water stressedregions is expected to grow from present level of 1.7 billion to 5 billion by 2025
depending on the rate of population growth and these impacts are projected tobe more severe in central Asia, Southern Africa and countries around
Mediterranean Sea. This is expected to threaten the food security andsustainability in these countries.

2.2 Impacts of Climate Change on India
2.2.1 Observational Evidences
The annual mean rainfall is considerably low in most parts of the arid andsemi-arid India with high temporal variability. In tropical India, hills andmountain ranges cause striking spatial variations in rainfall. Approximately 80%of the total rainfall over the Indian subcontinent is confined to the southwest
monsoon season and a failure of monsoons in this season would mean asevere water deficit in the rain-fed areas and reduced water in reservoirs andstream flows. The available literature suggests a wide range of impacts ofclimate change in Asia in general and in India in specific. Studies indicate anincrease in the temperatures to the tune of 0.57 deg centigrade per 100 years(Rupakumar et al., 1994). However, the analyses of past rainfall events suggest
no clear trend. The decadal departures found are above and below the longtime averages alternatively for three consecutive decades (Kothyari and Singh,
1996). Extreme summer rainfall events were observed in northwest India
during the recent decades (Singh and Sontakke, 2001). In addition, the numberof rainy days during monsoons along the east coast has gone down during thelast decade indicating more intense rainfall events.
10Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

2.2.2 Future Projections
While the analysis of the past climate behavior has been an easier task, thestudies on the future climate variations were a difficult ones due to limited
understanding of the climate phenomenon. This is the reason why the reportson the future climate variations have been inconsistent. Many studies wereconducted using numerical models based on coupled atmosphere-ocean
global climate models (AOGCMs). AOGCMs are the complex models being
used in recent times and were developed by the Hadely Center for Climate
Prediction and Research, UK. These models combine the capability of
atmosphere general circulation models and ocean general circulation models
with a facility to unite carbon cycle and atmospheric chemistry as modules forbetter prediction capabilities. Many of these global models failed to simulate theIndian monsoons mostly on the west coast of India owing to their coarse
resolution. Since developing high-resolution global simulation models are botha costly affair and has technological limitations such as requirement for heavy
computational powers, these limitations are expected to stay for some moretime. Some studies are available that uses high resolution second generation
Hadley Centre regional climate model (HadRM2). These model observations
were relatively closer to the observed values in many parts of the country.
The national level climate projections have also been carried out using various
AOGCMs. These studies were based on at least four scenarios taking into
consideration the possible future trends of human activities and resultant statusof greenhouse gas emissions between constant emissions to either decreasing
or increasing emissions at a specified rate over average for the base period of
1961-90. These studies indicated a general increase in temperatures in theorder of 3-6 deg centigrade over the base-period average, depending on the
scenario, with more warming in the northern parts than the southern parts ofthe country. Regarding the precipitation, the GCMs project enhanced rainfall
particularly in the northwestern India, though models differed in the magnitudeof projection. The models projected no or little change in rainfall in thepeninsular India. These projections have serious planning consequences inareas such as natural resource management.
Some seasonal asymmetrical warming has been observed in the model
predictions. The high winter temperatures were projected when compared to11Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

the summer and rainy season temperatures. This will have serious
consequences on the productivity of winter crops such as wheat and withrelatively low energy requirements for heating purposes. However, models diddiffered in their projections in sub-regional projects as well. While HadCM2(developed in 1994) and HadCM3 (developed in 1998) models of Hadley
Center projected differently the rainfall pattern for the 21st century with
contrasting results. For example, HadCM3 showed increased rainfall toward
the end of 21st Century.
The results from projections on the extreme rainfall and temperature eventsusing regional models such as HadRM2 are available. These projections
denote a decrease in rainy days by more than 15 days in western and central
parts of the country with increase in amount of rain per day.

12Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

3. ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
The global community has called for a number of initiatives to combat the
global climate change related extremes and projected impacts. Some of thesemeasures include policy responses such as planned adaptation to the impacts
and mitigation (Kane and Shogren, 2000). While the mitigation aims at
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through managing their sources andsinks, the adaptation works around the process of increasing the capacities ofcommunities and regions to cope with such increases such that the possible
negative impacts are reduced. Adaptation refers to adjustment in ecological,
social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli
and their effects or impacts. Adaptation is important in climate change in two
ways - in reducing the impacts of the future climate change and inunderstanding the options for such adaptations to climate changes. There has
been a shift in importance from mitigation to adaptation after it has beencommonly agreed that the damage already done to the global climate has infact started showing its negative impacts and that there is a need to adapt tothese changes in order to reduce further damage. Two policy-relevant research
reports that were recently released, the U.S. National Assessment of Climate
Change Impacts on the United States and the Working Group II Report(Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability) of the IPCC Third Assessment, gave
prominent attention to potentials for adaptation. According to these studies,
adaptation can ameliorate many adverse economic impacts of climate change
in developed countries, barring abrupt climate change; however, developing
countries and natural ecosystems are at particular risk because they have lessability to adapt. Even in industrialized countries, government programs topromote collective adaptation efforts likely will be needed.
The Third Assessment Report (2001) identifies various key adaptive capacityand vulnerability constraints of various regions. The developing countries of the
Asian region have been identified as most vulnerable to climate change related
impacts due to their poor adaptive human systems. The following major
vulnerability factors are mentioned for Asia:•

Extreme events have increased in temperate and tropical Asia, including
floods, droughts, forest fires, and tropical cyclones.

13

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation•

Decreases in agricultural productivity and aquaculture due to thermal andwater stress, sea-level rise, floods and droughts, and tropical cyclones would
diminish food security in many countries of arid, tropical, and temperate Asia;
agriculture would expand and increase in productivity in northern areas.

•

Runoff and water availability may decrease in arid and semi-arid Asia but
increase in northern Asia.

•

Human health would be threatened by possible increased exposure tovector-borne infectious diseases and heat stress in parts of Asia.

•

Sea-level rise and an increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones would
displace tens of millions of people in low-lying coastal areas of temperate andtropical Asia; increased intensity of rainfall would increase flood risks intemperate and tropical Asia.

•

Climate change would increase energy demand, decrease tourism attraction,and influence transportation in some regions of Asia.

•

Climate change would exacerbate threats to biodiversity due to land-use andland-cover change and population pressure in Asia. Sea-level rise would put
ecological security at risk, including mangroves and coral reefs.

•

Poleward movement of the southern boundary of the permafrost zones ofAsia would result in a change of thermokarst and thermal erosion withnegative impacts on social infrastructure and industries.

India, as a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) that is a Global Treaty to consider what to be done to
reduce global warming and cope with the inevitable temperature increases,
accords great importance to sustainable development and climate change.
India accords high importance since large populations in India are directly
dependent on the climate sensitive sectors. In its recent Initial National
Communication to the UNFCCC, India identified the following climate change
related impacts as important for the country:•

Water stress and reduction in the availability of fresh water due to potential
decline in rainfall.

•Threats to agriculture and food security, since agriculture is monsoon
dependent and rain-fed agriculture dominate in many states.

•

Shifts in area and boundary of different forest types and threats tobiodiversity with adverse implications for forest-dependent communities.

14

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation•

Adverse impact on natural ecosystems, such as wetlands, mangroves andcoral reefs, grasslands and mountain ecosystems.

••

Adverse impact of sea-level rise on coastal agriculture and settlements.
Impact on human health due to the increase in vector and water-borne
diseases, such as malaria.

•

Increased energy requirements and impact on climate-sensitive industry andinfrastructure.
The emphasis was clearly on the water related impacts such as droughts andfloods.

3.1

An Overview of Climate Change Adaptation in India

After India ratified the UNFCCC in November 1993 and became a non-Annex1
country, it has the responsibility of making efforts towards identification of
possible climate change impacts on the country and work towards reducing
these impacts through suitable adaptation strategies. In its Initial National
Communication submitted to the UNFCCC, India accepted the fact that thecountry has to work on various adaptation strategies in specific to combating
future possible severe floods and droughts. The Initial Communication
identified that the strategies specific to drought vulnerability reduction such aschange in land-use pattern, water conservation, flood warning systems, andcrop insurance are important. While identifying the existing programmes inIndia that aim at combating water scarcity, the Initial Communication proposesthat the same programmes hold good even in climate-change scenario such as
extreme events of droughts and floods.
There is no doubt that the existing programmes/approaches may hold good forcombating future scarcity events. However, the question arise that whether
these programs could able to deliver the outputs expected of them in the past.
Many bottlenecks were identified in the existing watershed programs (John
Kerr et al., 2002) that need to be removed before one can answer this question.
The Initial Communication also identifies that there is a need for common
nationwide adaptation strategy such as integrated watershed management
starting from the local level water conservation practices to integrating impactsof these practices to a basin level such that the combined effect of water
conservation at small levels reflect well at the larger basin level water
resources.

