Santal Communities’ Adaptation Strategies to Cope with Drought: A Study on the Selected Households
of Niamatpur Upazilla
Nilufa Akhtar1 Anika Ibnath2 Tasnim Zafar Khan3
Abstract
Drought is one of the most damaging climatic disasters in Bangladesh. It has significant impacts on the livelihood of the people, especially those dependent on the agriculture. This study aims to identify the adaptation strategies of the Santal community, focusing on the irrigation system, cropping system, livestock, food, homestead, and migration of Niamatpur Upazila of Naogaon district. A field survey using stratified sampling technique with two FGDs on 30 respondents, a detailed pre-structured household questionnaire survey, and critical informant interview were carried out in two unions where the Santal population density is exceptionally high. The collected data have been analyzed using the Weighted Average Index (WAI), Adaptation Strategy Index (ASI), Pearson’s product- moment coefficient of correlation, and SWOT analysis to integrate the drought risk and adaptation practices of Santal community. The result shows that the Santal community has agricultural, health, social, and economic impacts due to drought. Therefore, Santals apply adaptation practices to reduce the effects of drought. Santals encourage the use of deep tube-well, drought-resilient crop cultivation, less water-required cultivation, inter-cropping system, making mud house and re-excavation of pond or canal.
Keywords: Drought, Indigenous, Santals, Adaptation practices, Northwestern Bangladesh
1.0 Introduction
Drought is the most complex and less understood disaster, and it has a significant effect on crop production, water resources, and farmer’s life and livelihood. From
1 Lecturer, Department of Disaster and Human Security Management, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Email: [email protected]
2 MDHSM, Batch: 01 (Session: 2018-2019), Department of Disaster and Human Security Management, Bangladesh University of Professionals
E-mail: [email protected]
3 MDHSM, Batch: 01 (Session: 2018-2019), Department of Disaster and Human Security Management, Bangladesh University of Professionals
Email: [email protected]
1995- 2015, over 1 billion people were affected by droughts worldwide (CRED
& UNISDR, 2016). Different countries adapt to current climatic events at national, provincial, state, district, and local levels in varying time frames (short, medium, long-term). In earlier periods, many physical, institutional and structural adaptation mechanisms were implemented through top-down approaches without proper community participation and livelihood focus.
Bangladesh is one of the most sensitive hotspots for climate change-related extreme events (World Bank, 2013). Drought is a recurrent phenomenon in this country, particularly in the northwest region, because of its high variability and tentative rainfall (Habiba et al., 2011; Shahid and Behrawan, 2008). Around 47%
of the total area of Bangladesh and 53% of the population are affected by droughts (WARPO, 2005) An approximately 23.5% of the GDP of our country comes from the agricultural sector (Habiba et al., 2012) and drought reduces the average yields for most crop production by more than 50% (Islam et al., 2014).
Many ethnic people live in the northwestern region of Bangladesh, such as Santal, Oraon, Munda, Malo, Mahali, etc. (Cavallaro & Rahman, 2009). Among other tribal members, the Santal community is worth mentioning who are concentrated primarily on the districts of Rajshahi, Naogaon, Nawabganj, Dinajpur, and Rangpur. They are affected by the severe consequences of drought and must face multidimensional problems, including financial, health, social, educational, and environmental. But they have their indigenous knowledge that pass-through generation to generation to minimize the impact of drought. Several literary works have been conducted on the drought impacts on agriculture. But those studies did not focus on the importance of drought risk reduction in Bangladesh. Gradually Bangladesh has progressed in disaster management associated with floods and tropical cyclones. But there is no single approach for drought adaptation that can fit in all regions or countries. Location-focused adaptation strategies are needed more in Bangladesh because climate variability affects different climatic zones differently (Sarker et al., 2013). On the other hand, climatic adversity can vary from one community to another. For instance, indigenous people of a region suffer more than the non-indigenous people politically, economically, and socially.
