Extreme weather can reduce the global water supply, disrupt food production, and impact crop quality. To cope with these climate changes, farmers worldwide are adapting their practices and technologies.
But that process isn’t always equitable, especially for farmers who belong to marginalized social groups.
“Climate change has a huge potential to widen social rifts in rural communities,” says O’Neill Assistant Professor Nathan Cook. “The already advantaged people can weather climate change more effectively, while the most marginalized people are often left behind.”
Cook is part of a team of researchers who want to know the impact of shifting toward climate-smart agricultural technology and practices—using solar panels, alternating cover crops, using a groundwater pump, and other changes—has on rural farmers in India.
“In India, more than 100 million people work in small-scale agriculture,” he explains. “That style of agriculture is very sensitive to the impacts of climate change, especially issues like unreliable or decreased water availability.”
In their October 2024 study, Cook and his coauthors used survey data to examine social inequities between groups of Indian farmers when it came to adopting groundwater irrigation technology.
They found that farmers who were part of highly marginalized social groups in India—certain tribes and castes—were less likely than historically advantaged groups to both adopt the technology and to keep using it.
But Cook and his colleagues wanted to expand their research to consider other tools and practices. They also wanted to know if the issues they found in previous research reflected the current reality.
“The research itself is about learning how we can move the needle in rural areas of low- and middle- income countries in an era of climate change, when so many rural households will be harmed by climate impacts,” he says.
The team applied for and received a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue their work. That grant will help them build upon their original project, focusing on three key areas during the next two to three years:
- Who does or does not adopt climate-smart agricultural practices and why?
- Who does or does not sustain those practices and why?
- Does adopting climate-adaptive agricultural practices worsen existing inequalities between marginalized groups, given that those who don’t adopt the practices often experience worse outcomes in a changing climate?
“Everyone—from governments to NGOs to donors—has a role to play in trying to narrow these inequalities,” he explains. “But you can’t do anything if you don’t first understand the inequalities and why they’re happening.”
Cook stresses it’s also important for farming households to be given access to opportunities and support to help them adapt to a changing climate. If they don’t make the necessary shifts, they could resort to short-term coping strategies that carry long-term consequences
“If they take a hit to their income, they may pull their kids out of school to help with work or sell off productive animals or assets to make ends meet, all of which could set them up for worse outcomes down the line,” he explains.
That’s why Cook says the primary focus of this study is to help improve what’s specifically happening in India.
“The most important thing is to shine a light on these inequities and learn about them,” Cook says. “The implications in India alone are huge.”
But this work could also serve as a foundation for learning worldwide, including at IU Indianapolis. One of the side benefits, Cook says, to conducting this type of research is that he can take his findings into the classroom to educate O’Neill students.
“At the O’Neill School, our research is very practically oriented—we ask questions that matter and have direct practical implications,” he explains. “Having diverse faculty research topics helps expose our students to parts of the world or issues they may not be familiar with.”
Doing that can help the next generation of local, national, and global leaders think about potential solutions to those problems in the future and in different contexts—whether they’re in India or Indiana.