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Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

The current adaptation research in India largely hovers around understanding
various vulnerability factors and coping mechanisms that the communities
developed over the time to various vagaries of nature and try to answer thequestion of whether these coping mechanisms are in response to the past
climate change or not and whether these mechanisms are sufficient for copingwith the future extreme events. These studies are mostly conducted throughinstitutional collaboration involving advanced research institutions inassociation with the local non-governmental organizations who work very
closely with the communities. These studies are helping in two ways. The
advanced research institutions get to know the field level realities while theNGOs trying to understand the linkages between community level facts andhow these facts can influence larger policy decisions.
The typical approach adapted in many of these studies include identification ofmajor coping mechanisms, changes in these coping mechanisms over the time
and try to map these trends with the past climate trends such as increasing or
decreasing frequency of scarcity events in that location. A study conducted in
Dungarpur and Mayurbhanj districts of Orisss (Verma, 2002), which are highly
vulnerable to droughts and floods respectively, identifies different coping
strategies adapted by the local communities in these two locations. The coping
mechanisms identified for drought are as follows:•

Reduction in the food consumption to conserve the available food for longer
time•

Collecting seeds of short duration crop cultivars to be sown after monsoon
revival••Fodder conservation for cattle
Rely upon the stored foods such as dried fish and other preserved meatproducts••

Conserving water resources by limited use
Resorting to migration, borrowing money from local credit sources etc in thewake of server droughts

These studies corroborate with many such adaptation related studies
conducted in this region (Moench and Dixit, 2004, TERI, 2003) or elsewhere(ZENEB and UNDP, 2001). However, many of these studies don’t differentiate

16

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

between planned adaptation and autonomous adaptations. Such a
differentiation is also important to know what adaptation strategies may havegreater positive impacts on the longer run. Similarly, investigations are also
necessary to know whether the adaptations were anticipatory or reactive,
whether the adaptations were sufficiently able to make communities match withthe pace of climate change events or not, and it would have been useful toknow whether these adaptation mechanisms have alternative costs or not andif so what made the communities to take such decisions (Carter andKankaanpaa, 2003).

17

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

4. CLIMATE CHANGE AND DROUGHT IN INDIA
4.1 Drought Vulnerability of the Country
India is highly prone to drought risk. The country receives an annual average
rainfall of around 975 mm more than 75% of which is received in a span of fourmonths from June to September. The performance of the Indian agrarian
economy is very much dependant on these four months. The summer
monsoon sets in the first week of June in the southeastern corner of thecountry and gradually covers the entire country by the second week of July.
The monsoons start withdrawing from the first week of September from theWest and North and gradually recede from the entire country. This pattern of
onset and withdrawal leaves the northwest India with little rainy period while thesouthwest and northeast parts of the country receive higher rainfall and longer
rainy season. In dry land areas the dry soils are low in organic matter with low
initial infiltration rates leading to excess runoff and erosion of topsoil. Coupled
to this, the rainfall in dry land areas occurring in short and intense spells makesthese areas more vulnerable to runoff losses and further drought proneness.
The 68% of India’s cropped area receives rainfall between 750-2000 mm perannum. Statistical assessments of the historical rainfall in these areas revealthat these areas are highly prone to irregularities in monsoons such as late
onset, long breaks and early withdrawal etc. Because of these reasons, theseareas are also highly vulnerable to droughts ranging from a month to extended
periods.
India has a rich drought history. India faced 22 major drought years (years with
rainfall less than one standard deviation below mean) during the period
1871-2002. During the same period, a strong link was also observed between
the number of drought incidences and the ENSO patterns. For example, thecountry faced 10 drought years out of 22 during the ENSO period of 1965-87
while only drought years during 1921-64 during which less correlation wasobserved between drought and ENSO.

4.2 An Overview of Drought Management in India
4.2.1 Drought Early Warning and Response Systems
Disaster management in India is a state subject with the role of Central
government confined to facilitating one. Generally, the central government’s

18

Community Level Climate Change Adaptationrole is seen in dealing with major disasters that are out of State’s capacity todeal with. Similar is the case with slow onset disasters like drought. The statelevel drought management is discussed in detail in the following section taking
Gujarat as an example. At the national level, some nodal ministries wereidentified as responsible ministries to deal with specific disasters (Table 2).
Table 2. Nodal agencies/ministries responsible for managing natural disasters inIndia.

Type of Disaster/ Crisis

Nodal Ministry

Natural and Manmade Disasters

Ministry of Home Affairs

Drought
Air Accidents
Major breakdown of any of the Essential
Services posing widespread and protected
problems
Railway Accidents
Chemical Disasters
Biological Disaster
Nuclear Accident inside or outside the country,
which poses health or other hazards to people
in India

Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Concerned Ministries

Ministry of Railways
Ministry of Environment
Ministry of Health
Department of Atomic
EnergyThe Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation is responsible for droughtmanagement in India. The idea of allocating this responsibility to the agriculture
department has been that the drought impacts agriculture largely and such an
impact will have fallout on the rest of the society in terms of food availability andaccess.
At national level, the responsibility of weather forecasting, an important aspectin early warning for drought early warning, is rested with the India
Meteorological Department (IMD) under Ministry of Science and Technology.
The role of IMD is restricted to making available the meteorologicalobservations on current and forecast information for optimum operation of
weather-dependant activities such as Agriculture and irrigation. However, thenational drought early warning system is through what is called Crop Weather
Watch Group (CWWG) (personal communication, Ministry of Agriculture). The

19

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Crop Weather Watch Group consist of a group of administrators representing
various government departments responsible for managing essential inputs for
agriculture and scientists from the national agricultural system (Indian Councilof Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture). The Table 3 enlists thecomposition of CWWG and its role.
Table 3. Composition of CWWG and its role
Composition

Role

Central Relief Commissioner

Chairman of the group; promote overall
coordination

Economic and statisticaladvisorReporting on behavior of agro-climatic andmarket indicators

India Meteorological
Department

Monsoon forecast and progress of monsoon

Central Water Commission

Water level situation in major reservoirs

Crop specialists

Crop conditions and prospects

Agricultural input supply
divisions

Supply and demand of all agricultural inputs

Agricultural extension
specialists

Reporting on field level farm operations

Ministry of power

Managing electrical power for ground water use

Ministry of petroleum

Diesel supply for ground water use

Indian Council of Agricultural
Research

Information for technology transfer

The CWWG meets once every week during monsoon season (June to
September) and assesses the monsoon situation and various other parametersof the drought. The information flow after the CWWG identifies an impending
drought is given in the Fig 1. below. The following diagram (Fig 2) indicates thepath of drought response at national level in 2002 drought (Someshwar andSubbiah, 2003). In the present case study of 2002, the state government
assesses the situation and sends a request for the central assistance in the 6th
week after identification of drought situation in the state. It can be observed thatit took 3 weeks time for the central government to send Central Assessment
Teams for assessing the drought situation in the state and respond to theassessment request by the state government. The report prepared by
20

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) and Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC) (Someshwar and Subbiah, 2003) identifies a
crucial gap in climate information dissemination to the end users and says thatthe end-to-end climate applications system for drought mitigation doesn’t exist
in India. The report, however, apprise that India has a fine institutional
mechanism that is connecting the central government and the state
governments down to the district administration and that this mechanism is
responsible for better delivery of relief services, safeguarding livelihood
systems and in ensuring their recovery ultimately avoiding the famines.

CWWG
Central Relief Commissioner

Chairman

IMD

Monsoon forecast

Eco & Stat Advisor

Market indicators

Declares droughtCentral Water Commission

Water in reservoirs

Crop Specialists

Crop cond
cond.. & prospects

Agrl Input Supply Divisions

Supply & demand

Agrl Extension Specialists

Field level farm operations

Min of PowerElectricity for pumping GW

Min of Petroleum

Diesel for pumping GW

ICARTechnology transfer

Remedy advocacy
National Emergency
Action Plan

Rep to Central Govt
Ministries,
Depts, & States

Drought

Prime Minister

Secretary to PM

Secretary(DAC, MoA)
Minister ofAgriculture

Cabinet SecretaryFig 1. Information flow for declaration of national drought in India.

21

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Agrl Minister & officials
reviews situation
Wk 1(July 2nd Week 02)

Conference of Ag &relief ministers

Constitute:
National taskforce on drought
Chair: Deputy PM
Members:
Min of Fin., Agrl, Rural Dev.,
Food consumer affairs & public
Dep Chair (Planning Commission)

Wk 3

Wk 3

High levelComconsiders &release relief

Wk 10
Wk 9

Assessment
ReportWk 5

Policy Framework
Money, food supply,
technology identification,transporting fodder, fodder mini
kits, conserve water inreservoirs etc

Central teams
for assessment

Fig 2. The response path at national level after a drought has been declared.

District Collectors
assess & reportsituation to Relief
Dept
Wk 1-4
2nd Week of July 02

CentralteamassessdamageDeclaration ofdrought affecteddistricts

Constitute:
CM’s Committee for relief

Wk 4

Reactivate district & blocklevel relief committees
Wk 4

Request Central
Govt for help

Wk 9

Wk 7

Starts relief work by
employment, food
& fodder etc

Wk 6

Wk 5

Submit relief memo toCentral Govt

State level
action plan
prepared byrelief deptFig 3. State level drought response mechanism of Rajasthan during 2002
drought.

