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Paper short abstract

Climate-stressed, drought prone Marathwada faces debt, low yields and farmer suicides, leaving widows burdened. Using participatory action research, the study maps power structures shaping their lives and shows how collective organising helps them access welfare schemes and alternative livelihoods.

Paper long abstract

The Marathwada region in Maharashtra (India), long marked by drought, now faces intensifies stress due to climate change. Declining water tables, erratic rainfalls, and the heavy dependence of agriculture on seasonal rains have deepened rural distress, leading to persistent indebtedness, low yields, and a tragically hight incidence of farmer suicides. This crisis leaves behind a largely overlooked group - the widows of farmers, who solely bear responsibility of their families while navigating social, economic, and administrative challenges.

This paper draws upon participatory-action based research conducted with farm widows in the Latur and Osmanabad districts to understand the power structures shaping their lived realities. Using Batliwala's (2018) framework of social power, examining 'who gets what, who does what, who decides what, and who sets the agenda', the study shows how widows often find themselves positioned within relationships of 'power over', with limited agency in community, household, and the state interactions. While some women exercise agency in daily negotiations with local actors, they consistently experience powerlessness when dealing with the state. Most struggle to access welfare schemes due to complex bureaucratic demands of documentation. resulting in exclusion from benefits designed for them.

The second part of paper explores efforts to strengthen the women's 'power within', 'power to', and 'power with' through collective processes that emerged during the research. These collective engagements help widows better understand their rights, articulate demands, and pursue transitions from farm-based to non-farm livelihoods. The study shows how participatory action research can foster women's agency in addressing compounded vulnerabilities.