IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v26y2024i12d10.1007_s10668-023-03925-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing farmers’ maladaptation to climate change in a sub-Himalayan region of India

Author

Listed:
  • Pritha Datta

    (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
    Asian Development Bank Institute
    TERI School of Advanced Studies)

  • Bhagirath Behera

    (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur)

Abstract

The importance of farmers’ adaptation measures in addressing climate change has been widely acknowledged. Nevertheless, the assurance of their effectiveness in reducing vulnerability is not always certain, and there are instances where they may worsen the situation by promoting maladaptive outcomes. Despite its significant implications for sustainable development, empirical research has not thoroughly examined this issue. To bridge this knowledge gap, the present study undertook a comprehensive assessment of farmers’ adaptation measures and the subsequent maladaptive outcomes in the Eastern-Himalayan foothills of West Bengal, India. The investigation encompassed household surveys, engaging with local stakeholders, and conducting an exhaustive review of relevant literature. This comprehensive approach led to the identification of various maladaptive outcomes, including the decline of groundwater levels, heightened emissions of greenhouse gases stemming from diesel-powered irrigation systems, the emergence of pest resistance, increased investment costs, financial losses, disruptions to social cohesion arising from alterations in cultural practices, among others. The study highlighted that climatic factors do not exclusively drive maladaptation; rather, they can be influenced by factors such as pre-existing vulnerabilities, disregard of socio-cultural norms, inadequate consideration of long-term implications, and the negligence of cost-effectiveness in adaptation endeavors. In light of these findings, the study argues for adopting more inclusive adaptation measures that yield multifaceted benefits conducive to achieving sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Pritha Datta & Bhagirath Behera, 2024. "Assessing farmers’ maladaptation to climate change in a sub-Himalayan region of India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 30621-30638, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:12:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03925-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03925-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-03925-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-023-03925-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kurukulasuriya, Pradeep & Mendelsohn, Robert, 2008. "Crop switching as a strategy for adapting to climate change," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 2(01), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Rupsha Banerjee, 2015. "Farmers’ perception of climate change, impact and adaptation strategies: a case study of four villages in the semi-arid regions of India," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 75(3), pages 2829-2845, February.
    3. Tanusri Dey & Nazir A. Pala & Gopal Shukla & Prabhat K. Pal & Ganesh Das & Sumit Chakarvarty, 2018. "Climate change perceptions and response strategies of forest fringe communities in Indian Eastern Himalaya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 925-938, April.
    4. Jawajar, Puja & Liao, Xiaoli & Msangi, Siwa & Nelson, Gerald C. & Robertson, Richard & Zhu, Tingju, 2009. "Greenhouse gas mitigation: Issues for Indian agriculture," IFPRI discussion papers 900, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Deepti Singh & Subimal Ghosh & Mathew K. Roxy & Sonali McDermid, 2019. "Indian summer monsoon: Extreme events, historical changes, and role of anthropogenic forcings," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), March.
    6. Ranjan Kumar Ghosh & Shweta Gupta & Vartika Singh & Patrick S. Ward, 2021. "Demand for Crop Insurance in Developing Countries: New Evidence from India," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 293-320, February.
    7. Jinxia Wang & Robert Mendelsohn & Ariel Dinar & Jikun Huang & Scott Rozelle & Lijuan Zhang, 2009. "The impact of climate change on China's agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(3), pages 323-337, May.
    8. Aditya, K.S. & Khan, T., 2018. "Adoption of crop insurance and impact: insights from India," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 31(2).
    9. Jeetendra Prakash Aryal & Tek B. Sapkota & Ritika Khurana & Arun Khatri-Chhetri & Dil Bahadur Rahut & M. L. Jat, 2020. "Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options in smallholder production systems," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 5045-5075, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dzanku, Fred M., 2015. "Household-specific food price differentials and high-value crop production in rural Ghana," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 73-82.
    2. Sesmero, Juan P. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Cook, Aaron M., 2015. "How do African Farm Households Adapt to Climate Change? A Structural Analysis from Malawi," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212688, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Agha Ali Akram & Babatunde Abidoye & Sudha Kannan & Kehinde Omotoso, 2025. "The impact of climate change on African agriculture: A Ricardian analysis of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Prince Etwire & David Fielding & Victoria Kahui, 2017. "The impact of climate change on crop production in Ghana: A Structural Ricardian analysis," Working Papers 1706, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2017.
    5. Pisor, Anne & Touma, Danielle & Singh, Deepti & Jones, James Holland, 2023. "To understand climate change adaptation we must characterize climate variability. Here’s how," OSF Preprints r382h, Center for Open Science.
    6. Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Singh, Sanjeet & Sharma, Gagan Deep & Apostu, Simona-Andreea & Bansal, Pooja, 2023. "Overcoming the shock of energy depletion for energy policy? Tracing the missing link between energy depletion, renewable energy development and decarbonization in the USA," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    7. Richard S.J. Tol, 2003. "The Marginal Costs Of Carbon Dioxide Emissions: An Assessment Of The Uncertainties," Working Papers FNU-19, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Apr 2003.
    8. William D. Nordhaus & Robert Mendelsohn, 1999. "The Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 1046-1048, September.
    9. Jeetendra Prakash Aryal & Cathy R. Farnworth & Ritika Khurana & Srabashi Ray & Tek B. Sapkota & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2020. "Does women’s participation in agricultural technology adoption decisions affect the adoption of climate‐smart agriculture? Insights from Indo‐Gangetic Plains of India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 973-990, August.
    10. Temitope Oluwaseun Ojo & Abiodun A. Ogundeji & Chijioke U. Emenike, 2022. "Does Adoption of Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Improve Food Security? A Case of Rice Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, October.
    11. Mukherjee, Manisha, 2022. "Climate change and migration: Reviewing the role of access to agricultural adaptation measures," MERIT Working Papers 2022-039, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. Md. Shakhawat Hossain, 2025. "Assessing smallholder farmers’ flood risk behavior and their willingness to pay for crop insurance as a risk coping strategy in northern Bangladesh," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(4), pages 4191-4217, March.
    13. Yang, Changjin & Qi, Huarui & Jia, Lijun & Wang, Yanjiao & Huang, Dan, 2024. "Impact of digital technologies and financial development on green growth: Role of mineral resources, institutional quality, and human development in South Asia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Cook, Aaron M. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Sesmero, Juan P., 2013. "How do African households adapt to climate change? Evidence from Malawi," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150507, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Girish Joshi & Ranjan Dash, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Climate Investing," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 396-407, May.
    16. Ankita Pokhrel & Ping Fang & Gaurav Bastola, 2024. "Integrating Remote Sensing and Community Perceptions for Sustainable Climate Adaptation Strategies in Mountain Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-33, December.
    17. Hiroki Onuma & Kong Joo Shin & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Growth Impacts of Catastrophic and Non-catastrophic Natural Disasters," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 53-70, April.
    18. Sanjeev Kumar & Ajay K. Singh, 2023. "Modeling the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity: evidence from Himachal Pradesh, India," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 521-548, June.
    19. Lakshmikantha N R & Rinan Shah & Veena Srinivasan & Aditi Mukherji, 2025. "Hits and misses: water-based climate change adaptation interventions for agriculture in South Asia," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 1-32, March.
    20. Huang, Kaixing & Wang, Jinxia & Huang, Jikun & Findlay, Christopher, 2018. "The potential benefits of agricultural adaptation to warming in China in the long run," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 139-160, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:12:d:10.1007_s10668-023-03925-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.