In many parts of India, local communities are still unaware of the term “Climate Change”. They were able to articulate the impacts of climate change that they are facing on the ground.
ILC Asia member Ekta Parishad has initiated community discussions on the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation in the Damoh district in Madhya Pradesh. They found that, for example, the farmers in Tendukheda block in Madhya Pradesh had been affected by heavy monsoon rains in the span of two to three months, which usually used to spread over four months. Santhosh Patel from Magdupura village in Madhya Pradesh, who is a model farmer in his village for horticulture crops, shared that the yield of tomatoes and other vegetables has drastically reduced this year compared to last year due to excessive rains.
Ekta Parishad’s decades of work on land, natural resource and livelihood from a social justice point of view has, directly and indirectly, contributed to Climate Change mitigation and adaptation. Yet this is often not recognized in the climate discourses. This coheres with the “south” or developing country perspective. In this report, Ekta Parishad draws out the connecting points between land and livelihood and climate adaptation so that these strategies can further assist our efforts to reduce the adverse effects of climate change.