India’s vulnerability to drought

Last Updated20/05/2022

UN report has revealed that many parts of India fall under the list of regions that are vulnerable to drought globally.

India’s GDP reduced by 2 to 5% between 1998 and 2017 due to severe droughts in the country.
Globally, droughts in the same period caused economic losses of approximately $124 billion.
These and other global findings centred on drought were collated in the Drought in Numbers, 2022 report presented by United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

It is a collection of data on the effects of droughts on our ecosystem and how they can be mitigated through efficient planning for the future.
It helps inform negotiations surrounding key decisions by the UNCCD’s member parties at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15), currently underway in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Drought, land restoration, and related aspects such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top considerations at COP15.
The number and duration of droughts around the world have increased by an alarming 29% since 2000. Drought
It is a temporary reduction in water or moisture availability below the normal or expected amount for a specific period.
The occurrence of substantially lower than average precipitation in a season that normally has ample precipitation in a season for the support of cereal and non-cereal crops is known as Drought.
In India, nature of summer monsoon with long dry spells and high temperatures is responsible for the drought conditions.
- On average, one in every 5 years is a drought year.
- In Rajasthan, one in every 3 years is a drought year.

The Northwest Region of India receives residual rain from the monsoon.
- Rajasthan and some parts of the west-central areas come in this category.
- Kutch and Thar desert region
Peninsular region- The leeward side of the western ghat receives little rainfall.
- Also, this area lacks irrigation.
- Crops chosen on a commercial basis are not suitable for that agro region like cotton and sugarcane in Marathwada which demand high water availability.
About 30% of the country’s total area is drought-prone affecting 68% of the total sown area.
Severity wise, the years 1965, 1972, 1979, 1987, 2002, 2009, and 2012 were the most severe drought years in post-independence India.

It is built on the findings of the second edition of the Global Land Outlook.
It offers a concrete response to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss.
The Global Land Outlook (GLO), underscores land system challenges, showcases transformative policies and practices, and points to cost-effective pathways to scale up sustainable land and water management.
Top Agenda:
- Drought, land restoration, and related enablers such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top items on the Conference agenda.
Theme: ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity
It has brought together government representatives, private sector members, and civil society stakeholders to ensure that land continues to benefit present and future generations.

World Bank e: drought conditions can force up to 216 million people to migrate by 2050.
- Other factors could be water scarcity, declining crop productivity, rise in sea levels, and overpopulation.
WMO: Weather, climate and water hazards have accounted for 50% of all disasters and 45% of all reported deaths since 1970
- Nine in ten of these deaths have occurred in developing countries.
Between 2020 and 2022, 23 countries have faced drought emergencies.
- These are Afghanistan, Angola, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Pakistan, the U.S., and Zambia.
Climate change alone will cause 129 countries to experience an increase in drought exposure in the next few decades.
More than a billion people around the world were affected by drought in 2000-19, making it the second-worst disaster after flooding.
Africa was the worst hit, of which 70 occurred in East Africa.
WHO: globally, approximately 55 million people are directly affected by droughts annually, making it the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in almost every part of the world.

Economic losses:
- It includes a decline in cultivated areas and a fall in agricultural production, which leads to the slowing down of secondary and tertiary activities and a decline in purchasing power.
Impact on society:
- Migration of people from drought-hit areas to other areas in search of livelihood and food.
- Farmers tend to commit suicide. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka are the states having maximum farmer suicides.
- Disruption of social institutions and increase in social crimes.
- Scarcity of drinking water, and food grains and hence causes famine and starvation.
- Poor health and spread of diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, and other diseases associated with malnutrition, a hunger which sometimes causes death.
- The impact is not uniform across genders.
  - Research shows that women and girls in emerging and developing countries suffer more in terms of education levels, nutrition, health, sanitation, and safety as a result of droughts.
  - The burden of water collection also disproportionately falls on women (72%) and girls (9%). The report notes that they may spend up to 40% of their caloric intake fetching water.
  - In 2022, over 2.3 billion people are facing water stress. Almost 160 million children are exposed to severe and prolonged droughts.

If global warming reaches 3°C by 2100, drought losses could be five times higher than today’s levels.
The largest increase is projected in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic regions of Europe.
Australia’s megadrought in 2019-2020 contributed to “megafires” resulting in one of the most extensive losses of habitat for threatened species.
84% of all terrestrial ecosystems are threatened by changing and intensifying wildfires.
FAO report(2017): the percentage of plants affected by drought has more than doubled in the last 40 years.
Around 12 million hectares of land are lost each year due to drought and desertification.

Prelims take away