Social Engineering of Natural Capital and Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change: An Empirical Enquiry of Coastal Agriculture in Kerala, India

Reclamation of coastal wetlands for industrialisation, increasing soil salinisation, lack of timely mitigation measures and maladaptation have contributed cumulatively to the decline of coastal ecosystems and agriculture in Kerala. However, access to natural capital is still crucial for coastal farming communities, especially during times of crisis like climate change. This article makes an attempt to characterise how natural capital influences the adaptive capacity of coastal farmers in Kerala state, India. To analyse how natural capital influences the adaptive capacity to climate change, we examined how an individual farmer’s adaptive capacity changed from a given level as selected determinants of natural capital varied by using a multinominal logistic regression method. The results indicated that the nature of ownership, area under cultivation, decision-making capacity and productivity of land continue to influence farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change. Farmers with ancestral property who purchased additional land possessed higher adaptive capacity. Farmers having large holdings could implement their adaptive choices better. Farmers having the freedom for decision-making enjoyed higher adaptive capacity. Farmers participating in collective farming achieved higher productivity and adaptive capacity. Social engineering of local adaptive capacities, therefore, should recognise freedom of choice and promote restoration and sales of wetlands to accelerate climate change mitigation and adaptation.