Women at the frontline of climate change adaptation

Kalyani Dash, Soudamini Rout, and Gita Rani Satpathy are three women from Odisha who were a part of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in their villages. Just before the pandemic hit in 2020, they joined Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM) as Krishi Mitra to support the shift in farm practices in their villages.

After a continuous journey of learning and practicing, they have been able to convince many farmers in their villages to shift to natural and climate-resilient farming practices. It hasn’t been an easy journey for any of them but their stories can inspire thousands of other women to take active charge and change the course of climate change impacts in their villages.

Nearly 75% of the full-time workers on Indian farms are women and they collectively produce around 80% of India’s food. Their contribution, however, continues to be unseen and economically unrecognised as a large proportion (71%) continue to take up low productive and marginal jobs such as farm and informal labor.

As the threats posed by climate change stare us in the face and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calls for the implementation of the adaptation measures that many countries have already planned for on paper. Amongst the adaptation interventions outlined by the IPCC Report (Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability), a large number involve natural resource-related interventions (such as water management in irrigation, rainwater harvesting, soil moisture conservation, or ecosystem-based approaches such as diversification, land restoration, agroecology, and agroforestry).

In the Indian context, given the large number of women actors involved in the informal management of soil, water, forests, implementing any adaptation measures cannot happen without women leading the action.

In the last two years, Odisha has demonstrated that with the right training, collaborations, and use of technology, it is possible to enable women to lead climate-resilient practices in agriculture. Building on the years of work with women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) started under Mission Shakti, Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM) is now training thousands of women as Krishi Mitra (farming friends) who are taking charge of facilitating change in behaviors and farm practices of fellow farmers to revert to traditional natural farming methods, which are more resilient to impacts of climate change compared to the current chemical farming. They are also helping plan for soil and water conservation works to enhance the overall water security in their village.

Fighting numerous social hurdles, over 2000 Krishi Mitras, have been able to build their skills and capacities through training and skill-building session - a major portion of which was online and hence, easier for them to attend while balancing responsibilities at home. Two years since the start of the journey, hundreds of them have been able to educate and influence male farmers to try out better farming practices.

Many of them recount the early days when it was impossible for them to get male farmers to listen to them, let alone agree to learn. But after having established their knowledge and skills by showcasing better yields and cost-benefit ratios in their farms and plots of some other progressive farmers, their services are now being sought by more farmers. Currently, they are salaried and are paid Rs 3000 per month by the State through the Gram Panchayat Level Federations (GPLF).

Odisha’s example shows with the right support and knowledge, women can take up skilled and intellectual roles and break the traditional and cultural barriers that keep them in low productive jobs. Other programs involving water, forests, agriculture, and any form of natural resource management must aim to learn from the OLM model. The key lesson here is that women are not only climate-critical stakeholders but can also be experts to guide communities towards better adaptation measures.

As the window for climate change adaptation is rapidly closing, we need to step up and start implementing adaptation measures at scale. And women must lead this at the frontline.