Frontline extension services as a buffer against social vulnerability to climate change: A case study of shifting cultivators in Northeast India.

The frontline extension system (FES) can play a key role in helping shifting cultivator (jhumia) communities adapt to climate change. Providing essential farming knowledge and critical resources can help these communities reduce social vulnerabilities. The present study in this specific regard assesses the social vulnerability of shifting cultivators using the social vulnerability index (SVI) approach in the difficulty-prone Northeastern region of India (NEI). Then it also analyses the effect of the FES in reducing their social vulnerability. Cross-sectional primary data on adaptive capacity and sensitivity indicators generated through household surveys and temperature and precipitation data on exposure parameters helped us to develop the SVI. The results of a sensitivity test suggest that the constructed SVI is not sensitive to changes in indicator-weighting schemes therefore, can be considered to have produced credible results. Results of the study indicate that FES interventions could decrease the social vulnerability of shifting cultivators by enhancing their adaptive capacity and thereby reducing their dependence on shifting cultivation. Education, resourcefulness, locational advantages, progressiveness, and alternate sources of information were the key determinants of contact with the FES. Since the vulnerability of the jhumia households can be reduced through FES interventions and contact with the FES can be improved by better equipping the FES machinery to extend their outreach, we recommend that investment in infrastructure, working resources, and manpower engaged in FES may be optimized. Commensurate with the results, it is further recommended that the FES should comprise specialized programmes on easy-to-adopt, low-cost, and low-skill-requiring alternate income generating activities, prioritize mixed farming options with animal components, ensure a higher rate of seed replacement with HYVs, and multiple stress-tolerant-crops and varieties for reducing the social vulnerability of the shifting cultivators.