Rural out‐migration as a coping strategy in the drought‐prone areas of Rarh region of Eastern India

Abstract

The present study in the Rarh region (a region between Chota Nagpur Plateau and the Ganges Delta) of West Bengal analyses the impact of drought on the rural households in the eastern India villages and investigates the importance of temporary migration as a coping strategy in times of drought. As many as 82 of a total of 190 households were randomly selected for collection of data with the help of a structured household schedule. The study found that the propensity of male out‐migration increased due to regular droughts in the region. Severe drought conditions coupled with crop failure made most marginal and small landholding households vulnerable to food insecurity due to poor adaptive capacity and resilience. The majority of the landholding farmers under such conditions resort to seasonal out‐migration to sustain themselves. Temporary migration is a coping strategy for the survival of rural households during the drought periods.