The study aims to identify the adaptation strategies of the Santal community to cope with the drought in Niamatpur Upazilla. The objectives of the study are as follows
1. To determine the impacts of drought on the Santal community;
2. To assess the adaptation practices of the Santal community based on the extent of the practice.
1.1 Literature Review
Bangladesh is a cross-cultural country (Akan et. al., 2015). There are 54 indigenous groups in this country comprising 1.6-5 million people (IWGIA, 2018). Santal community is one of them. It is unknown about the arrival of the Santal people in Bengal. However, it is believed that in 2500 B.C., immediately after the first clashes with the invading Aryan tribes, the Kherwars (Santals) came into the land of Bengal (Duyker, 1987; Sarkar, 2014). The primary purpose of their arrival to the Indian sub-continent was to sustain their livelihood, and Jamindars employed them as laborers for agricultural activities (Sarkar, 2014).
However, they were deprived of social status, economic power, and culture in the past. During the British period, Santal Revolution (1855-56) took place. “Tebhga Andolon” and “Nachol Bidroho” were two memorable incidents of the Santal Revolution. After the liberation war in 1971, they were recognized as a
“backward section” but not as an “indigenous community” of the country. Even they were displaced from their lands in the name of development and were not given any reimbursement as rehabilitation fund. They are now neglected by mainstream people and suffer severely in every step of their lives (Kamal, et al., 2003; Sarkar, 2014).
An indigenous community like Santals live in our country below the poverty level, and they become poorer among the poor people (Kamal, et. al., 2003). The livelihood of Santals and the impacts of drought are interconnected. This community is mainly dependent on the agricultural system, and drought hinders crop production essentially each year. As a result, drought and water scarcity create a considerable burden on them. This community develops adaptation strategies and indigenous knowledge to encounter this damaging climatic disaster (Ahmed, 2018). However, most of the indigenous knowledge and adaptation practices of this community are ignored. If these strategies can be mainstreamed into technology and properly disseminated, then the sufferings of both indigenous and non-indigenous communities will be lowered.
At the local level, farmers adopt standard agronomic practices such as manuring and composting, seedbed, tillage, and shedding, ail lifting, crop diversification, etc. These approaches have helped farmers to maximize yield from the available water (Mahoo et. al., 2007). Other adaptation practices involve pond and lake excavation, deep tube well irrigation, retaining rainwater in small canals,
breaking topsoil, and changing livelihoods such as increasing poultry rearing (Ahmed and Chowdhury, 2006).
1.2 Research Gap
There is a significant study on drought's impacts and adaptation strategies, but none of them focuses on the indigenous community such as Santals. Therefore, the lack of previous surveyed data leads to depending solely on the primary data collection process, which increases the reliability of this research. The study focuses on the impacts of drought and adaptation practices of the Santals with drought through quantitative analysis.
2.0 Materials and Methods 2.1 Study Area
The study area Niamatpur Upazilla lies between 24°41' and 24°59' north latitudes and in between 88°23' and 88°40' east longitudes. The extent of the Upazilla is about 449.10 sq. km (BBS, 2011). There is a total of 8 unions of this Upazilla.
They are Niamatpur Sadar, Chandannagar, Parail, Bahadarpur, Bhabica, Rasulpur, Sreemantapur and Hazinagar. This Upazilla has a total population of 248,351; among them, 6256 Santal people live in this Upazilla. Parail union has about 1315 population of Santal community which is the most among 8 unions of this Upazilla (BBS, 2011).
(a) (b)
Figure 1: Map of Niamatpur Upazilla showing the location of the Unions (a) and the population density(b) of the Santal community
(Source: Author, 2020)
2.1.1 Environmental Settings
Niamatpur Upazilla of Naogaon is situated in the western part of Bangladesh known as the “Barind Tract.” This tract is mainly an alluvial terrace covering over 9324 sq km of parts of greater Rajshahi, Naogaon, Dinajpur, Rangpur and Bogra districts in Bangladesh, and about 2650 sq km of Maldah district of West Bengal in India. The slope of the tract ranges from about 30-45 m towards the south and southeast, and the topography of this region is flat. Rivers of Barind Tracts are either meandering, braided or anatomizing drainage channels (Rashid et al., 2015). “Shib” and “Verendi” are main rivers of Niamatpur Upazilla. The Shib River mainly originates from the Atrai River.
