Why India needs a climate-resilient action plan for its drylands

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Today, the pace of land degradation is 30-35 times the historical rate. More than 250 million people are directly affected by desertification, with another 1 billion at risk. Some 70% of the world’s drylands (two billion hectares) are degraded, as against 24% of the land globally.

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Drylands are exposed to frequent droughts, delayed onset of monsoon rains or mid-season droughts or even early withdrawal of monsoon rains. So, there is high probability of crop failures, in such cases only livelihoods options are growing short duration drought tolerant crops like millets, short duration pulses and oilseeds and growing of small ruminants like goats and sheep, which can feed on vegetative growth of botched crops or on community lands.

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Most drylands are either community-owned or maintained by the community, unlike wetlands which are privately owned and intensively cultivated. Hence, the development of innovative dryland systems should be based on an understanding of the local problems by local communities. Bringing together all the stakeholders is crucial for enhancing livelihoods and incomes, rather than forcing expert “umbrella solutions.”

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Drought risk mitigation strategies like early warning systems and increasing off-farm incomes need to be emphasised even during the non-drought periods so that mitigations should be built in their livelihoods. During the drought periods, drought adoption strategies like emergency relief like providing employment under employment guarantee schemes like MGNREGA and intensifying of non-farm income sources need to be taken up.

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