Climate variability and farmer's vulnerability in a flood‐prone district of Assam

Purpose – The Indian state of Assam is situated in a high rainfall zone and the river Brahmaputra flowing through the state causes annual floods which adversely impact the agro‐economic base of the region. The situation is likely to become exacerbated under the impact of climate change. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the vulnerability of the farmers in Assam to floods in the scenario of the present climate variability taking a case study of the Majuli Island of Jorhat district.Design/methodology/approach – The current vulnerability of the farmers in the Majuli Island of Jorhat district of Assam is quantified using the “indicator method”. A Composite Vulnerability Index is calculated taking into account various indicators reflective of the exposure, sensitivity and the adaptive capacity of the farmers' community to floods. The indicators have been quantified based on the data obtained from household surveys and participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) in the villages and secondary data sources.Findi...