Publish Date: 2024-10-18 11:25:31
In this talk, I first motivate why its important to study the semi-arid rainfed regions and how changing monsoon patterns and increasing dry spells impact farmer vulnerability. I then analyze public investments made for climate resilient agriculture, the majority of which include investments in horticulture, micro irrigation and farm ponds. Using a socio-hydrological approach, I argue that the current investments which are made at farm-scale may appear to address vulnerability of the beneficiary farmer, but at the systems scale, they worsen the impact of dry spells and droughts for the majority of smallholder farmers. I call for the need to re-imagine ways in which climate resilience in agriculture may be operationalized, with principles of equity and justice at its core. I will end with some recent work on this and share my research vision for the next 3-5 years.
Pooja Prasad is an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at IIT Delhi. Her research aims to influence public investments in land and water management to support livelihood security and sustainability in highly uncertain water-stressed regions of South Asia and Africa. Pooja uses a systems lens and a socio-hydrological approach to capture interactions within and between social and natural systems. Prior to joining IIT Delhi, Pooja was a postdoctoral researcher at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands. Pooja has a PhD in Technology and Development from CTARA IIT Bombay. She has a
Masters’ degree from Stanford University and a B.Tech. from IIT Bombay.