Climate Change Vulnerability and Communities in Agro-climatic Regions of West Bengal, India: Theory and Practice

181 Pages·2021·6.151 MB·English

by  Jyotish Prakash Basu

Jyotish Prakash Basu
Climate Change
Vulnerability and
Communities in
Agro-climatic
Regions of West
Bengal, India
Theory and Practice
Climate Change Vulnerability and Communities
in Agro-climatic Regions of West Bengal, India
“Professor Basu’s book provides an insightful account of the effect of climate
changeoncommunitiesinWestBengal.Thebookwillbevaluablereadingforboth
scholars and policy-makers”.
Professor Kunal Sen, University of Manchester, UK
Jyotish Prakash Basu
Climate Change
Vulnerability
and Communities
in Agro-climatic Regions
of West Bengal, India
Theory and Practice
123
JyotishPrakash Basu
West BengalState University
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
ISBN978-3-030-50467-0 ISBN978-3-030-50468-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50468-7
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Preface
Thestudyofvulnerabilityduetoclimatechangehasdrawnalotofattentionacross
theglobeingeneralandIndiainparticular.Therearenumerousstudiesavailableon
thevulnerabilityanalysisofthepeopleintermsofpoverty,famine,foodinsecurity,
unemployment, inequality and deprivation. These studies are climate independent.
India’s economy is climate sensitive because most of the people are dependent on
agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors which are climate dependent. The negative
effects of climate change have multiplied the livelihoods risk of the marginalized
people living in India. The most victims of climate change are smallholders, sub-
sistence farmers, landless people and marginalized section of the people like
women, casual labor and workers in the informal sector in India. There are few
studies have focused on the impact of climate change on these vulnerable sections
of communities in India. This study attempts to address the quantitative measure-
ment of climate change vulnerability at the macro and micro level and identifies
adaptation strategies of the households to cope with the adverse effect of climate
change.
ThestudywasconductedinthefivedifferentagroclimaticregionsWestBengal,
India,namelyhillregion,foothillregion,droughtregionandcoastalregionsduring
2018–2019. 786 households and 17 villages in West Bengal are involved in the
study. This research is associated with different sectors like agricultural sector,
forestry sector, formal, informal sectors etc. In addition, the research measures
climatechangevulnerabilityofsmallholdingfarms,forestdependentcommunities,
fishing and crab collecting communities, casual labourers, workers in the informal
sectors and gender under different climatic conditions. This research has also
identifiedthekeyvulnerabilities andthecausesofsuchvulnerabilities andtowhat
extenttheremedial measuresaretakeninto considerations.Different statistical and
econometric models are applied to measure vulnerability and its determinants.
v
vi Preface
Particular attention is given to the role of the India’s government associated
policies like SarvaShiksa Abhiyan,Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the housing scheme, Indira Awas Yojana, the Food
forWorkProgramme,andtheruralroadbuildingscheme,PradhanMantriGrameen
Sadak Yojana etc. for vulnerability reduction measures.
Jyotish Prakash Basu
West Bengal State University
Kolkata
West Bengal
India
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to the Indian Council of Social Science
Research(ICSSR),NewDelhi,forfinancialsupporttoconductthestudy.Thestudy
is based on secondary data and primary data. During the field survey, I received
generous support, guidance and assistance from a number of people, including the
students indifferent colleges andUniversities, local people and many othersinthe
selected nearby villages, as well as government officials in West Bengal. The field
survey would not be possible without their active participations and cooperation.
Special thanks in this regard should be given to the students and faculties of the
Department of Economics of Sidho- Kanho- Birsha University, Purulia, students
and faculties of the Department of Economics of St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling,
and students and faculties of the Department of Economics of P.D. College,
Jalpaiguri. Again thanks to Aishwarya Basu, PG student in Economics, Dept. of
Economics, University of Calcutta, for her participation in the field survey.
I am further grateful to my University authority for giving me infrastructural
facilities including space and library.
Jyotish Prakash Basu
vii
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Hypotheses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Review of Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Literature on Vulnerability at the Global, National
and Micro Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Literature on Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Data Base and Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1 Secondary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Primary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2.1 Study Area and Sampling Design and Selection
of Households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2.2 Period of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 Primary Data and Analytical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.3.1 Panel Regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3.2 Econometric Model on Vulnerability to Expected
Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.3.3 Determinants of Vulnerability: Ordered
