Vulnerability of women in the face of climate change: a study of Wayanad district of Kerala, India
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCEFTS-09-2021-0058 |
| Published date | 19 May 2022 |
| Date | 19 May 2022 |
| Pages | 279-297 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,International economics |
| Author | Bincy George,Rishi Kumar,Sudatta Banerjee |
Vulnerability of women in the face
of climate change: a study of
Wayanad district of Kerala, India
Bincy George,Rishi Kumar and Sudatta Banerjee
Department of Economics and Finance, Birla Institute of Technology and
Science –Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India
Abstract
Purpose –The relationship between women and extreme weather events is a significant issue given
differential impact, adaptation strategies and coping mechanisms for genders. However, the women’s
vulnerability and its determinantsremain an understudied area. The paper aims to fill this important gap in
literature by focusing on women’svulnerability during the recent floods in the rural areas of Indian stateof
Kerala using primary data. With a focus on identifying the socioeconomic factors associated with women’s
vulnerability, this paper also makes policysuggestions to reduce their vulnerability in the face of floods in
Kerala whereit is becominga recurrentphenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach –This study is based on the primary data collected using structured
questionnaire answeredexclusively by women respondents. Chi-square tests and ordered logisticregression
model have been used to analyze the relation between the women’s vulnerability during floods and their
socioeconomicdeterminants.
Findings –The analysis found that the better availabilityof credit to women, access to information tools
and higherincome for women can reduce their vulnerabilitywhen a sudden disaster strikes.
Originality/value –This study is unique as it focuses on rarelystudied topic women’s vulnerability in the
face of weather-related disaster in the rural setting, understanding their level of vulnerability and then
identifying the associates of the same, this paper makes an exceptional contribution to the literature on
women and environmentin general.
Keywords Women, Vulnerability, Disaster, Flood, Ordered logistic regression
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Climate change has become a major concern in recentyears across the globe. The frequency
of weather-related extreme events like record high temperatures variation and abnormal
rainfall among others is increasing rapidly. The fluctuations in rainfall uncertainty
sometimes causes recurrent floods in the regions where such events were uncommon in
recent past. The research argues that climate change has enhanced the occurrence and
strength of severe rainfall(Ali and Mishra, 2018;Goswami et al., 2006;Mukherjee et al., 2018;
Papalexiou and Montanari,2019;Wasko and Sharma, 2017) and flooding (Alfieri et al.,2017;
Ali et al.,2019;Hirabayashi et al., 2013;Mirza,2011). With unprecedented changes occurring
in the global environment, the extreme weather and climate events may occur with higher
intensity and more frequency in near future. Such events will eventually lead to increased
vulnerability of individuals, communities and regions around the world. Especially in less
developed regions and countries,the recovery period from these extreme climate events will
be longer compared to the developed countries, which makes them less resilient to such
events (Ebi and Bowen, 2016). Based on a climate model, by 2050 around920–3400 million
people worldwide will be exposed to an increased number of natural hazards owing to the
Vulnerability
of women
279
Journalof Chinese Economic and
ForeignTrade Studies
Vol.15 No. 3, 2022
pp. 279-297
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1754-4408
DOI 10.1108/JCEFTS-09-2021-0058
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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greenhouse gas emissionscenarios (Arnell and Lloyd-Hughes, 2014). It is also estimated that
around 100–580 millionpeople will be exposed to the highest rank of river flood risk by 2050
(GFDRR, 2014).
Climate change induced disasters over the time has resulted in increased gender
inequality, especially worseningthe condition of women when they are not able to maintain
their livelihood practices due to inadequate capital assets (Rahman, 2013). Although men
and women are affected by climate change there is a difference, the impact will not be the
same (Aguilar, 2010). The reactions to climate change can be different for both men and
women due to their different roles in society (UNDP, 2011). Studies focusing on gender
during climate change helps to understand the impact of climate change on societies or
communities (Vilamor etal., 2014). This makes the studies related to gender analysisduring
disaster relevant whichfocuses on the issues faced by both men and women (Bhattarai et al.,
2015). During disasters caused by climate change the key focus should be given to gender
and vulnerability (Nazand Saqib, 2021).
Based on the Global Climate Risk Index 2021, developed by the organization
Germanwatch, India ranks 7 out of 10 in terms of the most affected countries in 2019
(Eckstein et al., 2021). India, one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, records
the highest mortality and damages due to hydrological disasters ever since the 1990s
(Patankar, 2019). As per the Central Water Commission of India, during the period 1952–
2018, floods in India resulted in the loss of over a hundred thousand lives and economic
damage worth INR 4.69tn (Mahapatra, 2020). Around 14% of the total land area of India
falls under the category of flood-prone region(Gupta et al., 2003;Singh and Kumar, 2013). A
large proportion of people in India are affectedby floods and landslides during the monsoon
season (Nanditha and Mishra, 2021;George et al., 2021). The vulnerable sections of society
will be affected disproportionately by the direct and indirect impactsof flooding (Adelekan,
2010;Chatterjee, 2010;Jongman, 2018;Patankar, 2019;Winsemius et al.,2016). Analysis of
vulnerability isneeded to achieve successful disaster risk reduction(Proag, 2014).
Kerala, the southern state of India, witnessed devastating floods during the monsoon
seasons of 2018 and 2019 (Vijaykumar et al.,2021). This 2019 flood is an example of how
global warming has affected thisregion leading to intense rainfall, causing a greater threat
to the vulnerable western ghats area. From the scientific studies, it is confirmed that this
2019 flood was an event of mesoscale cloudburst never reported before in Kerala, which
usually occurs in northern parts of India. Such events due to global warming can be a
recurring event in thissouthern state of India (Vijaykumar et al.,2021).
Against this background, the focus of our paperis to make contribution to the literature
on women’s vulnerability in the face of extreme weather-related events which remains an
understudied area and more so in the Indian context. Using primary data collected on the
basis of a structured questionnaire for women only and focusing on the rural area of
Wayanad district of Kerala, which faced floods recently, we try to understand women’s
vulnerability to theextreme weather event of floods and identify its associates.
2. Literature review
During disasters vulnerabilityand adaptive capacity will differ from person to personwhich
can be seen from both the natural disaster risk theory by Blaikie et al. (1994) and feminist
political ecology by Rocheleau et al. (1996). From these theories it is evident that level and
type of vulnerability will be different for men and women and also among women
(Nonoguchi, 2012).
Blaikie et al. (1994) in their Pressure and Release (PAR) model tries to emphasize how
vulnerability is shaped by social, political and economic factors for individuals and
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