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Paper short abstract

Drawing on all-women FPOs in climate-stressed Kalaburagi, this study analyses how male outmigration and structural barriers reshape women’s responsibilities and adaptive capacity. The study highlights the need for sustained gender-sensitive collectivisation efforts.

Paper long abstract

The Indian government is promoting the formation of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) as vehicles for collectivising small farmers, but women’s participation remains minimal. Climate change is intensifying precarity through erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and declining agricultural productivity (Krishnan et al., 2020), contributing to high rates of male outmigration and leaving women with expanded responsibilities in farming and household management (Pattnaik et al., 2017). In such contexts, women-led FPOs hold significant potential for enhancing economic security, agency, and adaptive capacity.

This study focuses on Kalaburagi district in North Karnataka — a rain-fed, drought-prone agrarian region experiencing increasing rainfall variability. Drawing on Cleaver’s (2007) concepts of collective agency with Cinner et al.’s (2018) five dimensions of adaptive capacity, the study aims to explore how male outmigration shapes women’s agency, decision-making, and adaptive capacity in fragile rural systems. The study employs a qualitative approach using Key Informant Interviews, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and participatory time-use exercises with members of all-women FPOs.

Preliminary conversations with practitioners and experts indicate that, despite women’s central role in agriculture, entrenched patriarchal and caste norms, limited mobility, and time poverty continue to constrain meaningful participation. Women's FPOs require long-term, gender-responsive support and collectivisation strategies that differ from the existing approaches, which are more suitable for male FPO members. The study aims to generate insights into women farmers’ lives, the factors shaping all-women FPOs, and how collective action can strengthen adaptive capacity within these cultural, political, and economic contexts.