22

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

4.2.2 Drought Mitigation Mechanisms
Watershed development programs and other social developmental programs
mainly drive drought risk mitigation in India with an aim at overall developmentof stressed environments. An indicative list of various programmes is given
below (Table 4).
Table 4. Drought proofing programmes in India
Programme

Coverage/expenditure (INR)

Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP)

180 districts of 16 States, Rs1
19.0 billion

Desert Development Programme (DDP)

40 districts of 7 States, Rs 8.5
billionWatershed approach: A geo-hydrologicalRs 22.6 billion

approach for in situ soil and water conservation
OthersFood for work Programme, Employment
Assurance Scheme

Rs 16.0 billion(EAS)

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY)

Rs 16.5 billion

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

Rs 25.0 billion

Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

Rs 5.0 billion

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
National Old Age Programme (NOAP)
Annapurna Scheme

Rs 3.0 billion

Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)Mid Day Meal for School children

The programmes such as Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert
Development Programme (DDP) and Integrated Wasteland Development
Projects which are run by the Ministry of Rural Development and National
Watershed Development Programme in Rain fed Areas (NWDPRA) under the
Ministry of Agriculture mainly rely on the watershed-based approaches. These
approaches, mainly driven by government and non-government organizations,aims at conservation of natural resources that also lead to water conservation
at different levels. There were several studies conducted on the efficacy of
1

1 US$ = 45 Indian Rupees.

23Community Level Climate Change Adaptationthese programs. Some of the major drawbacks identified are as follows (Kerr etal., 2002):
•
•
•
•
•

Top down approach leading to less fulfillment of local felt needs
Poor community participation
Least development of community based assets
Lack of sustainability
Monitoring of projects in terms of financial management rather than on
outputs such as natural resource management and on how suchinterventions could lower the drought vulnerability of the program
villages or regions.

The study conducted by John Kerr et al. (2002) concluded that the government
projects often failed due to lack of participatory approaches and NGO or
NGO-Government projects succeeded mainly because these projects provided
opportunity for people’s participation through preparing communities before
projects are initiated. Such an approach even could facilitate better
maintenance of assets even after the project period, even better than thegovernment projects that provided lots of subsidies to the communities while
implementing waster conservation measures. However, the study didn’t makeany comment on whether or not these interventions are sufficiently takes careof future possible threats.
Till more recently, the above mentioned area development programmes havelaid down their own guidelines depending on the main objective of these
programmes. However, a national committee under the Chairmanship of Prof
Hanumantha Rao reviewed these programmes and gave a recommendation
for common guidelines for implementation of watershed based projects in India.
The committee observed that these programmes failed to meet the targets,
both financial as well as those related to outputs, mainly due to theinappropriate administrative arrangements. The committee also observed thatthe projects could not achieve sustainability mainly due to lack of public
participation. The committee gave a new set of guidelines for governing thewatershed programmes with a name ‘Hariyali.’
The above review of drought management in India reveals that much is
required in the area of drought risk mitigation in the current scenario i.e. how

24Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

the natural resources such as water are being managed even before
considering the future climate change. Many guidelines governing watershed
approach, the main approach considered for mitigating drought risks in India,
also do not consider climate change as an aspect.
It is pertinent to mention here that there exist an opportunity for governments tobuild sustainable livelihoods using drought relief measures as a means. For
example, a shift from ad-hoc measures to planned relief interventions that aim
at creating of longer-term livelihood options is an important thing to beconsidered. However, it may be difficult for the administrators to think in that
direction as the main aim of relief measures are to alleviate the immediate
impact of the drought. Having said this, the developmental workers andlivelihood specialists argue that there exist an opportunity for making theseinterventions more useful in longer term. Following are the areas where thedrought relief measures could lead to generation of sustainable livelihoods:
1. Identification of vulnerable livelihoods and making specific corrective
interventions.
2. Development of local market facilities and non-farm employment
opportunities (livelihood diversification) that reduces the vulnerability todrought related events.
3. Identification of local needs and using the drought relief resources to fulfill
these needs.
4. Emphasize more on the mitigation measures that take care of future
vulnerabilities as well.

4.3 Drought Scenario in Gujarat
Spatial analysis suggests that the Northwest India followed by peninsular India
face severe droughts with large departure or rainfall from the normal (Table 4).
This could be due to weakening of monsoons by the time they reach thenorthwestern India. This brings our discussion to one of the major droughtprone states in India situated in the northwest India i.e. Gujarat. Drought occurs
once in 4 years in Gujarat and its neighboring state of Rajasthan has a drought
frequency of once in 2.5 years. The average rainfall of Gujarat is XXXX mm.
The gradation of rainfall is much steeper in Gujarat with eastern parts receiving
more than 2000mm rainfall and gradually declining to less than 400 mm
towards the western parts (Fig. 4). Lack of adequate surface water sources is25

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

compounding the problems in
Gujarat with all major perennial
rivers being located in the extreme
south of the state. Recurring
droughts and lack of proper surface
water sources are causing the
ground water table to recede. For
example, a fall in water table levelof 1.85 m in confined aquifers and–16.7 m in confined aquifers was
Fig 4. Isohytes in Gujarat.
observed in Gujarat in last ten
years. The 2002 drought caused a fall of –1.83 m in confined aquifers here. In
addition to its scary hydrological situation, the poor forest cover also threatens
the Gujarat state. The state has a forest cover of 15,152 km2 (7.73% ofgeographical area) mostly distributed in south, southeast and eastern parts
leaving much of its western and northern parts vulnerable to climatic vagaries(Forest Survey of India, 2001).
Table 5. Percentage departure from normal (long term average) during major
droughts in India
Region

1918

1965

1972

1979

1987

2002

All India

26

18

25

19

19

19

North West

36

28

36

18

46

48

Central

0

0

0

31

28

31

East

20

30

22

23

14

2

Peninsular

32

22

31

14

27

27

4.4 Drought Management in Gujarat
Drought management in Gujarat is not much different from many states in Indiaand it is very much in terms of response. However, the state has established adrought early warning system under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary,
Revenue named as Weather Watch Group. The working of WWG resembles
very much to that of the National Weather Watch Group formed by the Ministryof Agriculture and Cooperation (see the previous Section). This group meetsonce in every week and assesses the drought situation by monitoring
26

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

parameters such as rainfall, irrigation facilities, water in reservoirs andelectricity supply etc. The state has a clear response mechanism to drought.
The state Cabinet Committee, which is a standing committee, gets activated in
the wake of declaring drought in the state. The Cabinet Sub Committee is
responsible for policy decision-making, monitoring and implementation of thedrought relief work. There are separate groups for policy making andmonitoring and implementation purposes. The Chief Secretary is the head of
the Group that is responsible for Policy making while the Relief Commissioner
is the head for the implementation group. The State Relief Manual mainly
facilitates the relief work and outlines clear guidelines for implementing the
drought relief. Appropriate institutional mechanisms are in place to check thequality aspects in implementation of drought relief work.
In general, the drought relief interventions of the state comprises of thefollowing measures:
•
•
•
•
•

Monetary relief (loans, grants etc)
Food supply
Water supply
Fodder supply
Crop contingency relief measures such as supply of seeds and fertilizers

The practice has been that the affected population has been distributed withthe food grains against the work they do in the government drought relief
programs. Typically, the affected population would be engaged in works suchas deepening of village ponds, agricultural ponds, construction or repairing ofcheck dams, and construction or repair of roads etc. Cattle camps are one suchactivity that provide centralized facilities for arranging feed and water facilities.
Though widely debated and controversial, giving away cash doles has been acommon practice. However, such ‘grants’ are made to only aged, infirm,children and pregnant women who are categorized as most vulnerable sectionsof the society. Supply of drinking water is another important aspect of droughtmanagement in the state, as the case in many other states in India. The
transportation of water through rail and road transport facilities to reach thedoorsteps of affected communities is both cost intensive and well establishes
the fact that many states in India don’t have longer term policies for securing
drinking water supply during stress conditions.

27Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

4.5 Climate Change and Gujarat’s Drought Vulnerability
Our review on the available results from the model studies indicate that there
would be a general increase in rainfall over western part of the India with more
intense rain events. While the increased rainfall is a welcoming development tothis much drought stricken part of the country, an increase in intensity rainfall
might lead to a high surface runoff and loss of water from the region where it has
fallen.
The past analysis of rainfall data for the state of Gujarat indicates a different
picture all together. Gujarat has experienced 12 years of drought, and four
major scarcity situations. However, the intensity and return period of major
drought events have increased substantially in last two-three decades, and it isoften correlated to the climate change impacts. Traditionally, Gujarat has adrought cycle of 5 years, where in 2 years there is moderate rainfall, 2 years
less rainfall, and 1 year of good rainfall. Consecutive 2 years of less rainfall
makes it difficult for the communities to sustain their livelihoods. It becomesworse, when there is 3 years of consecutive less rainfall. Statistical data showthat in last two decades, the intensity of the 3 years of consecutive less rainfall
is increasing, and thereby creating severe drought situation (Fig 5). There is
still a need to study systematically the impact phenomenon of these increasing
drought incidences and on how the local communities are coping with them.

