Gender dimensions of climate change adaptation strategies among Indigenous communities in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

Abstract

Women inhabiting biosphere reserves experience heightened vulnerability, attributable to the intricate interplay between constrained resource accessibility and their dependence on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and natural resource management. However, there exists a dearth of comprehensive research regarding the gender facets of climate change adaptation within biosphere reserves. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the gender dimensions of perception, adaptation strategies to climate change and its determinants among the Indigenous communities of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the first biosphere reserve in India. The data stem from a unique intrahousehold survey involving 948 households. Women’s perception of climate change corresponds with local historical climate data, which indicates a slight upward trend in temperature and a decrease in rainfall over the past decade. Further different adaptation strategies adopted by the communities were grouped under crop sector, livestock sector, fisheries sector and other strategies. ‘Adjustment in crop calendar’ was identified as the major adaptation strategy by employing the analytical hierarchy process (AHP).The results of the multivariate probit model revealed that demographic factors like gender, age, education and family size; agricultural factors such as farm and livestock holdings; socioeconomic factors such as non-farm income; access to information, extension services and credit facilities; and the geographical factor of distance to the market were the major determinants of adaptation strategies. The outcomes of the study suggest that policymakers should take into account the distinctions between households headed by women and men in terms of their access to resources like land, information, income and extension services.