Accepted Paper
Paper short abstract
The paper examines how social solidarity shapes climate adaptation in agrarian vulnerability. Focusing on women’s Kudumbashree farming collectives in climate-sensitive Wayanad, Kerala, it explores gendered grassroots practices and contributes to debates on climate justice and inclusive adaptation.
Paper long abstract
Climate change is intensifying agrarian distress and livelihood insecurity across rural India, reshaping the gendered organisation of agricultural labour, care, and resource access. In Kerala, these dynamics intersect with the feminisation of agriculture driven by male outmigration, fragmented landholdings, and welfare-oriented development frameworks. This paper examines how social solidarity and women’s collective action mediate climate adaptation in contexts of agrarian and ecological vulnerability, focusing on Kudumbashree’s collective farming initiatives in the climate-sensitive district of Wayanad.
Located in the ecologically fragile Western Ghats, Wayanad has experienced increasing climate variability, including erratic monsoons and unseasonal rainfall, disproportionately affecting women who shoulder agricultural work alongside unpaid care responsibilities. Kudumbashree’s collective farming model has emerged as a key institutional response, enabling women to pool land, labour, credit, and state support.
Drawing on feminist institutionalism and the capabilities approach, the paper situates women’s farming collectives at the intersection of climate change, migration, and rural livelihoods. It explores how collective agency and social capital enable women to navigate climate stress, resource scarcity, and institutional constraints, while also highlighting the limits of collective action under conditions of ecological uncertainty and gendered responsibilisation. The analysis further examines how Kerala’s gender budgeting framework engages with women’s collective farming, questioning whether recognition translates into empowerment in land control, income security, and decision-making.
By repositioning Kudumbashree’s collectives as sites of climate adaptation rather than solely welfare or financial inclusion mechanisms, the paper contributes to debates on climate justice, feminist political economy, and locally rooted, inclusive adaptation strategies in climate-vulnerable agrarian regions.
Gender, collective action and climate justice Theme: Climate justice and transformative futures and grassroots agency, solidarity, and alternative visions of progress