Fig. 5. 100 years of rainfall trend for Kutch District, Gujarat (1897-1997)(SOURCE: Kutch Ecology Fund)

28

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

5. COMMUNITY LEVEL ADAPTATION TO DROUGHT
The major part of Gujarat has semi-arid to arid type of climatic conditions, andsuffers from recurrent droughts. Two case study areas, Kutch and Porbandar
are not exceptions. Due to the climatic characteristics, life of people anddroughts are inseparable. Since majority population in these areas engages
in agriculture, droughts are one of the major drawbacks. The impacts ofdrought includes decline in groundwater levels, drinking and irrigation water
scarcity, reduced agricultural productivity and production, fodder scarcity andreduced food security. Droughts do not only cause short-term livelihood
problems but also constrict their long-term development.
On top of this, recent increase in number of severe droughts, desertification,and salinisation in some areas has made the condition worse. Therefore,
there is an urgent need to develop community level adaptation strategies. As
in other drought prone areas, local communities in these case study areas
have traditional coping mechanism against the droughts. It is important tounderstand how people have adapted to or coped with drought and to develop
strategies by bringing some changes in current natural resource management
and livelihood patterns to mitigate the adverse effects of drought.
As impacts of drought vary, different types of measures are adapted by local
people and communities. The diagram in next page summarize the various
strategies have been and could be emerged to mitigate the negative impacts ofdrought. According to hearings conducted in case study areas, despite thegovernment promotes drought management, which focus on the long-term
measures, more people has been depend on short-term relief measuresprovided by government after drought occurs. Although they may help people
survive during the scarcity period, their capacity to drought is not built and theykeep suffering from reoccurrence drought.
Following section introduces long-term drought proofing initiatives taken by
local communities with the support of NGOs in two case study areas. These
initiatives not only have achieved desired physical goals such as saving wateror generating income, but also created awareness of droughts and idea oflong-term drought proofing among local people. They have begun working

29Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

more on long-term measures and became less depending on short-term relief.
These case studies may be good examples of community level initiatives could
be taken by different areas.
Table 6: Various strategies to adapt to and cope with drought by local communities

Short -Term-

Water
Management

Long- Term

Deepen Well
Utilize Government
Water supply--

AnimalHusbandry

Local
Economy--Migration
Utilize fodder bank
Utilize cattle camp-

Engage in non
agricultural labor work
Engage in relief work
Migration
Loans

-

-

30

-

Construct dams
Artificial recharge of groundwater aquifers
Integrated watershedmanagement
Decentralize water resource
Conserve water
Promote rainwater harvesting
system
Improve agronomic practices
Promote drought tolerant
seeds
Soil conservation
Seeds conservation
Control livestock population
Conserve fodder

Secure income from otherlivelihood options
Save cash
Save crops

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

6. DROUGHT CASE STUDIESIn two case study areas in Gujarat (Fig. 6), Kutch and Porbandar, there are
significant cases that local NGOs work with local communities to enhance theirability to adapt effectively to drought. The first one is an initiative taken in
Porbandar by Delhi based NGO called SEEDS (Sustainable Environment andEcological Development Society). SEEDS promote sustainable methods ofrainwater harvesting techniques, which designed, maintained and managed by
the local communities. The second one is initiatives taken in Kutch by local
NGO networks, Abhiyan (Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan). Here introduces two
initiatives taken by Abhiyan. The first initiatives called Drought Proofing
Program which creates local dams to decentralize rural drinking water andsanitation and to secure water for drought period. The second initiatives
focused on livelihood options. Since Kutch is traditionally well-known for its
handcraft, Abhiyan supports local people engage handcraft works especiallywomen to create livelihood option.

Kutch
Porbandar

SOURCE: Maps of Inidia

Figure 6. Map of India showing the project locations
As the results of these initiatives, though specific focuses were different, allthese targeted communities were able see the advantages of implementing

31Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

measures which support their livelihood. Significance of these initiatives is not
only the physical results but also they promote the local people’s participation
and utilize local knowledge. As described below, both NGOs in two casestudy areas emphasized the process of initiatives.

6.1 Case Study: Porbandar
In order to promote sustainable methods of rainwater harvesting techniques,
SEEDS decided to test and promote activities involving collecting rooftop
rainwater and recharging underground water. Based on their survey, existingvillage data and focus group discussions, two villages in Porbandar, Thoyona
and Digvijaygadh were selected. Thoyona especially suffers from irregularavailability of irrigation water while DigvijayGadh has drinking water problem.
Therefore, activities decided for work were:
1. Roof top Rainwater Harvesting at Digvijaygadh school building
2. Well recharge structure and farm pond at Thoyona
3. Training of communities in water conservation and harvestingSpecific objectives were set by SEEDS for this initiative as shown in Table 7
below.
Table 7. Community Level Objective Setting
1. Generate awareness in the community regarding water conservation techniques for longterm drought management and link it with the development perspective
2. Training of village community for execution of drought proofing work
3. Impact assessment of the implemented water harvesting structures for enhancement of the
program
4. Awareness regarding how the community can solve their problems of drinking water as wellas water for agriculture and other purpose
5. Awareness about mitigation measures to combat the effects of scarce rainfall in theintervention area, which is largely a farmer’s community
6. Enabling community to formulate their own water model plan which can be implemented fortheir village based on their felt needs
7. Community involvement and participation right from identifying their needs and actual
implementation

In order to achieve their goal and objectives, SEEDS began with organizing
community meeting and Focus Group Discussion followed by community
mobilization. After community members were mobilized, training as well as
small scale workshop with participants were conducted during implementation

32

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

process. Following summarize the specific detail of initiatives in two targeted
villages, Thoyona and Digvijaygadh, and their outcomes.

6.1.1 Initiative in Digvijaygadh
District: Porbandar
Taluka (Block): Ranavav
Village: Digvijaygadh
Location: Digvijaygadh school building(Figure 7)
6.1.1.1 Overview
Digvijaygadh is a labor class village
with around 70 households from theSager and Rabari community. It issocially and economically backward
village.
Once a village with good
farms, the community has beenFig. 7. Construction of rooftop rainwater
reduced to labor class due toharvesting system in the school buildings
degradation of the natural resources. In
general the community was enabled to recall right from the survey when they
had cited drinking water problem.
6.1.1.2 Process
SEEDS began with holding community meetings participated by various
stakeholders including children, Panchayat (local elected body) members,
masons, women and teachers. During the meeting, discussion was about thewater-harvesting principles, techniques, and advantages with specific focus on
the roof top water harvesting. After more villages inspired by this technique,actual implementation began.
6.1.1.3 Community Involvement and Output
At Digvijaygadh, the villagers are mostly Maldharis or labors. It is socially andeconomically backward village. The villagers could not contribute in terms offinance but they contributed in terms of labor, transportation, water from thewell, water curing etc. Most importantly, they were able to participate in the33

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

program right from identification of needs, resource mobilization to theimplementation. Some of the villagers have also shown interest as to how thewater of the village can be collected collectively.

6.1.2 Initiative in Thoyana
District: Porbandar
Taluka (Block): Ranavav
Village: Thoyana
Location: Thoyana Agriculture land
6.1.2.1 Process
Figure 8. Green agriculture land
Numerous meetings were held at Thoyana
after interventions
during which the villagers were oriented
about water harvesting techniques, well recharging, including different
techniques, the costs and its benefits. During the first meeting a discussion
was carried out to find water need for villagers, water need for irrigation,interventions to be carried out. Villager’s support was sought and different
methods for participation in work were explored.
6.1.2.2 Community Involvement
Because of the past experience, only two people were ready for the work
instead of the 10, as originally scheduled. But once the work started and theon site interactions started and along with explanations, villagers were
motivated to take up the work in their own farms. “Seeing is Believing” worked
out for the villagers. Community involvement includes providing their
manpower for labor work, their vehicle for material transportation, utilizing
existing village fund etc. The villagers provided material help in kind to a
maximum of Rs. 5000. Rest contribution (amounting in a range of 15% to25%) was from the beneficiary. For farm pond construction, minimum 20%
contribution was madeTable 8. Annual water harvesting potential
by the community.
6.1.2.3 Output
Table 8 shows theestimatedwater
harvesting practices in

Roof area of building A = 37.625 sq. m.
Roof area of building B = 68.025 sq. m.
Total Roof area of both buildings = 105.65 sq. m.
Average annual rainfall in this region = 450 mm = 0.450 m
Runoff coefficient for concrete surface = 0.7
Annual water harvesting potential= Total Roof area x Average annual rainfall x Runoff coefficient= 105.65 x 0.450 m x 0.7= 33.27 cu. M. (33,279 Liters)

34

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

the two buildings which implemented rain water harvesting system. Table 9shows the change in water depth in the wells before and after the interventions(SEEDS 2004).
Table 9. Impacts of interventions

Sr.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6

Name of beneficiary
Devshi Giga Bhutia.
Rambhai Karshanbhai
sindhalBharatbhai Mashribhai
BhutiaBhanubhai Ramabhai
Ratadia
Virambhai Rambhai
AudedraParbatbhai Arjanbhai
Audedra2004july

No's ofSurface
Well Water well in catchments Water level
depth depth in surroun
area
in well after(ft) well (ft) ding
(Hector)1 rain (ft)
85
5
20
2
10

