This report by the World Bank discusses the climate changes in India and the disasters associated with these climate changes such as floods and droughts and their negative impact on agriculture, food production, livelihoods, security and the condition of the vulnerable groups in the country. The report goes on to discuss the policies undertaken by the Government of India to deal and adapt with these changes and the challenges faced in implementing these policies.
The report aims at assisting the governmental efforts at coping with the effects of climate change by discussing the outcomes of the assessment study conducted by the World Bank in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. These case studies explore the impact of natural disasters such as droughts in the select districts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and floods in the select districts of Orissa on the farmers in the region and how the farmers cope with and respond to these disasters.
The report argues that efforts at coping and adapting require a multisectoral approach and concludes that, the following strategies can go along way in coping with the adverse effects of climate changes experienced in the country:
- appropriate policies and programmes that build adaptive capacities and resilience building mechanisms
- technological innovation and research to develop and use tools that help in strengthening climate risk information and tools to match needs
- efforts that focus on better agricultural practices, financial incentives for farmers such as debt relief, water management mechanisms;
- better convergence between different developmental programmes at multiple levels such as local, state and national
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