Climate Change Impacts on the Livelihood of North Eastern Zone Tribes of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The present study was conducted in the North eastern zone of Tamil Nadu during July – September 2023, with the objectives to assess the awareness and perception level of the local tribes on the impact of climate change on their livelihood, to assess the extent of the climate change impacts on their livelihood activities and to study their present adaptation strategies. It is an Ex-post facto research conducted in Tiruvannamalai district of the North eastern zone of Tamil Nadu considering its large volume of tribal population. Two tribal dominant villages viz., Nammiyampattu and Kovilur were identified for this study. The sample size was sixty active tribal respondents selected from the above study villages. Data were collected using structured and standardised interview schedule. Percentage analysis was done to get meaningful interpretation of the results. The respondents were having good level of awareness and perception on the local climate based livelihood issues. They incurred a remarkable income loss on their livelihood activities viz., from farming, livestock management, honey bee collection, construction work, business and field labour. The respondents have not followed any scientific adaptation strategies. Government intervention in price fixing, providing interest free loans, subsidies and educational training programmes are suggested