Abstract
To cope with worsening climate change and widening intergenerational equity issues, more impetus should be given to sustainable development. India, predominantly an agrarian economy, faces most pressing issues of sustainable development with a complex territorial hegemony of the population and their dynamic food demands. Regional production systems play a vital role in strengthening national sustainable development priorities in India. Hence, to realize the dimensions of sustainable development in a more meaningful way, sustainability needs to be prioritized in an agrarian economy. Sustainability is a complex phenomenon encompassing economic, ecological and equity dimensions. A modest attempt in this regard has been made to estimate normative sustainable indicators for Karnataka state considering 20 crucial indicators or variables governing different dimensions. Using principal component analysis and linear scoring techniques, a minimum dataset including forest cover, livestock and human population density, and cropping intensity governing ecological issues, groundwater availability and milk availability governing social equity issues, and net cropped area, land productivity, labor productivity, food grain productivity and fertilizer use governing economic efficiency was identified, constituting crucial indicators for the development of the sustainable livelihood security index. The computed index was used to classify districts in Karnataka into various sustainable categories. Among 27 districts, 13 districts were grouped as less sustainable, 4 as highly sustainable and 10 as moderately sustainable categories. This classification and knowledge provide clues for policy makers to transform less sustainable districts into moderately/highly sustainable ones by formulating suitable policies related to crucial factors. Formulated policies on crucial factors have a domino effect/causation effect and bring about desirable changes in all other indicator variables, leading to the sustainable development of the target districts in Karnataka. This approach can be used at different scales in other states in India and in other developing countries.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms andSustainable livelihood security (SLS) is a broad concept encompassing present concerns and policy requirements for sustainable development in the long run
Several studies indicated the suitability of the Sustainable Livelihood Security Index (SLSI) as an integrative policy after critical assessment of agricultural sustainability using relevant indicators [6,7,8,9]
The SLSI has not been assessed extensively for regional agroecosystems, especially in South Asia. This study addresses these issues by identifying sustainable development priorities for agriculture through SLS indicators for the state of Karnataka in India
Summary
Sustainable livelihood security (SLS) is a broad concept encompassing present concerns and policy requirements for sustainable development in the long run. The concept of sustainable livelihood is beyond the traditional definitions which aim at poverty elimination These definitions concentrated only on manifestations of poverty, denying key factors such as frangibility and social exclusion [5]. Greater attention has been given to different features and processes which can either limit or intensify the potential of poor people to make a living in an economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable manner in rural areas. A recent global assessment showed that sustainable intensification offers synergistic opportunities for the co-production of agricultural and natural outcomes; efficiency, substitution and system redesign are essential to deliver optimum outcomes that are both ecological and economical [10]. A broader frame of indicators covering different domains (productivity, economics, environment, social and human aspects) must be evaluated using proper indicators and metrics [12,13]
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