Balchand, a farmer in Lidhoratal village, grows 44 types of crops on his two-acre farm using organic methods. By avoiding chemicals and using manure, he improves soil health and fights climate change. Nearby, farmers in Markhera village also plant trees and conserve water to build a resilient, greener future.
Balchand is a farmer so small that his land holding of around 2 acres may not be considered economically viable in many countries. However, with creative and careful farming he has nurtured a highly productive farm that in a yearly cycle grows about 44 types of grains, legumes, millets, oilseeds, spices, fruits and vegetables organically, obtaining satisfactory yield at low costs. This happy family farm attracts several curious, admiring visitors. At the same time this farm located in Lidhoratal village of Tikamgarh district (Madhya Pradesh) is an inspiring example of climate resilience.
Fossil fuel burden is minimized here as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides are avoided, while diesel use is minimized by using a small tiller in place of a tractor. Manure composted within the farm helps to improve natural fertility, increasing organic content of soil and improving its ability to absorb carbon. Using homemade sprays to keep away pests in place of chemical pesticides has helped to increase earthworms and other helpful soil organisms. This farm supports many trees, further contributing to climate mitigation.
The reduced costs and increasing self-reliance of the farm are great for climate adaptation. In Markhera village of the same district, several farmers have been moving in the same direction, thanks to the work taken up together for conserving water by digging saucer type ditches in rainwater channels and by repairing old conservation works that had fallen into disuse. Further, encouraged by a voluntary organization Srijan, they have planted and nurtured about 1,800 trees of about 36 species near the village temple. Both the garden and water conservation are great for climate resilience, serving villagers as well as animals and birds.
In Rajasthan several rural communities of small farmers have concentrated on protecting and enhancing 'the common good'. Encouraged by a voluntary organization, Seva Mandir, these communities have devoted themselves to regeneration of community forests and pastures. While this helps to enhance sustainable livelihoods, it also contributes to climate mitigation and adaptation. A related initiative here has been to link solar lighting and climate efforts with women from poor rural households who are paid to monitor climate work while also earning a commission on sale of solar lighting devices. While a little extra income in rural poor households is always welcome, a significant element of voluntarism has been the key to the success of several such initiatives that I visited in recent times.
This is particularly true of the women water volunteers called Jal Sahelis (translated as women friends of water) many of whom I met in groups or individually in several districts of Bundelkhand region. Encouraged by a voluntary organization Parmarth, hundreds of Jal Sahelis have come forward to help in improving water availability in villages, conservation of water, cleaning of water sources and even rejuvenation of small rivers. This helps people immediately, but is also invaluable for climate adaptation and reducing the harm from droughts in regions known for periodic water scarcity.
These may be humble efforts based mostly in small farmer households, in some cases even landless households (who are generally the poorest). But they have a much wider significance as small farmers constitute the biggest segment of population in many countries of the Global South. Hence these are the kind of climate successes that can be replicated millions of times if similar encouraging conditions can be created. The potential of achieving such climate resilience, which is well-integrated with improvement of sustainable livelihoods, is huge. Another exciting possibility is that of useful innovations sprouting from such efforts.
As a young man growing up in Lalitpur district of Central India, Mangal Singh saw the problems small farmers faced in buying diesel for lifting water for irrigation. He went on to invent a turbine called the Mangal Turbine, which can lift water from streams and rivulets for irrigation and other purposes without using diesel or electricity. Farmers who used this loved it for significantly reducing their irrigation costs, as they told me, as also for the potential of agro-processing. Its potential for climate mitigation by reducing fossil fuels is huge.
This invention was widely praised but bureaucratic apathy held back its spread. Then the Rural Development Secretary of India ordered an inquiry and the resulting report has recommended its rapid spread, but follow-up action is still awaited. However, this invention has clearly displayed the potential of farmers themselves coming up with useful innovations to help climate resilient work. Such highly encouraging initiatives should be supported more widely to boost in a big way climate resilience work that is also linked to reducing poverty and improving livelihoods.