No water, no job? Water scarcity, marginal farmers and livelihoods in Eastern India.

A pivotal way that climate is affecting agriculture is through uncertainty of rainfall, water scarcity, enhanced risk of agriculture and lower productivity. In Purulia, West Bengal, casual employment in agriculture has gone down dramatically in recent years and at the same time, overall unemployment rate has been consistently higher than the state and national averages. We investigate the extent to which climate change, in the form of water scarcity, is responsible for this. Using data from a primary survey and a quasi-experimental method, we find that water inaccessibility causes incomes of marginal farmers to fall by 24%–37% in the region. We hypothesize that given the feedback loop between incomes and coping strategies, a large negative impact is suggestive of maladaptation. We find evidence in support of this, in the form of unsafe migration, for instance, to take up employment in brick kilns, an occupation that poses significant health hazards. While migration is pervasive in the region, majority of wage labourers have been unable to do anything about the situation. Qualitative discussions further revealed that the younger generation is turning away from agriculture in the region due to its resultant unprofitability. Thus, climate change may be one of the unfavourable “push” factors leading to an exit from agricultural livelihoods, witnessed in India in recent times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]