This month representatives from nearly 200 countries will discuss a global climate action plan at COP28 or the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Delegates from across the world, including India will come together at the conference under the aegis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), between November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). They will contribute to the blueprint of global action against climate change at a time when a rapidly warming planet is witnessing extreme weather events, unprecedented fires, floods, droughts, and heat waves.
The impact of climate change is visible in the Indian subcontinent and this year, India had to suspend exports of non-Basmati varieties of rice after excessive rainfall damaged crops. On the other hand, a review report published close to the 2023 UN-Water Conference, listed India among the countries where significant groundwater depletion has been reported worldwide. That the destabilized weather cycle has impacted not just food security but also the well-being of farming communities, is becoming increasingly obvious. It is especially important to provide equal opportunities for sustenance to farmers in rural India with a multidimensional approach because their problems are even more complex.
Climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) and sustainable farming practices including micro irrigation could help to increase not just food security by boosting production, but could also help to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. Most importantly, they could help farming communities to prepare better for unstable monsoon and climate patterns and achieve economic stability.?
That community-first solution can bring together many stakeholders and empower them has been demonstrated by over 9,000 marginal farmers in rural India who saw an incremental increase in their livelihoods by investing in community-managed, solar-powered micro-irrigation systems. India's farmers are an intrinsic part of India's economy and this was underlined in 2020 by a report by the McKinsey Global Institute. It stated that by 2030, agriculture could contribute around $600 billion to India¡¯s GDP but such a vision cannot be fulfilled without 'kisaan sashaktikaran' or empowerment of small farmers who are the backbone of the rural economy. It is thus important to ensure that Indian farming communities get an equal opportunity to grow and thrive.
Empowering small farmers with an 'Irrigation For All' model can give them what they want control over water. With greater agency over water use, they can focus on better seeds, updated equipment, and innovative farming techniques. Rural poverty is a cycle perpetuated by many factors and giving agency and power back to farmers is one way to ease them out of rudimentary farming methods and shrinking income.
Take the story of Sunita Samad from Manhu, an area where most men migrate to cities for months to find work and women have to shoulder family responsibilities.? Sunita, like most women in her village, was growing kharif crops in a small agricultural plot and battling water scarcity. Despite the presence of a nearby river, there was no system in place to irrigate the parched land. When Sunita was appointed as a Sachiv of her Village Organization (VO), the 'Irrigation for All' method was implemented successfully by the community. Today, Sunita along with 80 other households can grow and harvest crops all year long. The newfound prosperity has also prevented men in the village from migrating.?
A project like 'Irrigation for All' can make a difference, especially to small farmers like Sunita who cannot afford irrigation systems and depend primarily on rain and battle not just climate change but also the aftereffects of monocropping. What community irrigation models accomplish is to work with experts within government and in the marketspace and stakeholders like Sunita to create solutions that work at a micro level but solve macro problems.?
For instance, in Jharkhand TRI and SRLM formed the State Irrigation Execution Cell (SIEC). SIEC collaborated with Stakeholders from Community and Market players to execute solar-powered, community-managed micro-irrigation systems these systems use Simple processes of lifting surface water from rivulets and streams along with harvesting rainwater and irrigating the fields. This reliable energy access and control over water has transformed over 9600 acres of unproductive land of smallholder farmers, where the crop yield has soared.
This is a scalable, sustainable, and affordable model designed to bring hope to farmers across India who are struggling with water scarcity. It can rejuvenate unproductive lands, and promote crop diversification while fostering collaborative and inclusive farmer groups to make India's agriculture more prosperous and sustainable. As world leaders congregate to discuss climate action at COP28, India's farmers are beginning to demonstrate how to break new ground with sustainable solutions designed to suit their demographics and needs.
About the author: Ashok Kumar is the Director for Farm Prosperity at Transform Rural India (TRI). All views/opinions expressed in the article are of the author.?