(a) (b)
Figure 2: Transect walk diagram of Parail Union (a) and Rasulpur Union (b) of Niamatpur Upazilla was prepared while walking through the village and talking to the local people. These diagrams of the transect walk can clearly illustrate the physical settings of the Santal community.
(Source: Author, 2020) 2.2 Datasets and Methodological Framework
Both primary data and secondary data were collected for quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Secondary data have been collected through reviewing books, articles, and journals, and primary data have been collected through household questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions (FGD). PRA tools were implemented to make a seasonal diagram, transect walk, and resource map using the data collected from FGD. SWOT analysis is implemented in this study for analyzing the data collected from FGD. Moreover, the SPSS database is prepared for analyzing the household questionnaire survey to complete this study (Fig. 3).
Figure 3: A flowchart of Methodology (Source: Author, 2020) 2.2.1 Sample Design
This study follows a stratified sampling technique to get a sample from a given population. Samples are collected from eight unions of Niamatpur Upazilla, and within these unions (Fig. 4), samples represent the homogenous group. Ten samples are collected from eight unions equally, and two focus group discussions (FGD) consisting of 15 members are conducted in two unions where the Santal population density is exceptionally high.
Figure 4: Location of Sample and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) (Source:
Author, 2020) 2.2.2 Household Questionnaire Survey
The strata may differ in size, but sample selection from each stratum should be equal (Kothari, 2004). The research attempts to identify the impacts of the Santal community's drought and assess their adaptation strategies based on the extent of uses. Therefore, samples are collected from a Santali village from eight unions where the density of the Santal population is high compared to other villages.
Total eighty samples are collected for this research (Table 1)
Table 1: Population and Sample Size of the Study Area Name of the Unions of
Niamatpur Upzilla
Total Population of Santals
Sample Size
Parail 1315 10
Rasulpur 1167 10
Hazinagar 942 10
Niamatpur Sadar 824 10
Bhabica 775 10
Bahadurpur 698 10
Chandannagar 402 10
Sreemantapur 133 10
Total= 6256 80
(Source: BBS, 2011; Field Survey, October 2019) 2.2.3 Focus Group Discussion
Two focus group discussions (FGD) are conducted in two unions. These unions are the Parail union and Rasulpur union. The Santal population in these union are relatively high than other unions. The Santal population of Parail and Rasulpur union is respectively 1315 and 1167 (BBS, 2011). Each focus group consists of fifteen members including both males and females.
2.2.4 Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Tool
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is the discrete study where a multidisciplinary group of researchers collects information in close collaboration with the community members and analyzes that information for project design, improvement of the project, revision of national policies, etc. (Schoonmaker, 1999). In this research, some Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools are applied through FGD to formulate seasonal diagram, resource map, and transect walk.
2.2.5 Weighted Average Index (WAI)
Quantitative data analysis is done by IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software.
Identifying the impacts of the Santal community, respondents were asked to rank the consequences that they face due to drought using high, moderate, low, or no with a corresponding score of 3, 2, 1, and 0. A Weighted Average Index (WAI) (Mardy et al., 2018) is formulated from the ranking of respondents' statements.