Logit Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.3.4 Gender-Wise Vulnerability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.3.5 Probit Model for Adaptation Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.4 Terminology Involved in the Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
ix
x Contents
4 Profile of Study Area and Socio-Economic Analysis
of the Sample Households. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1 Profile of the Study Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1.1 Hill Regions of Darjeeling District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1.2 Foothill of Jalpaiguri District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.1.3 Drought Region of Purulia District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.1.4 Coastal Region of Sunderbans of South 24
Parganas District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.1.5 Coastal Region of East Midnapore District . . . . . . . . . 34
4.2 DescriptionofSampleHouseholdsAcrossFiveAgro-Climatic
Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.2.1 Description of Sample Households in the Hill
Region of Darjeeling District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.2.2 Description of Sample Households in the Foothill
Region of Jalpaiguri District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2.3 Description of Sample Households in the Drought
Region of Purulia District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.2.4 Description of Sample Households in the Coastal
Sundarban in the District of South 24 Parganas . . . . . . 54
4.2.5 Description of Sample Households in the Coastal
Region of East Midnapore District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5 Quantitative Measurement of Vulnerability in Various
Districts of West Bengal Based on Secondary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.1 District Wise Vulnerability Indices with Equal Weights
and Unequal Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.2 Comparative Analysis of District-Wise Vulnerability. . . . . . . . . 73
5.3 Determinants of Vulnerability by Panel Regression. . . . . . . . . . 77
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6 Measurement of Vulnerability of Households and Determinants
of Vulnerability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.1 Vulnerability of the Households in the Hill Region
of Darjeeling District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.2 Vulnerability of the Households in the Foothill Region
of Jalpaiguri District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
6.3 Vulnerability of Households in the Drought Region
of Purulia District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.4 Vulnerability of Households in the Coastal Region
of Sundarban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.5 Vulnerability of Households in the Coastal Region
of East Midnapore District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.6 Factors Affecting the Vulnerability of the Households
Using Ordered Logit Model from Pooled Data of Five
Agro-Climatic Regions of West Bengal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Contents xi
7 Measurement of Vulnerability of Occupational Groups
of Households in Different Agro Climatic Regions
of West Bengal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
7.1 Vulnerability of Different Occupational Groups
of Households in the Hill Region of Darjeeling District . . . . . . 101
7.2 Vulnerability of Different Occupational Group
of Households in the Foothill Region of Jalpaiguri District . . . . 107
7.3 Vulnerability of Different Occupational Group
of Households in the Drought Prone District of Purulia. . . . . . . 111
7.4 Vulnerability of Different Occupational Group
of Households in the Coastal Region of Sunderban. . . . . . . . . . 114
7.5 Vulnerability of Different Occupational Group
of Households in the Coastal Region of East Midnapore. . . . . . 121
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
8 Measurement of Gender-Wise Vulnerability in Different
Agro-Climatic Regions of West Bengal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.1 Gender-Wise Measurement of Vulnerability in the Hill
Region of Darjeeling District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.2 Gender-Wise Measurement of Vulnerability in Foothill
Region of Jalpaiguri District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
8.3 Gender-Wise Measurement of Vulnerability in the Drought
Region of Purulia District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
8.4 Gender-Wise Measurement of Vulnerability in Coastal
Region of Sundarban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
8.5 Gender-Wise Measurement of Vulnerability in Coastal
Region of East Midnapore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
9 Adaptation Strategy of Households and Its Determinants. . . . . . . . 143
9.1 Identifying Adaptation Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
9.2 Adaptation Strategies of the Households in the Hill Regions
of Darjeeling District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
9.3 Adaptation Strategies of the Households in the Foothill
Region of Jalpaiguri District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
9.4 Adaptation Strategies of the Households in the Drought
Regions of Purulia District . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
9.5 Adaptation Strategies of the Households in the Coastal
Region of Sundarban, South 24 Parganas District
of West Bengal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
9.6 Adaptation Strategies of the Households in the Coastal
Region of East Midnapore District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
9.7 Factors Affecting Adaptation to Climate Change Across
Agro-Climatic Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
9.8 Discussions of the Model’s Result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151