The implications of rural perceptions of water scarcity on differential adaptation behaviour in Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the most critical issues facing agriculture today. To understand how people manage the risk of water scarcity and growing pressures of increased climate variability, exploring perceptions of risk and how these perceptions feed into response behaviour and willingness to adapt is critical. This paper revisits existing frameworks that conceptualise perceptions of environmental risk and decision-making, and uses empirical evidence from an in-depth study conducted in Rajasthan, India, to emphasise how individual and collective memories, and experience of past extreme events shape current definitions and future expectations of climatic risks. In doing so, we demonstrate the value of recognising the role of local perceptions of water scarcity (and how they vary between and within households) in constructing social vulnerability. This expanded understanding of risk perception is critical for incentivising individual adaptation and strengthening local adaptation pathways.

Farmers' Perceptions of and Adaptations to Water Scarcity in Colombian and Venezuelan Páramos in the Context of Climate Change

“…Like several recent studies (Kuruppu and Liverman 2011;Murtinho et al 2013;Wheeler et al 2013;Murtinho 2016;Singh et al 2018), I argue that while climate is an important factor shaping farmers' perceptions of water scarcity, it is essential to take into account nonclimatic factors in order to truly understand community adaptation strategies. Otherwise, researchers run the risk of wrongly attributing farmers' adjustments to climate stimuli that are sometimes misinterpreted, while ignoring other more important factors, such as increased water demand, infrastructure degradation, or poor governance of the resource.…”

“…A growing body of work indicates that perceived water scarcity is an important factor in determining whether an individual or group is likely to adopt adaptive behavior, particularly in the context of climate change (Murtinho et al 2013;Alam et al 2015;Murtinho 2016;Singh et al 2018). Other studies have highlighted the link between perceptions of climate change and the ability of farmers to develop adaptation strategies for water scarcity, particularly in countries in the global South (Vedwan and Rhoades 2001;Vedwan 2006;Mertz et These studies can help to inform policies that reduce the vulnerability of rural communities.…”

“…However, most of them focus only on climate change and underestimate other scarcity factors (eg overexploitation of water and governance problems) that shape farmers' adaptation strategies. (Notable exceptions are Kuruppu and Liverman 2011, Murtinho et al 2013, Murtinho 2016, and Singh et al 2018 To help fill this gap, this study analyzed perceptions of water scarcity and the ways that water user associations (WUAs) in the p aramo cope and adapt, taking into account both climatic and nonclimatic factors. The study consisted of a comparative analysis of 2 communities that have conducted intensive irrigation farming for several years and are therefore highly dependent on water resources.…”

9 Human mobility and adaptation to environmental change

“…44 Resurrección et al, 2019. 45 Jones and Boyd, 2011Singh, Osbahr and Dorward, 2018;Achandi et al, 2018. 46 Banerjee et al, under review.…”

Climate change perceptions, data, and adaptation in the Garhwal Himalayas of India

“…The study is situated in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) Landscape, located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. A better understanding of perceptions of climate change would allow decision-makers to formulate adaptation measures and policy that address the impacts of greatest concern to communities (Reyes-García et al, 2015;Simelton et al, 2013), to identify linkages between environmental change and livelihoods that may not be self-evident (Byg & Salick, 2009;Reyes-García et al, 2015;Savo et al, 2016), and to help explain why people undertake adaptation strategies or not (Singh et al 2018).…”