Building Climate Resilient Agriculture and Enhancing Grassroot-Level Adaptive Capacity in the Semiarid Tropics of India: Indicative Policies for Action

Abstract

Climate change has been recognized as a potential threat to livelihood of the poor farmers in the marginal agricultural productive environment especially in the semiarid tropics of India. The impacts may vary spatially, and the rural poor are more challenged of its impacts. Initiatives at national level are underway to address the consequences especially rural and agriculture. The research initiative coordinated by the International Crops Research Institute for the semiarid tropics (ICRISAT) tracked the climate change impacts, adaptation strategies, and constraints at the households’ level through a rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis in the semiarid tropics of India. This explorative exercise identified challenges and opportunities towards climate resilience through recommendations and policy directive for action. This chapter comprehends the policy needs that emerged from the regional study in identifying the impacts and constraints to effective adaptation by climate change. This evidence-based indicative policy stresses the need to channelize resources effectively in enhancing the grassroot-level resilience to climate change.