Woman in agriculture, and climate risks: hotspots for development

This paper maps the largest concentrations of women in agriculture in India that coincide with the highest degrees of climate risk. Using district-level census data on female cultivators and agricultural labourers alongside data from the Indian Meteorological Department on drought probability, excess rainfall, and heat waves from 1981 to 2011, it identifies 36 hotspot districts across 10 states. These areas—concentrated in the northern Indo-Gangetic plains, central India, and parts of Rajasthan—have about 13.6 million women farmers, comprising 14.4 percent of all women in agriculture in the country, who are exposed to compounding climate risks.

About 62 percent of women in Indian agriculture work as labourers rather than cultivators, exposing them to greater income insecurity. In some areas female labourers are paid less than male labourers, while women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes face compounded constraints on credit, information, and market access. As the intersection of climate crisis, gender, and agrarian shifts gains greater research interest, translating that research into effective interventions requires knowing which regions to prioritise and how to best direct resources. Hotspot-mapping presents itself as a methodology to identify such regions. While relatively simple, it has significant implications for how climate adaptation strategies are designed and implemented.