Climate Change Guide for Community Radio ... - CDKN Global

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and water supply, livelihoods and the wellbeing of coastal communities all over the world.Additionally, the increasing temperature has significant effects on global rainfall patternscausing more periods of drought as well as excess rainfall and flooding depending on thearea. All of these impacts, and more, are only expected to increase in the future as climatechange occurs to a greater degree.How is climate change affecting rural communities in Bundelkhand?Bundelkhand is a semi-arid, drought prone region in Central India comprising of 13 districtsin the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This is one of the most climate sensitiveareas in the country characterised by degraded forests and rapidly reducing surface waterbodies. Due to its topography of shallow soil depths and hard rocky substrata, there isminimal groundwater recharge and consequently the region suffers from low water storagein aquifers and low moisture conservation in the soil. A high run off rate causes heavy loss ofthe top soil. Increasing temperatures and uncertain availability of water resources can havesignificant impacts on agriculture. Many scientists believe that climate change is causing andwill cause less rainfall in the region. Higher temperatures and less rainfall can have negativeeffects on agricultural production, especially in areas that are not irrigated and rely on rainfedagriculture. With over 80% of the population dependent on agriculture, climate change hasmajor economic, social and ecological implications for this region.Due to the already precarious situation of many communities in Bundelkhand, any decreasein agricultural productivity due to climate change may have far reaching effects. If foodproduction decreases, many people may lose access to sufficient amounts of food becauseof both the decrease in food availability and decrease in agricultural income with which foodcould be bought. This can further lead to the forced migration of farmers to other areas insearch of alternative livelihoods.What can be done about climate change?a) Climate Change MitigationIn order to reduce the severity of climate change, human civilisation must take actions thatslow the increase and eventually reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in theatmosphere. This is called climate change mitigation. Climate change mitigation includesmany different actions.The most important mitigation action is reducing the amount of fossil fuels that are burnedfor energy. To do this, alternative sources of energy that do not emit as much greenhousegases as coal, oil, and natural gas, will need to developed and implemented. There aremany alternative sources of energy available today such as solar, wind, and biomass powerthat produce very little greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.Other actions can also help mitigate climate change. Stopping deforestation will helpmitigate climate change by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into theatmosphere as well as maintaining forests that actually absorb greenhouse gases from theatmosphere. Plants such as trees take in carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, as part of theirlife processes. Since forests are very large, they can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxideif they are not destroyed or degraded, thereby helping reduce the amount of greenhousegases in the atmosphere.18
) Climate Change AdaptationUnfortunately, climate change is already occurring and will continue to occur into theforeseeable future. Because of this, actions will need to be taken in order to helpcommunities adapt to the effects of the changing climate. This is referred to as climatechange adaptation.In Bundelkhand, there are many different things that can be done to reduce the current andfuture impacts of climate change. These measures range from improved agriculturaltechniques and water resource management to the availability of crop loans and insurance.The different strategies that may be used to adapt to the effects of climate change are givenbelow:1) Agricultural strategies for climate change adaptation in BundelkhandPlanting drought tolerant cropsCertain crops and crop types are better suited for drought-like conditions than others.Planting these crops will help in adapting to situations where water availability is low.Planting short duration cropsShort duration crops have shorter planting to harvest periods than other crops. Using shortduration crops can help in adaptation to scarce water situations by shortening the duration ofthe time that water is needed. It can also help increase cropping intensity by allowingadditional crops to be planted and harvested during a given year.Mixed croppingMixed cropping techniques involve planting two or more crops in the same fieldsimultaneously. Depending on the crop selection, mixed cropping can increase overall yieldsof the crops when compared to planting them separately as well as reduce the risk of totalcrop failure through the diversification of planted crops. Example: Sesame, back gram andsoyabean in Kharif seasonDry sowingDry sowing is a technique that allows the planting of seeds in dry topsoil as opposed to thenormal requirement of wet/moist topsoil. If practiced correctly, dry sowing allows for thetimely planting of crops during dry conditions, which is more advantageous than waiting forwet conditions.Line sowingInstead of casting seeds onto the field by hand, seeds are planted in straight lines with theuse of tools such as a seed drill. Using this technique, farmers use less seed and canimprove crop yields through more efficient planting.19
Page 2 and 3: What role can community radios play
Page 4 and 5: General rules for making radio prog
Page 6 and 7: Annex 1: Climate Change Radio Progr
Page 8 and 9: Organic farming techniques tend to
Page 10 and 11: Questions forpolicymakers:What kind
Page 12 and 13: Anchor script informationSoil erosi
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Page 16 and 17: Anchor script informationCrop insur
Page 20 and 21: Agro-forestryAgro-forestry is the c
Page 22: 3) Other climate change adaptation

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