2004july

70

25

10

41

65

2004july

100

40

15

41

90

2004july

90

5

10

32

80

2004july

72

15

10

10

28

2004july

80

10

10

6

25

Year &
month

6.2 Case Study: Kutch
The district of Kutch which comprises of 24% of the total area of the State ofGujarat falls in the arid tracts of the country and has a unique arid coastal
climate. While Kutch has always been a drought prone region, the incidenceof drought has become regular, and any 5 year cycle has 2 to 3 years ofdroughts.
Many communities of Kutch have not only lived through regular droughts forgenerations, but also represent a history, which is replete with droughtmanagement techniques and systems. However, in the last 30 years, there
has been a gradual increase in the community’s dependence on the
Government for Drought Management, and decline in community methods ofdrought managements. Resources utilized in the drought relief works havesustained villages in the short term, with each affected village receiving, on anaverage, wages worth Rs.800,000 to 1 million in the scarcity period. However,while the resources have led to drought relief, it has not necessarily led to themitigation of the effects of droughts. Therefore, local NGO, Abhiyan proposed
to work on self-sustaining solution for their drinking water, agricultural and35

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

livelihood problems. These activities will lead to an increase in the householdincome in good rainfall years, and a reduction in their liabilities in drought years.
Following introduces two specific initiatives taken by Abhiyan, one focusing onwater and another focusing on livelihood option. Specific objectives were set
for initiatives as shown in Table 10.
Table 10. Objectives of Drought Proofing Project

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

To bring an attitudinal and perceptional change within the communities
To encourage, in a drought year, communities to engage in works which have a long-term
developmental impact in the village, and does not just create short term employment.
To create a model in the district to strengthen their traditional water resources.
To enable more dry-land farmers to undertake critical irrigation for one crop – the kharifcrop
To undertake farmland treatment by increasing soil and moisture conservation, which
prevents crop failure.
To increase the productivity of grasslands in the pilot villages, thereby improving grassland
productivity and strengthening the grass reserves of the communities.
To arrest migration from the villages, thereby making it possible for the village to access,and stay integrated to other rural development and poverty alleviation programs, even in
drought year.
To strengthen the partnership between the District Government, and the Network ofNGOs, thereby increasing the potential for more sustainable rural development planningand implementation in the district
To build the capacity and abilities of the communities and the NGO workers to plan for, andimplement drought proofing activities

6.2.1 Water Related Initiatives
Drought Proofing Program
Implemented by: Abhiyan and other local NGOs
Supported by: Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Gujarat, UNDP
6.2.1.1 Overview
The Drought Proofing Program is being implemented in 31 villages spread
across the districts of Kutch. These villages have been identified by 15
different NGOs working in Kutch district. The villages communities of these
31 villages have voluntarily agree to participate for the long-term drought
proofing program. The initiatives was implemented, coordinated and monitored
by Joint Cell under the chairmanship of District Collector, Bhuj, Kutch. The
NGOs, responsible for implementing the project at the village level werecoordinated by the central office of Abhiyan.
36

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

6.2.1.2 Process
Based on criteria set, targeted villages were selected. In order to maximize
the outcome of the initiatives, the targeted villages were familiar to the NGO
and vice versa, as a whole voluntarily agreed to the long-term drought proofing
project, were willing to contribute 5% towards its own village maintenance fund,and nominated and formed drought proofing committee. After selecting villages,
based on hearing from village people, engineers from NGOs determined thesize and the location of the dame to be constructed.
6.2.1.3 Output
As shown in Figure 9, it was visible that they
were able to collect rainfall water effectively.
In order to secure their water, village
members set own rules of using the watercollected in the dam. According to NGO
members, women are more motivated toconstruct the dam than at first. However,after a while, most of village members
Figure 9. Water resulted fromparticipated the work. In the end, both man
the drought-proofing program
and woman were more aware of andconfident about long-term drought proofing activities and less depend on
short-term relief by the government.

6.2.2 Livelihood Related Initiatives
Implemented by: Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan, Nehru Foundation for
Development
Supported by: Government of India
6.2.2.1 Overview
In the arid, drought prone district of Kutch, practice of handicrafts provides
livelihood to over 40,000 families (Figure 10). One of the first steps in Kutch
livelihood programs is identifying the local resource base – the skills, rawmaterial, traditional knowledge, aptitude, or interest. Since Kutch is one of themost craft-rich areas in the country, it becomes the most visibly identified areaof livelihood generation.

37

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

The various crafts practiced including weaving, ajrakh block printing, tie-dye,
pottery, leather, bell making, knife making, silver and gold jewelry, rogan art andso on. However, to initiate craft programs, without a comprehensive
understanding of the complexity of craft in artisans
lives, its very niche markets, designs, and craft
market, means that the initiating organization
immediately runs into its first and primary problem –of having created expectations amongst artisans,before developing the marketing chain.
Moreproblems ensue- quality, designing with the artisan,markets, unsold stocks of produce generated in theinitial enthusiasm to help, and the blockage of thefund flow. Crafts activities have led the NGOs to
Figure 10. Craft as one
walk between the socio-economic developmentalof the key livelihoods forneeds of the community, the arena of art and craft,
women in Kutch
and the world of business and that is a difficult andcomplex task.
6.2.2.2 Activities
NGO supports workers involving handicraft work to provide followings tomaterials, secure constant incomes.
-

Market Support, mainly to handicraft artisans
Distribution of raw material and equipments for handicraft work
Training & Capacity Building through vocational training programs
for women and youth-

Infrastructure support in terms of work-shed reconstruction forcraft artisans

6.3 Implementation Mechanisms: SETU
Two initiatives undertaken in Porbandar and Kutch have not only achieved
desired physical goals such as saving water or generating income, but also
created awareness of droughts and idea of long-term drought proofing among
local people. However, in fact, there are hundreds of other villages, which still
suffer from recurrence of droughts and need to implement long-term
drought-proofing initiatives. In order to implement such effective initiatives

38

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

widely and effectively, a network established in Kutch after Gujarat Eathquake
could be one option.

6.3.1 Establishment
With a long history of NGO
activities
in
Gujarat,numbers of NGO networks
has been established.
Abhiyan which established
SETU is one of them.
The purpose of SETU wasto establish the link
betweengovernment,NGOandcommunity
Figure 11. SETU as a bridge(Figure 11).
After the1998 cyclone hit Kutch,
twenty six local NGOs in Kutch had came together and established Abhiyan.
Since its establishment, Abhiyan has taken an important role as local NGO
network as each member NGO continues working in their specialized field.
Soon after the earthquake, the member of Abhiyan realized the needs ofcoordination of efforts. Despite a great number of aids and effort came into
Kutch, they were not distributed properly. Therefore, Abhiyan instituted acluster level “sub-center” for every fifteen to twenty villages all across the
district. This center became SETU. With its unique institutional structure,
SETU focused on coordination between villages and government or aid
agencies and information
Chief Coordinator
management to bring the
TCB
SCRC
Accounting Div.
most needed support toAdmin. & HR
the communities during
relief and rehabilitation
process.

6.3.2
Structure

Team Leader
Project Coordinator
Community Organizer
Information Coordinator

In-House

Originally twenty
was established.

SETU
Along

15-20
Villages

39

Figure 12. Structure of SETU

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

with needs, it increased the number to thirty-three in the rehabilitation period
and currently eighteen SETU, that cover over two hundred villages, conduct
activities. Each SETU consists of five to seven staffs, with specialized role asshown Figure 12. At the head of each SETU, team leader oversees its staff
members as project coordinator plan and coordinate its projects within thecluster, community organizer specially work closely with villages, andinformation coordinator collect and distribute necessary information between
SETU and villages and SETU and head office (SCRC). Although most staff
members were from outside of cluster villages such as local NGO members, atleast one person comes from villages with a hope that SETU or similar bodywill run by villagers.
Since these staffs live by the villages and communicate with local people indaily basis, they have gained trust from villagers and have understood theirsituation and needs accurately. This trust and understandings is essential toprovide necessary support for local people and the community. Since they workwith villages closely and independently, SETU has been able to work with amulti-sectoral grievance mechanism. It helps to create more equality andtransparency in village community and its decision making process.

6.3.3 Network Structure
Unique characteristics of
SETU is not only how
closely they work withlocal people but also
how they cooperate withother stakeholders suchasgovernment,
non-government,
andinternationalorganizations shown in
Figure 13. The arrow in
Figure 13 shows the wayof
supportamong
stakeholders. It should
be noted that K-link

Local Community

Government

SETU

NGO

K-LinkAbhiyan/
UNDP
TCS

GSDMA

Figure 13. Multi-stakeholder cooperation scheme of SETU
(GSDMA: Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority),
TCS: Tata Consultancy Services)40

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation(Kutch Local Information Kendra) is a body which also established after theearthquake to coordinate all the information such as damage of each villages
and household. K-link collects information from each village by SETU,
analyses it and distributed information to governmental organizations and otherNGOs/private sectors, which works in villages.

6.3.4 Role of SETU
Because of its unique structure, SETU can work closely with local communities
in located over a large area and outside organizations including government
and NGOs. Like most rural villages of India, village community is the basicsocial system in Kutch. Each village community has decision-making bodyusually called Panchayat which make various decisions for the village economy
and the self-governance. Traditionally it is dominated by people with power
and it sometimes causes inequality or corruption. However, by involvement of
SETU, Panchayat has been reestablished as a fair decision making body which
considers vulnerable people.
In addition, with local communities, SETU helps them identify their needs anddoes not give them support unless they ask. By doing so, it prevents
dependency among village people and community, which often becomes aproblem with excess support from outside organizations. Although they work
to provide necessary support for people and communities, their ultimate goal isto establish self-sustained mechanism in local communities.
Another important role of SETU is the network structure shown in Figure 11.
Often, in rural areas in India, there is lack of linkage between NGOs, local
communities, and governmental organizations and necessary information fromeach sector is not passed onto others. Because of the establishment of SETU,
which can work closely with local communities, government and NGOs,
communication between each stakeholders done more smoothly.

