Reorienting Watershed Management as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

AbstractThis article aims to assess what it takes (beyond current measures) to make watershed management (WSM) a mitigation or adaptation strategy to deal with climate change impacts. This article draws on the existing literature on WSM with respect to its design, implementation, and impacts on agriculture and community livelihoods. As WSM has evolved over the years as a livelihood strategy in the developing countries of Asia/Africa, this article is confined mainly to experiences from India with broad implications for countries of Asia and Africa. WSM in its present form is necessary but not sufficient to strengthen the resilience of agroecological systems in the context of climate change. Apart from adopting a more scientific and integrated approach toward designing and implementing, WSM could be transformed into a climate change adaptation strategy by integrating additional farm management methods into its package of practices. These include access to climate information at the village level, sustainable groundwater management, access to appropriate farm machinery, judicious input mix, land use, and cropping patterns. In addition, policy directions are provided for making WSM climate resilient.