GENDERED LIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY IN THE FACE OF RISING DROUGHT: A STUDY OF FARMERS IN BANKURA, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

This study has attempted to investigate the nature and magnitude of livelihood vulnerability of farmers in the Bankura region, West Bangal, India, across gender on the occasion of rising frequency of drought. A multistage purposive random sampling technique was used to select study sites and collect farm-level data of 250 farmer households across gender using a well-structured and pre-tested schedule. The findings revealed that female-headed households are comparatively more exposed to changing climate of increasing frequency of drought than are the male headed households. Due to the lack of basic amenities and economic resources, the livelihood vulnerability score was significantly higher for female-headed households. Therefore, to improve the income security of the said susceptible households’ measures like identifying and providing them with innovative, practical and gender sensitive methods so as to reduce the extent and dimensions of livelihood vulnerability, are prominent measures which would help in developing livelihood resilience for this ‘at risk’ part within the farmer community.