6.3.5 Future Possibility of SETU
Although initially SETU was established for Earthquake responses, it has taken
an important role in rehabilitation process and now is working well indevelopment process. Because of its unique characteristics, establishment
such local based network organization in drought prone area may work well.

41

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

The organization, of course, work closely with local communities as well as
local government and NGOs so that necessary information for drought proofing
both short term and long term will be disseminated in local communities more
effectively and efficiently.

42

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

7. GROUND REALITIES FEEDING INTO POLICIESIt is a universal fact that not all can be addressed by means of policies. That too,
it becomes more difficult when every body start asking for amendments in theexisting policies on the matters that they think are important. Hence, we are notasking for yet another attempt of bringing out policy changes such that thecommunities adapt well to the growing threats related to climate change.
However, there is a need to assess whether the existing policies ofgovernments at various levels are flexible enough to accommodate, andfacilitate to some extent, the responses of systems and people to the larger
threats emanating out of climate change.
To facilitate smooth transition from a stage of understanding the current
adaptation mechanisms to the stage where these understandings are feed into
the policies, it is necessary that the past studies be consolidated, which
specifically depicts various vulnerabilities and adaptation mechanisms, suchthat it helps the decision makers as a guide. Such a system should have to be
dynamic and continuously link the field level learning into planning at different
levels.
As of now, India lacks a clear policy on how the scarcity situations like drought
are to be dealt with. Though the programmes and mechanisms are evolved
over the time. the impacts of these programs are far from impressive to makeany significant changes in the areas of their implementation. Welcome
initiatives such as Hariyali guidelines for integrating different watersheddevelopment programmes into a single common umbrella are yet to show the
impacts on the ground. In absence of a larger success, it is too early to say thatthese interventions are sufficient even in the climate change scenario.
The task is going to be impossible especially when there is no convergence
between the players such as government, non-government and private sector
and individuals. A seamless integration is possible only when all the players
communicate on a common platform and understand well each other’s point ofview.
Another area of significant impact could be empowering local communities with43

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

relevant information that helps them take decisions with more confidence. One
important area for improvement is carrying useful climate information to thecommunity level along with value addition. Such value-added climate
information with sufficient lead-time to react would certainly enhance theadaptive capacity of the communities. For this to happen, the weather
forecasting, especially on medium to long-range scales, needs to be improvedin its precision, which again highlights our limitation in understanding theclimate phenomenon on a larger scale. In the context of India, owing to its
diverse geography, forecasting for regional and micro levels is also an
important proposition.
Based on the above observations and case studies, following summary can bemade for different aspects of community level climate change adaptation:
Impacts of climate change (hydro-meteorological issues):- Increase in temperature- Variation in monsoon rain (extreme summer rainfall, decrease in
number of rainy days)-

Continuation of dry days
Decrease in runoff and water availability in arid and semi-arid
area

Actions for adaptation and coping with drought (development issues)- Water management
Deepen well, utilize water supply system properly
Construct check-dam, artificial damage, integrated watershed management, conserve water, rain water harvesting
system-Agriculture
Improve agronomic practice, drought tolerant seeds
Soil conservation, seeds conservation-

Animal husbandry
Migration, utilize fodder bank, cattle camp
Control livestock population, conserve fodder-

Local economy
Engage in non-agriculture labor work, relief work, loans
Secure income from other livelihoods, craft44

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Local Government Policy measures- Focus on development oriented drought mitigation- Utilize drought relief fund on regular development practice- Incorporate future climate scenario in drought proofing plans- Enhance climate prediction capability through link to the hydrometeorological organizations
Implementation Mechanism- Establish SETU type set-up in several clusters of villages- Provide development schemes and climate related information to
SETUInstitutionalize SETU through local government development
budgetFigure 14 shows the model incorporating the above factors, and can beconsidered as the community based climate change adaptation model.
-

Figure 14. Community based climate change adaptation model

45

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Although an attempt has been to link the climate change impacts to drought,
and its adaptation actions at community and local government policy levels,
however, it should be kept in mind that the study presents only the preliminary
observations base don limited data. A detailed study should be undertaken on
the following aspects to grasp the bigger picture and identify specific issues:-

Collection of available climate data on a regional level (including
one or two states in the country or on a river basin), and analysisof data to obtain the trend of past climatic conditions-

Obtaining detailed climate scenario at a micro level, and correlate
the past data and future climate projections-

Detailed analysis of the policies in two or three different droughtprone states (at state and district levels)-

Documenting different drought proofing schemes in the country
and states-

Documenting best practices on community actions at various
levels-Organize local workshops to facilitate discussions among the
local stakeholders, including local NGOS, government, academic
bodies etc.

46

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

8. REFERENCES
Carter, T.R. and S. Kankaanpaa. 2003. A Preliminary Examination of Adaptation
to Climate Change in Finland. The Finnish Environment 640, Ministry ofEnvironment, Finland.
DAC. Drought 2002: A report. Department of Agriculture and Cooperation,
Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi, India. 2004.
Hardy, J.T. Climate change: Causes, effects, and solutions. John Wiley, UK.
2004.
Helmore K. and Singh N. (2001): Sustainable Livelihoods
IPCC. Climate Change 2001: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. IPCC,
Cambridge University Press, UK. 2001.
Kerr, j. M., Pangare, G. and Pangare, V.L. 2002. Watershed development
projects in India: An evaluation. Research Report 127, IFPRI,
Washington.
Kothyari, U.C. and V.P. Singh, 1996: Rainfall and temperature trends in India.
Hydrological processes, 10, 357-372.
Moench, M. and A. Dixit. Adaptive capacity and livelihood resilience: Adaptive
strategies for responding to floods and droughts in South Asia. Instituteof Social and Environmental Transition, International, Boulder andInstitute of Social and Environmental Transition, Nepal.
NCDM. 2001. Manual on natural disaster management in India. National
Center for Disaster Management, New Delhi, India.
Rupakumar, K., K. Krishna Kumar and G.B. Pant, 1994: Diurnal asymmetry of
surface temperature trends over India. Geophysical Research Letters,
21, 677-680.
SEEDS, 2004: Report on orientation programs, SEEDS Report on Samta
Project in Porbandar, Ahmedabad.
Singh, N. and Sontakke, 2001. Natural and anthropogenic environmental
changes of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Climate Change,(Communicated).
Someshwar, S., Subbiah, A.R. Institutional responses to 2002-03 drought inRajasthan and Orissa: Potential of climate information for proactive
drought management. IRI, ADPC, UNDP Report, 2003.
Timmermann, A., J.M. Oberuber, A. Bacher, M. Esch, M. Esch, M. Latif, and E.
Roeckner, 1999: Increased El-Nino frequency ina climatic model forced

47

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

by future greenhouse warming. Nature, 398, 694-6.
ZENEB and UNDP. 2001. Proceedings of International workshop on measuring
vulnerability to food insecurity Under the Conditions of Drought. 12-13
October 2001.

48

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

ANNEX 1TEXT of MID-TERM Report Submitted on 27th December 2004
PREAMBLE
This report is the interim report prepared for the research of “Community-level Climate Change
Adaptation and Policy Issues, Inter-linkages of environment, poverty and livelihood a case study
from Gujarat, India” conducted by Kyoto University as a part of the Forum for Globally
Integrated Environmental Assessment Modeling (GLEAM) initiated by United Nations
University (UNU) and National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM). This
report summarized current condition of drought, initiatives taken at community level, drought
related issues at community level and the current governmental policies at national, state, andregional level based on the field research conducted in August of 2004.
I. Background

1. Climate

The region bounded by desert fringe in the north and Arabian Sea with major tongues of Kutch
and Cambay in the northern segment and lower in the southern districts. The maximum
temperature varies from 36.7 C to 43.3 during summer, while the minimum between 2C and18.3C from November to February. Topography and direction of winds govern the seasonal
distribution of rainfall which is uneven and irregular in several segments of the region.

2. Rainfall

Gujarat receives much of its rainfall from the south-west monsoons during the period between
June and September. The monsoons break in June, reach their maximum intensity in July, whichis the rainiest month of the year and taper of towards the end of September. September is themonth of marginal rainfall, while October is marked by very occasional showers. November to
May is a dry period, though occasional cloudiness, thunder or a little rain may occur in any month.
April is the driest month of the year with hardly any rains.

3. Agriculture and Irrigation

The natural vegetation of the State is restricted to areas which receive adequate rainfall and are at
the same time agriculturally unproductive. Ruggedness of terrain and rocky thin soils have madesome parts of the State unsuitable for cultivation. Like the general pattern in the country,
Gujarat’s economy is made up largely of agriculture, which provides employment to about 67 percent of the working population of the State. Unsuitable climate conditions in some parts androcky terrain with thin or no soils in others have limited the area suitable for cultivation. Low
yields results from poor soils, inadequate rainfall, frequent droughts and floods, bad drainage andundeveloped irrigation facilities.