Based on the WAI can be identified the highest impact of drought of the Santal community. The equation of WAI would be,
Where WAI= Weighted Average Index
= Frequency of responses with high effect
= Frequency of responses with moderate effect = Frequency of responses with low effect
= Frequency of responses with no effect 2.2.6 Adaptation Strategy Index (ASI)
For detecting the Santal community's adaptation strategies, respondents were asked to rank the adaptation strategies based on the extent of their practices using regularly, occasionally, seldom, and not at all with a corresponding score of 3, 2, 1, and 0. Adaptation Strategy Index (ASI) (Uddin et al., 2014) is formulated to assess Santals' different adaptation strategies and identify the highest and lowest essential adaptation strategies. The equation of relative importance of adaptation strategies of Santal community includes the following:
Where ASI = Adaptation Strategy Index
= Number of responses with regular practice of drought coping strategies = Number of responses with the occasional practice of drought coping strategies
= Number of responses with seldom practice of drought coping strategies = Number of responses with no practice of drought coping strategies 2.2.7 Pearson’s product-moment coefficient of correlation
Socio-economic characteristics and adaptation strategies are interconnected. For exploring the relationship between Santal’s socio-economic factors and their adaptation strategies, Pearson’s product-moment coefficient of correlation was calculated. The formula of Pearson’s product-moment coefficient of correlation (r) includes the followings:
∑ ̅ ̅
√∑ ̅ ∑ ̅
Where, = Pearson’s product-moment coefficient of correlation ̅ = Mean of variable x
̅= Mean of variable y 3.0 Results and Discussions 3.1 Impacts of Drought
A weighted average index (WAI) is calculated to rank the drought impacts of the Santal community. The WAI is prepared using the primary data collected from respondents, and the responses are analyzed using SPSS as mentioned in the data and method section.
Table 2: Rank order of the Santal community’s agricultural, livestock, environmental, and social impacts due to drought (N=80) Statements High
Effect
Moderate Effect
Low Effect
No
effect WAI Rank Order Scarcity of soil
water
68 12 0 0 2.85 1
Decrease of crop production
61 14 5 0 2.7 2
Food shortage 52 19 9 0 2.54 3
Crop failure 43 21 16 0 2.34 4
Water scarcity in surface water bodies
46 14 20 0 2.33 5
Increase in average temperature
35 31 14 0 2.26 6
Decline in ground water levels
46 11 16 7 2.2 7
Drought causes unemployment
32 19 23 6 1.96 8
Deteriorated water quality
25 30 10 15 1.81 9
Increase cost of production
9 47 19 5 1.75 10
Livestock diseases 3 58 13 6 1.73 11
Less production of livestock
3 47 24 6 1.59 12
Drought causes malnutrition
9 23 36 12 1.36 13
Drought causes population migration
6 28 30 16 1.3 14
Drought effects on health
6 26 31 16 1.26 15
Damage to fish habitat
5 26 27 22 1.18 16
Loss of livestock 3 14 38 25 0.94 17
Drought affects schooling of
5 8 41 26 0.9 18
children Drought causes conflict for water in society
0 0 70 10 0.88 19
Increase fallow land
3 7 28 42 0.64 20
Pasture degradation 0 0 37 43 0.46 21
[Code: High effect = 3, Moderate effect = 2, Low effect = 1, No effect = 0.]
The impacts of drought become the impediment of Santal community-identified scarcity of soil water as the highest effect of drought with a WAI of 2.85. Santal people reported a severe problem when they needed to use the groundwater for rice cultivation. Santal people perceived a decrease in crop production due to drought as the second-highest impact. During the dry period, many crops are damaged due to a shortage of water. Rice production is mainly dependent on the availability of water. Therefore, GOB provides a deep tube well and a shallow tube well for irrigation purposes. However, only non-indigenous farmers own these irrigation sources. As a result, Santal small farmers should spend a tremendous amount of money for irrigation purposes. Santal community also reported that the increased pest infections also damaged their crops. Due to the decreased crop production, food shortage is prevalent. Food shortage was identified as the fifth-highest impact with a WAI of 2.54. Santal people perceived pasture degradation as the lowest impact of drought with a WAI of 0.46. Finally, from this objective that agricultural impacts are suffering to the Santal community most than other impacts.
