FAO report: Rural poor more vulnerable amid climate shocks in India
The Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO) organised a national-level dialogue on FAO’s report
"The unjust climate" on 16 October 2024 in New Delhi. The dialogue focused on the
multidimensional poverty and climate vulnerabilities in rural India,
facilitated discussions and provided policy recommendations on addressing the
adverse effects of climate stressors, including long-term changes in
temperatures, on the rural poor, which is critical for reducing persistent and
transitory poverty in India.
India has made remarkable strides in reducing
rural poverty over the past two decades. Headcount poverty rates have dropped
dramatically from 42.5 per cent in 2005-06 to just 8.6 per cent in 2022-24,
according to the latest estimates from the India Policy Forum (Desai et al.
2024). However, this success masks the growing challenge of transitory poverty.
While many have risen out of poverty, a significant portion of the population
has been pushed back due to unpredictable life events, particularly extreme
weather events driven by climate change.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Prof
Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog and Chair of the event, highlighted, “Climate
change affects all, but disproportionately the most vulnerable. We are working
proactively to address this and ensure that there is an equitable distribution
of benefits amongst all’.
Takayuki Hagiwara, FAO Representative in
India, emphasised, “Climate change hits India's rural poor hardest, especially
those trapped in multidimensional poverty. Structural inequalities and low
adaptive capacity worsen the issue”.
Dr Nicholas Sitko, Senior Economist, FAO
Rome presented the key findings of the Report. “To curb poverty in India, it is
urgent to address the climate impacts on rural poor communities as they suffer
the most from extreme weather events”, highlighted Dr Sitko.
Dr Rajasree Ray, Economic Adviser, Ministry
of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Franklin Khobung, Joint Secretary, Natural
Resource Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Dr Ashok
Dalwai, former CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority amongst others actively
participated at the event.
FAO’s “The Unjust Climate” report
highlights a stark reality: each year, in low- and middle-income countries
(LMICs), households headed by women in rural areas suffer significantly
greater financial losses than those headed by men. On average, female-headed
households lose 8 per cent more of their income due to heat stress and 3 per cent
more due to floods compared to male-headed households. This translates to a per
capita reduction of USD 83 due to heat stress and USD 35 due to floods,
totalling USD 37 billion and USD 16 billion respectively across all
LMICs.
If the average temperatures were to
increase by just 1°C, women would face a staggering 34 per cent greater loss in
their total incomes compared to men. Considering the significant existing
differences in agricultural productivity and wages between women and men, the
study suggests that if not addressed, climate change will greatly widen these
gaps in the years ahead.
FAO analysed socio economic data from over
1,00,000 rural households (representing more than 950 million people) across 24
LMICs. By integrating this information with 70 years of georeferenced daily
precipitation and temperature data, the report examines how various climate
stressors impact people's incomes, labour, and adaptation strategies,
differentiating based on their wealth, gender, and age.
Impacts differ not just by gender but by
socio economic status, according to the data. Heat stress, or overexposure to
high temperatures, exacerbates the income disparity between rural households
classified as poor, who suffer a 5 per cent greater loss (USD 17 per capita)
than their better-off neighbours, and the figures for flooding are similar.
Extreme temperatures, meanwhile, worsen child labour and increase the unpaid
workload for women in poor households.
Extreme weather also compels impoverished
rural households to resort to maladaptive coping strategies. These may include
reducing income streams, selling off livestock, and shifting spending away from
their farms. These actions, however, exacerbate their vulnerability to
long-term climate changes.
Policy Recommendations
The report suggests that addressing these
challenges requires targeted interventions to empower various rural populations
to engage in climate-adaptive measures.
- Anticipatory social protection:
Scaling up programmes that provide financial support ahead of extreme
weather events can prevent households from resorting to adverse coping
mechanisms, such as selling off productive assets or reducing food
consumption.
- Workforce diversification:
Investing in skills development and vocational training, combined with
mentorship programs, can help rural poor households diversify away from
climate-sensitive work. This would enhance their resilience to
climate-induced income shocks. It also recommends linking social
protection programmes to advisory services that can encourage adaptation
and compensate farmers for losers, such as cash-based social assistance
programs.
- Gender-transformative approaches:
Tackling discriminatory gender norms that prevent women from participating
in non-farm employment is crucial. Programmes that address these barriers
can unlock new opportunities for income diversification, benefiting entire
households. Inclusive climate actions are embedded in FAO’s Strategy and Action
Plan on Climate Change and in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–2031, where
tackling the impact of climate change is mainstreamed in efforts to
achieve the four betters: better production, better nutrition, better
environment and better life for all.
- Participatory agricultural extension: Encouraging group-based approaches to agricultural
experimentation can help rural farmers adapt to changing climate
conditions. These collective methods reduce individual risks and promote
shared learning, improving resilience.
- Access to adaptive technologies:
Public investment in promoting climate-resilient agricultural technologies
is critical for supporting land-constrained households.
Agricultural policies must address gender
equality and women's empowerment and intersecting vulnerabilities such as
climate change. An analysis of agricultural policies from 68 low- and
middle-income countries done by FAO last year showed that about 80 per cent of
policies did not consider women and climate change.
As India continues to progress in poverty
reduction, addressing the vulnerabilities posed by climate change is essential.
Targeted interventions that strengthen the adaptive capacity of rural
households and reduce their exposure to climate risks are key to ensuring that
poverty reduction gains are sustained. The findings of this brief provide
critical insights for policymakers and development organisations as they seek
to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population from the adverse
effects of climate change.