Preparing for a better future: Delphi forecasts on competency development to enhance climate-resilient farming in Northeastern India

ABSTRACT

Many inhabitants of the Northeastern region of India (NER) are poor and have to rely on subsistence farming for a livelihood and are therefore vulnerable to negative impacts of climate change. To enhance the resilience of the farmers and the entire agricultural sector of NER, stakeholders need to acquire additional and/or specialized competencies to deal with the negative impacts of climate change. In this study, we systematically identify and prioritize crucial competencies for change agents, farmers and institutions in NER. We used a modified Delphi methodology with several iterations to lead experts towards a consensus about the most pressing competencies for each stakeholder group. The items were prioritized using a composite scoring approach. The findings reveal that for change agents in NER, an open-minded attitude and expertise in linking farmers to markets are highly rated competencies. For the farmers, eco-friendly farming skills and a problem-solving attitude emerged as key competencies. Biodiversity conservation and integrated farming skills are also highly desirable. Concerning the institutions, the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (farm science centers) have to play a priority role in implementing policies promoting sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture, as they are the institutional link to farming communities. The experts are confident that the overall sustainability of the agricultural sector in NER can be considerably enhanced by developing these key competencies.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate resilient farming
• change agents
• climate change
• institutional response
• policy Delphi
• Northeastern India

Acknowledgments

The first author thanks the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for funding his Ph.D. research under the Netaji Shubhas-ICAR International Fellowship (18(01)/2015-EQR/Edn, dated 2 November 2015). The funders had no role in study design, data analysis, and preparation of the manuscript. The authors also thank all participating experts and acknowledge support from the ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Umiam (Meghalaya), the Cluster of Excellence 'CliSAP' (EXC177), and the School of Integrated Climate System Sciences (SICSS) at Universität Hamburg. The study contributes to the Cluster of Excellence 'CLICCS - Climate, Climatic Change, and Society' and the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN) of Universität Hamburg. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and should not be regarded as the views of the organization to which the authors are professionally affiliated.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi provided funding for the Doctoral study of the first author under the Netaji Subhas-ICAR International Fellowship with reference order 18(01)/2015-EQR/Edn, dated 2 November 2015.