Assessing livelihood vulnerability to climate change in rural India

The study aims to assess the socio-economic and environmental vulnerability of farming households using the Composite Index (CI), to identify key challenges faced by farmers across various sectors such as agriculture, water, and forests due to climate change, and to evluate barriers to adaptation for building resilience in hill farming communities. A structured survey was conducted with 367 households across thee villages Pali, Wali, and Ason, collecting data on socio-demegraphic characteristics, livelihood strategies, health, food security, water resources, exposure to natural hazards, and constraints to adaptive actions. Key vulnerability indicators were selected, and an index-based method was applied to generate composite scores for the three core components of vulnerability: exposure, susceptibility, and adaptive capacity. These composite scores were subsequently categorized to determine the vulnerability level of each household. Pali is considered the most vulnerable among the study villages due to its highest proportion of households (5.5%) classified as highly vulnerable, despite similar average vulnerability scores across sites. The GRT analysis highlighted that limited access to information on appropriate climate-smart practices was the primary barrier among the sampled households. The study highlights the importance of adaptive capacity and exposure in mitigating climate change's impact on livelihoods. Strategies include promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, improving water distribution systems, enhancing dairy production, supporting sustainable non-timber forest use, integrating rice-fish farming, developing artisanal skills, and growing agro-industries. Government assistance is also crucial for sustainable community adaptation.