Imlisanen Jamir
Over the past few years, erratic climate, pests and livestock diseases along with the COVID-19 pandemic have “seriously affected” one of Nagaland’s major livelihood sources—agriculture.
Small farmers are now caught in a double bind: they need financial stability to be able to weather the instability of a changing monsoon, but the frequency of disaster makes it impossible to prepare in time for the next one.
The State’s Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC), Y Kikheto Sema, IAS has recently stated that “due to the changing climatic pattern, the farmers are also confused so we should come together, discuss and bring out advisories for guiding the farming community.”
The APC’s pitch calling for innovative ideas to facilitate sustainable farming along with better systems to disseminate weather information are the needs of the hour.
Farming societies here have developed over generations around the annual monsoon, with agriculture supporting large-scale civilization. A predictable monsoon that arrives on time and rains steadily means a good harvest, and a good year economically for both the region and the farmers who depend on their annual crop to survive.
The climate crisis is making these seasonal rains increasingly unpredictable. In a region already affected by extreme weather conditions, the flood and drought of the new monsoon is having a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable—those least able to cope with the economic burden of a lost crop or home, not to mention lives lost altogether.
Lost income drives small farmers without savings into debt which many can never escape. Rising temperatures, monsoon drought or flooding, and cyclones can each wipe out a farmer’s investment. When disasters come one after another, recovering is even more difficult.
Under these binding circumstances, access to financial stability has now become a part of climate adaptation.
But what does adaptation mean in a practical sense, and how do we translate it into a local context? It depends on if farmers have access to things like clean water, sanitation, and sources of income for financial support.
Because economic stability is a key part of a family’s ability to rebuild their lives after a flood or drought, government-funded crop insurance could help farmers weather the variability of the changing monsoon. As the climate continues to change, no crop will be a guarantee.
This, coupled with collaboration between different agencies sharing real-time data on rainfall, could help save lives. The climate isn’t getting any more predictable. If 2021 was an outlier season, 2022 is as well.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