4. Cropping Pattern

The state produces a large variety of crops, and its cropping pattern reflects the spatial variationsin climate and topography. In the order of importance, groundnut, cotton, jowar, bajra, pulses,
rice and wheat are the important crops. Food crops command more than half the cultivated areaof the State, while the acreage under cash crops is a little less than half the cultivated land.
II. Drought

1. Classification of Drought 1

In India various states and official commission have adopted different criteria for classifying
droughts. Droughts are classified mainly in three types, which are meteorological drought,hydrological drought and agricultural drought. Meteorological Drought is a situation ofsignificant decline in rainfall with respect to normal or long period average value over an area.
49

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

When decline in rainfall is between 26-50% drought is termed as Severe Drought.
Suggested criteria for Hydrological Drought is when the annual river discharge is 50-75% of
long-term average annual discharge the situation is termed as Mild Drought and when it is below
50%, the situation is termed as Severe Drought condition. The National Commission on
Agriculture considered agricultural drought if four consecutive weeks receive rainfall half of thenormal during cropping season, which is from middle of May to middle of October or six such
weeks during the other period.
Many of the states, follow the “annawary” system wherein the crop conditions are assessed
through visual estimates. The criteria followed isCrop Production Drought Category
Above 75% of Normal
no drought
50-75
moderate drought
25-50
severe droughtLess than 25
disastrous drought

2. Classification of Drought 2

The rainfall pattern within season also varies greatly in the arid areas. It may occur erraticallyand some times in sudden spurts. In such situations, even if the annual rainfall is high, theproductivity of various occupations, especially agriculture may not be high. Based on the timeof occurrence of drought, droughts can be classified into five distinct categories as follows.
The early season droughts occur in association with the delay in commencement of sowing rains.
Mid-season droughts occur in association with the breaks in the southwest monsoon. If thedrought conditions occur during the vegetative phase of crop growth, it might result in stunted
growth, low leaf area development, and even reduced plant population. Late season or terminal
drought, which occurs during the reproductive storage there may be an increase in temperature,
hastening the process of crop development to forced maturity.

3. Drought Impacts

Droughts give adverse impact to the affected area economically, environmentally, and socially.
These include loss in production of crops, dairy and livestock and fisheries, income loss offarmers, decline in food production and increased food prices, unemployment (economical
aspect), damage to natural living species resource, erosion, damage to plant species, effect onwater quality, increase in salinity (environmental aspect), food shortage, conflicts relating to water,
health problems, decline in living condition, population migration, and increase in crimes (social
aspects).

4. Cause of Drought

The primary cause for the occurrence of drought is insufficient rainfalls. In addition to naturalcause of drought, there are human causes of drought including land use practice, such as
deforestation, over-cultivation, overgrazing, and mismanagement of irrigation that result
desertification.

5. Drought in Gujarat

As per IMD, if drought occurs in 20% of the years in any area, it is classified as drought prone
area and if drought occurs in more than 40% of the years, it is classified as chronically droughtprone area. Indian arid zones fall in category of chronically drought prone areas. It covers an areaof 320000 sq km of which 20% of the area is located in 8 districts of the Gujarat state.

6. Drought Prone Area

The state has humid and semi-arid to arid type of climatic conditions with highest rainfall about
50

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

2000mm in the south, which gradually decreases to about a low of 300m in Kutch while average
rainfall of the states is 700 mm. While the northern part of the state is mostly arid/semi arid, thesouthern part is humid and sub-humid. Extreme of climate be it heavy rainfall or droughts arequite common in this region. The droughts are frequent in North Gujarat, Kutch andSaurashtra regions due to its rainfall behavior.

7. Drought Trend

In the past 40 years, Gujarat has experienced 11 years of drought and four major scarcity
situations in 1972-73, 1985-87, 1992-93 and 1995-96. According to the existed rainfall data of
Kutch, the average annual rainfall has been decrease gradually. Also it indicates that the numberof occurrence of moderate and severe draught has been increased.

8. Drought Vulnerability

Dry areas of Gujarat are generally more vulnerable to drought. People who depend on rain-fed
agriculture, livestock-dependent without adequate grazing land are more vulnerable. Thosedependent on stored water resources or irrigation will be more vulnerable to water shortages andmay face competition for water.
III. Drought Management in India

1. Partners

The Ministry of Home Affairs is a nodal authority for Natural Disaster Management. The othercoordinating agencies are Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources, Civil Supplies, Health,
Science & Technology, Department of Space, India Meteorological Department, Relief
Commission of State Government, and Non-Governmental Organizations.

2. History of Drought Management

Numerous strategies have taken to cope with drought over the years. The characteristics ofdrought management has changed from the crisis management approach in the pre-independence
era to scarcity relief approach, to drought relief approach begun in sixties, and to recent droughtmanagement approach These changes in management approaches have increased in country’s
resilience to droughts.

3. Drought Relief Approach

Drought relief-approach with a monitoring system enables the government to intervene after the
closure of the monsoon. The objective of the drought relief approach was to protect
entitlement of the affected population by ensuring physical and economic access to food throughrelief projects and public distribution systems. For drought relief intervention, drought is declaredbased on various observed aspect such as crop loss, price rise, migration of people, and increased
rate of petty crimes in addition to the rainfall monitoring.
The central government has permanent arrangements of Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) for
reducing the impact and severity of droughts. Main governmental strategy to moderate thedrought situation is by employment generation trough relief works, cattle conservation camps,
fodder depots, proper animal health care, subsidized cattle feed for milk cattle, drinking water
arrangements, augmenting existing or creation of new sources, medical and health arrangements.
Some of current drought management practices in India as shown below
Operation of an early warning system:
Meteorological conditions, particularly the monsoon rains from June to September are closely
monitored. Hydrological conditions such as reservoir and ground water levels, and agricultural
production are also monitored. Early warning enables response to drought well before famine
indictors occur.
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Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

Drought Preparedness measures:
Communities contribute to planning for drought management and relief. Institutions for healthcare, veterinary care, water resources and disaster assistance are ready to expand services in timesof drought.
Conservation of water:
Water is budgeting during droughts. Additional water supplies were developed for drought
affected areas and those with chronic shortages.
Stabilizing crop production:
Contingency crop planning involves trying to save crops from drying out, planting alternative
crops, use of seed reserves, and measures to improve production in irrigated areas and in
nontraditional seasons.
Assurance of access to food:A national food security system makes grain available at a reasonable cost and stabilizes market
prices. Food is distributed from surplus to deficit areas. Additional food supplies are provided
to families with caloric deficiencies during drought based on nutritional surveys.
Preservation of farmer’s assets:
Employment generation schemes are offered to the rural work force to stabilize incomes. To
enable farmers to keep livestock, fodder is transferred from surplus to deficit area.

4. Monsoon Management Approach

Ministry of Agriculture had prepared a pro-active methodology of monsoon management in
1979. The Monsoon Management model is an alternative approach that will gradually reduce
relief while increasing capacity of affected areas to withstand droughts on their own. Basically it
had three components:
1. train people at different levels to conserve and manage water,
2. develop contingency plans to suit different rainfall patterns and3. work out a compensatory production program
VI.

Drought Management in Gujarat

1. Drought Management System

The state of Gujarat has a well-organized administrative system to meet the severe drought
conditions. A state level relief committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of chief
minister and a cabinet sub-committee has been set up under the chairmanship of the revenue
minister to review relief operations

2. Drought Forecasting

The parameters which are systematically monitored to detect signs of the onset of drought
conditions include rainfall, reservoir and water management, and monitoring of crop prospect.

3. Counter Relief Measures for Drought

The drought relief focuses employment generation, water supply, agriculture, animal husbandry,
health and nutrition. They are supply of fodder, supply of drinking water including drilling ofdeeper tube wells to meet water demands, water supply through tankers, provision of relief
assistances to affected population, drought relief works.
V. Community Based Initiatives

1. Project in Porbandar

Implemented organization: SEEDS
Supported by: GSDMAIn Porbandar, semi-arid area in Gujarat, SEEDS selected villages to improve their rainfall
agriculture. After conducting research of conditions of aquifer and wells of the areas, they havecompleted a pilot project which constructed wells and waterways to collect rainfall effectively.
The cost of project is about $150-200 per well and about 8000 Rs to 10,000 Rs including every
52

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

expenses to complete for one villages with 300 wells. After one rain season, the data has shownthat the water level has increased. Currently, SEEDS is trying to extend the project area to 155
villages in Porbandar.

2.

Project in Kutch 1
Drought Proofing Program
Implemented by: Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan
Supported by: Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Gujarat, UNDPThe Drought Proofing Program is being implemented in 31 villages spread across the districts ofKutch. These villages have been identified by 15 different NGOs working in Kutch district.
The villages communities of these 31 villages have voluntarily agree to participate for the longterm drought proofing program.
One objective of this project is to construct dams to prepare for a drought season. Based onhearing from village people, engineers from NGOs determined the size and the location of thedame to be constructed. According to NGO members, women are more motivated to construct
the dam than at first. However, after a while, most of village members participated the work.

3.

Project in Kutch 2

Livelihood Program
Implemented by: Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan, Nehru Foundation for Development
Supported by: Government of India
In the arid, drought prone district of Kutch, practice of handicrafts provides livelihood to over
40,000 families. The various crafts practiced including weaving, ajrakh block printing, tie-dye,
pottery, leather, bell making, knife making, silver and gold jewelry, rogan art etc.
NGO supports workers involving handicraft work to provide materials, market and standard tosecure constant incomes.

