Changing Climatic Conditions and Shrinking Agricultural Land: A Community Based Study in Betalghat Development Block, Kumaun Lesser Himalaya

Himalayan communities live in a marginal environment. Being dependent on ecosystem services for sustenance, they are regularly exposed to the impacts of climate change. This study summarizes the outcomes of the survey across 300 households purposely and randomly selected from 30 villages; 10 key informant interviews (KII) and six focused group discussions (FGD) in the Kumaun lesser Himalaya. The study shows that the region has been witnessing changes in temperature and precipitation regimes within the last 30 years and findings show a sharp decline in water availability due to erratic and less predictable precipitation patterns, rising temperature and less snowfall incidents that severely affected farmers harvests (mainly horticultural crops) and shrunk their agrarian land. Consequently, food production and household income decrease mainly by the changing climatic condition.