Gender and Adaptation to Climate Change: Perspectives from a Pastoral community in Gujarat, India.

This paper is based on fieldwork conducted across 11 villages in the districts of Surendranagar and Kutch in Gujarat. Drawing on focus group discussions, structured interviews, and (Secondary) sources, the study centres the perspectives of women belonging to the Maldhari pastoral community (primarily the Rabari and Bharwad sub-castes) on climate adaptation. The authors find that traditional adaptation pathways available to pastoralists—that is, shifting from large livestock (cows, buffaloes) to smaller, hardier livestock (sheep, goats, chickens) and seasonal migration—are becoming less accessible due to societal forces, agricultural shifts, and blindspots in policy-making decisions. 

These include the state policy’s prioritisation of non-nomadic populations in crafting agriculture and climate-adaptation policy, dairy cooperatives’ preference for cattle/buffalo milk, restrictions imposed by Hindu oppressor-castes on cattle meat markets, agricultural intensification, and privatisation of grazing commons. As these pathways close, pastoralist households resort to short-term coping strategies such as male outmigration with women taking on higher workloads for large livestock (cows, buffaloes), taking out loans, or letting go of unproductive stock. There is a disproportionate burden on women, who have to bear responsibility for herding, fodder collection, water provisioning, and household care. This resource extends the focus to the underrepresented areas of pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods, demonstrating how socio-economic and institutional factors create more and more gendered burdens for Maldhari women.