4. Other Household Resource in Kutch

The southern part of Kutch district of Gujarat has a long costal line and fishery is one of main
occupations of who live along the coast. Almost of all members of fishery communities, mostly
Muslims, engage this occupation because it is their hereditary occupation for decades.
Issues among Fishery Communities
Because they only have limited access to outside of their resided areas, their health andeducational status are very low. As many of them have not received basic education, theirilliteracy level is very high. This causes them suffer from exploitation by middlemen and being
in debt. Their standard of living is very low and backward though fish and fishery products have agood value. Additionally, there are issues such as low awareness about coastal regulation, no
recognition in the government records, impact of industrialization, and impact on the coastal
ecological system.
Rainfall and Fishery
Among fishermen, it is said that they have good fish catches during and after a good rain season
because rainwater washes insects and warms into the sea. They are good food for fish and fishcome closer to the coast.
VI. Climate Change and Drought in Gujarat
As stated above, in past forty years, Gujarat has experienced 12 years of drought, and four major
scarcity situations. However, the intensity and return period of major drought events haveincreased substantially in last two-three decades, and it is often correlated to the climate change
impacts. Traditionally, Gujarat has a drought cycle of 5 years, where in 2 years there is moderate
rainfall, 2 years less rainfall, and 1 year of good rainfall. Consecutive 2 years of less rainfall
makes it difficult for the communities to sustain their livelihoods. It becomes worse, when thereis 3 years of consecutive less rainfall. Statistical data show that in last two decades, the intensityof the 3 years of consecutive less rainfall is increasing, and thereby creating severe drought
53

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

situation, leaving the communities unprepared. Although there is still a need to study
systematically the impact phenomenon, the fact is that the rural masses are highly affected interms of their livelihood. Two workshops will be organized in Gujarat in February 2005 toreview our understanding on the current linkages of climate change and drought.

54

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

ANNEX 2
<Project Concept Note>

Climate Change Adaptation And its Implication to Disaster Management

Focus on South Asian Experiences

Climate change is real now. It has happened, is happening and will continue to happen for someforeseeable future, until all human beings get their act right. This is what the Third Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has all to conclude. In order to‘manage’ the climate change and its impacts, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) suggests two important approaches. One is to curtail the greenhouse gas emissions (as per
the Kyoto Protocol, 1997). Second is to initiate various adaptation mechanisms to cope withthe climate change that has already taken place. In order to monitor the progress on these fronts,
UNFCCC established national reporting requirements for all Parties regarding the emissions,potential vulnerabilities and adaptation options. The first solution is commonly referred as
mitigation measures aiming at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions to a pre-agreed reference
level by the Parties through controlling the sources or by enhancing the carbon sinks and various
other mechanisms identified in the Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force from 16th Feb 2005.
The second solution, an important one for many countries for the reason that the greenhouse gas
emissions will continue for some more time, of adaptation to the climate change is entirely adifferent proposition altogether. Adaptation, in its meaning and sense, needs to be initiated at alllevels of governance and community actions. Many countries have already started acting on thesefronts.

Problem Statement
Climate change means more climate related extreme events as the climate change specialists warn
about the future possible extreme events globally. These extreme events include higher
temperatures, extreme rainfall and runoff leading to floods on one had and extreme droughts on
the other hand due to a shift in the hydrological balance. Hence, much before adaptation, it isimportant to understand what climate change means to common people in general and fordisaster managers in specific.
In the above context, dealing with climate change impacts is not different from dealing withdisasters. Disaster risk management, from a common man standpoint of view, would have totake into consideration the future climate change scenario especially in the context of water
related disasters like floods and droughts. Few important questions arise, which this project will
try to address:• Does climate change has any implications for disaster management and if so what are those?
• Are the existing disaster risk mitigation policies and plans sufficient to address the future increase of climate
related threats?
• Is the current community preparedness planning and strategies are sufficient to address the future climate
related problems?
• How to link the community preparedness plans and policies in a changed scenario (where exactly thecommunity preparedness links with the government policies)?
The review of past works and discussion with the climate change and community development
professionals suggest the following:•
Climate change will affect communities, though it is not clear what kind of changes are
possible at a sub-regional levels•
There is adequate work on methodologies for assessing the vulnerability of communities
to climate related events55

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation•

Many works related to adaptation to climate change at community level didn’t
differentiate much on the spontaneous adaptation and planned adaptation which areimportant for planning purposes•
There is very little or no work done the implications of climate change for disastermanagers who work closely with the communities. It is important that the disaster managers
are aware of these implications for planning purposes•
There is little or no understanding on the exact linkage between community adaptation
mechanisms and local level planning and policy measures•
There is very limited understanding on assessing the future vulnerabilities ofcommunities considering the general development happening irrespective of reference todisaster management. Assessing the future vulnerabilities in various climate change scenarios
is an important task to bridge the gap between what is there and what is requiredHence, the uniqueness of this proposal is that it goes beyond the understanding of vulnerabilities
and adaptation mechanisms of the communities to past climate change events and link with thedisaster management.

Goal and Objectives
The goal of this project is to assess the climate related impacts on communities and finding
ways to reduce the identified impacts. To achieve these goals, specific objectives are as follow:• To analyse the past climate data to identify the climate change events in that region• To identify different climate change related impacts on the communities and study how
they cope with the past climates• To analyse the past and existing local plans and policies that govern disastermanagement for their compliance to increased climate related threats and how these systems
could respond over the time in relation to the past climate change related events• To identify gaps in the capacities of the communities and policies in various adaptedclimate change scenarios available for the selected regions to arrive at a suggestive framework
for building the capacities at various levels

Expected Outcomes
The project is mainly aimed at understanding some of the questions posed in the problem
statement. Hence, the project aims more at understanding the processes which would help further
in solving the identified problems. The following are the expected outcomes:•
Past climate related extreme events identified and documented•
Capacities of the communities and governance systems at various levels, including pastdisaster management interventions, understood and documented in the light of climatechange•Gaps in the existing capacities are assessed in relation to the future climate change
scenarios•
A roadmap is generated to build the capacities of the communities and local governancesystems for better managing the future climate change related events
These outcomes would help in finding the answers to the questions raised in the Problem
Statement and further help in identifying future intervention areas where in theabove-identified framework would be implemented on a pilot basis at the selected regions.

Methodology
Project Duration
The project will be completed in one year commencing from September 2005.

Location

In order to have a complete set of representative climates, it is proposed to select different

56Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

locations in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka with at least two locations in India and one eachin Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Based on the historical record, the sites would be selected covering a
range of climate related extreme events. Emphasis would be given to drought (western India and
Sri Lanka), floods and cyclones (Eastern India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). The selected sites
should have disaster management systems established for quite some time. This is important, as
one of the objectives of the study is to assess whether existing preparedness and mitigation
measures are sufficient to deal with the possible future climate change scenarios.

Partners

Project would be carried out in collaboration with the local non-governmental organizations
having experience in disaster management and community development. The indicative list
includes SEEDS in India and BDPC in Bangladesh and Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka.
PartnerRole
1
Graduate School of
Global Project planning, execution, data analysis, technicalEnvironmental
Studies,
Kyoto support
University
2
SEEDS, India
Project implementation, data collection, local level
planning and liaison
3
BDPC, Bangladesh
Project implementation, data collection, local level
planning and liaison
4
Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka
Project implementation, data collection, local level
planning and liaison

Implementation modalities
The project will be implemented by the local NGOs and Autonomous organizations listed above
with technical guidance from the Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Kyoto University.
A close cooperation with the national and local governments will be established.

Indicative Budget
Description
Project Personnel
Program Focal Point
TravelLocal travel
Project execution travelWorkshop
Data collection & analysis
Documentation
Sub Total
Administrative support cost
Total (in US $)Location

Units

Unit Cost(US $)

Total Cost
(US $)

India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

3

4,000

12,000India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
India
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
Kyoto, Japan

10
3
1
3

100
5,000
8,000
2,000

1,000
15,000
8,000
6,000
5,000
47,0002,350
49,350(5%)

About the Implementing Organization
Kyoto University, one of oldest university of Japan has been actively involved in the field of education for last

107 years. Over last so many years of experiences, the university felt the need of pro-active and implementation
oriented studies and research, and consequently established the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
in the year 2002. Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies focuses on pro-active andfield-based education for sustainable development. The graduate school is organized flexibly so as to meet thevarious needs of research and education on inter-disciplinary topics. The research field of International
Environment and Disaster Management targets to reduce the gap between knowledge and practice57

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

through pro-active field-level, community-based project implementation. Working closely with the governments,
non-governments (NGO/ NPO), international organizations (United Nations and other bilateral andmultilateral development agencies) and regional bodies, this research field is developing a unique process-oriented
participatory approach of environment and disaster management through direct involvement and ownership of thecommunity.

58

Community Level Climate Change Adaptation

For further details on the report, please contact

Rajib Shaw
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
KYOTO UNIVERSITY
Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku,
Kyoto 606-8501,
JAPAN
Tel/ Fax: 81-75-753-5708 (Direct)
Fax (Office): 81-75-753-9187

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