IPolicy Dialogue on ‘Gender-Just Food and Nutrition Security in India’’

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), New Delhi 29 th August 2016,

Food Insecurity and Gender in Drought Prone Areas: A study of Odisha and Gujarat

Basanta K. Sahu, (Faculty, Economics Area)

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade(Deemed University)

New Delhi-110016

Drought, Food Security & Gender• Drought-food insecurity-gender links: recurrence of

drought; uncertain food & agri-production; rising women participation in agriculture, unequal access & control over resources by women,

• Drought induced adversities: loss of crop output, income, employment, assets; scarcity of food, water, fodder; decline non-food exp.

• Coping with drought: HH capability, asset holdings, resource uses; non-market coping tools (ex- ante & ex-post); vary regions & groups

• Food insecurity: loss of food crops; low or no food storage; more depend on market; food price hike; constraints in food arrangement; adjustment in food consumption;

• HH strategy: subsistence farming (Dangar- unirrigated upland), borrowings, migration, intra-household risk sharing; change in labour use (women), food consumption coping (dietary change; decline in food consumption quantity & quality);

• Drought interventions & food provisioning: region & group specific impacts; timings, quality, change in criteria & coverage)

HH Coping with Drought & Food Scarcity

• Subsistence Farming: Dangar lands (unirrigated upland), lean season distress, frequent dry spells, no or limited alternate water sources, lean season distress,

• Intra-HH Risk Sharing: change in labour use (women),

• Food Consumption Strategy: dietary change; decline in food consumption quantity & quality,

• Public food provision: diverse impacts (region & group specific impacts, timings, quality, changing criteria & coverage)

• Borrowings: consumption exp. farming, health exp. repaying old debt, social exp.

• Migration: seasonal & involuntary; with and without family

• Displacement: separates poor rural people and tribal from their productive land, water, forest and other natural resources

Vicious cycle of poverty

Impacts onGender

Food Consumption

coping

Food Arrangement

Agrl/Food production

DroughtinducedScarcity

Drought, Food & Gender

Migration &Borrowing

HH Drought Coping &Gender

Objectives• To study impact of drought on household crop

production, labour use, food and livelihood security – are they gender neutral?

• To analyze household coping with food consumption shortfalls during drought, intra-household risk sharing with focus on gender equity

• To understand region and group specific adaptation & coping with food insecurity, food consumption and the changes in gender relations

Study Areas, Methodology & Data• Sample sizes: 163 sample HHs from two states (Odisha and

Gujarat) - four districts and eight villages (tribal backward areas and irrigated agriculturally developed areas)

• Selection of study areas: resources based area approach on the scale of agriculture and regional development. – Odisha (high rainfall but backward agriculture) and – Gujarat (low rainfall but high non-farm activities) represent different agro-

climatic and ecological zones that experienced frequent drought and food insecurity in recent years.

• Key Information: drought induced risks with focus on food & water scarcity, HH coping methods, drought interventions, alternate food arrangement, change in HH occupation & resource uses, borrowing, migration etc.

• HH food consumption and management given priority with local adaptations to drought and its impact on gender.

Study Areas

State/District Taluka/ Block

Drought Area

Regions Type of Irrigation

Odisha

Bolangir Turekala DPAP TribalCommunity well (Pani-Panchayat)

Kendrapada Rajnagar DPAP Coastal

Community well (Pani-Panchayat) Canal, River, pond

GujaratSurendranagar Lakhtar DDP Inland Well, pond

Panchmahal Halol DPAP Tribal Well, pond

Features of Sample VillageParticular Odisha Village Gujarat Village

Landless HH (%) 17 (7 with forest land) 22

Land holding size (Acre) Own holding (2.8)Operation holding (1.6)

Own holding (1.8)Operation holding (1.7)

HYV Rice (%) 55 96

Irrigation (%) 15 (community pond, WSP) 55 (canal, well, river)

Drought during last 10 yrs Severe(3), high (2), moderate (1)

Severe(2), high (1), moderate (3)

Water and Land Development Activities

Rural road and land dev. Land dev. Drought proofing

Migration Within and outside state & with family and in group

Within and outside state & without family, in group & individual

Household Food Consumption Coping1. Dietary Change: Consuming less preferred and less expensive foods (low quality cereals and coarse cereals in the place normal cereals) More frequent during drought: switching from preferred foods to cheaper, less preferred substitutes:

2. Augmenting Short-Term Food Availability:purchasing food on credit; Borrowing Grains; Distress sale of assets to buy food; Skip payment of earlier credit; consuming wild foods, immature crops & seed stocks;

3. Reduce Nos of Family Members: temporary migration, sending members to neighbours house, schools (MDM), women (Angawadis), abandoning few family.

4. Rationing Food Consumption: by reducing quantity of meals, reducing the number of meals; skipping meals, favouring some members over others

Household Food Consumption Coping

 

  

Odisha Gujarat

Tribal Non-Tribal Tribal Non-

Tribal

1.Dietary Change

Consuming less preferred and less expensive foods

97.1 85.4 91.1 88.1

2. Augmenting Short-Term

Food Availability

Borrowing Grains 45.7 43.9 37.8 38.1

Purchase food on credit 82.9 82.9 86.7 66.7

Gather wild food, hunt, harvest immature crops

34.3 14.6 31.1 11.9

Consume seed stock for next season

60 58.5 77.8 9.5

Household Food Consumption Coping  

  

Odisha Gujarat

Tribal Non-Tribal Tribal Non-

Tribal3. Reduce Numbers of Family Member Sharing

Food

Migration 68.6 41.5 31.1 38.1

Abandon or Separation of family member 14.3 0 6.7 7.1

4. Rationing

Food Consumpti

on

Reducing Quantity/Size of daily meals 94.3 75.6 77.8 64.3

Reducing consumption of adults for small children 94.3 80.5 84.4 52.4

Feed working members at the expense of non-working members 54.3 53.7 66.7 52.4

Stop buying prepare/cooked food 40 63.4 53.3 47.6

Reducing number of meals time daily 88.6 61 84.4 71.4

Stay few days without eating 57.1 14.6 35.6 23.8

Key Findings• Recurrence of drought has multiple adversities on HH:

women share hardships disproportionately, across regions & groups (crops, food, income, expenditure, assets, resource use)

• Increasing role of women in agriculture & HH food production & arrangement.

• HH food consumption coping found not gender neutral (dietary change, short term food availability, food rationing)

• Gender inequality gets pronounced during drought: HH labour use, non-food expenditures, local adaptations (intra-HH risk sharing, borrowing, migration, use of non-market tools)

Concluding Remarks• Adequate access to and control over resources (land, water,

credit, new tech. & practices) critical for the poor HH and women to cope with drought & food insecurity.

• Existing Drought interventions and public food provisioning seem not enough to ensure HH food security and gender equity across region and groups.

• Poor adaptation and risk coping ability among the poor and women continue to challenge food consumption and gender neutrality in drought areas

• Increasing role of women in resource uses, decision makings, conservation and management, local institutions etc. need more policy attention.

• Strengthening local adaptation, long term drought preparedness, augmenting participation of women in resource use decision making, particularly in land, water, credit, food production etc. are crucial and need adequate policy attention.