3.2 The Adaptation Practices of Santals
They use deep tube-well (DTW) and shallow tube-well (STW) for irrigation purposes, cultivating saline tolerant crops, using mini ponds for domestic household activities, planting mango trees, etc. In a Santal community, there must be three or more water bodies, such as a pond, and these communities are grown up just beside the paddy field. Some of the paddy fields are owned as well as cultivated by Santals. Some of the paddy fields are owned by other non- indigenous farmers but cultivated by Santal people. However, Santals plant mango trees in these rice fields following a multi-cropping system as an adaptation practice. BMDA provides one water tank for these communities.
However, only one water tank is not sufficient for many people. Again, Santals excavate mini ponds beside their paddy fields to use the pond water for irrigational purposes. Two resource maps (Fig. 5) of the Parail and Rasulpur union were prepared with the help of FGD to show the distribution of BMDA
tape, water tank, DTW, paddy field, mango field orchard, road, and vacant land in the Santal community.
An ASI is prepared (Table 3) to rank the adaptation strategies of Santals. The list of drought adaptation strategies was determined by the preliminary data collection used in the questionnaire, and the responses were analyzed using the ASI method as mentioned in the data and methods section.
(a) (b)
Figure 5: Resource Map of Parail Union (a) and Rasulpur Union (b) of Niamatpur Upazilla (Source: Author, 2020)
Table 3: Rank order of the adaptation strategies of the Santals based on the extent of the practice
Adaptation Strategies
Extent of Practices
Regularly Occasionally Seldom Not at all
ASI Rank
Deep Tube-well (DTW)
69 11 0 0 229 1
Drought tolerant crop cultivation
67 13 0 0 227 2
Intercropping system
56 13 11 0 205 3
Re-excavation of pond, khari and canal
52 19 9 0 203 4
Tree plantation (mango, litchi orchard)
51 18 11 0 200 5
Storing crop harvest
34 16 16 14 150 6
Selling some livestock
11 16 28 25 93 7
Storing crop residues for livestock
0 26 20 34 72 8
Saving money 2 19 24 35 68 9
Alternative source of income
2 18 24 36 66 10
Migration for employment
2 14 26 38 60 11
Shallow Tube- well (STW)
2 4 29 45 43 12
Lower extent crop cultivation
0 0 42 37 42 13
Less water required cultivation
0 4 15 61 23 14
Rainwater harvesting
0 0 11 69 11 15
[Code: Regularly = 3, Occasionally = 2, Seldom = 1, Not at all = 0.]
This adaptation strategy index indicates that using a deep tube well is the most prioritized adaptation strategy of Santal people with an ASI of 229. The Barind Irrigation Project is supported by the Barind Multipurpose Development
Authority (BMDA), and this project installed DTW and STW in this area for irrigational purposes during the dry season. However, Santal people identified using shallow tube-well as the 12th practiced adaptation strategy with an ASI of among 15 strategies. Because groundwater level decreases during the dry period and Santals don't get enough water from these shallow tube wells. Santals identified using drought-tolerant crop varieties as the second most prioritized adaptation strategy with an ASI of 227. They usually cultivate wheat and maize during the dry period to get more income. They identified the intercropping system as the third most practiced adaptation strategy that has an ASI of 205.
Santal farmers stated that they plant small mango trees in their paddy fields.
However, this adaptation can significantly lose the paddy field because mango trees consume a significant amount of water.
Moreover, Santals perceived pond, Khari, and canal excavation as the fourth most practiced adaptation strategy with an ASI of 2-3. They excavate a mini pond near their paddy field to quickly transfer the water from this pond to the paddy field. Again, they also cultivate some vegetables along the slope of these ponds, like bottle gourd, tomato, water amaranth, or red amaranth. Santal's other practiced adaptation practices are tree plantation, storing crop harvest, selling livestock, migration, etc. Rainwater harvesting during the monsoon period is perceived as the least proficient adaptation strategy of Santals with an ASI of 11.
3.3 Correlation between Socio-economic Characteristics and Adaptation Strategies of Santals
Santal community is an underprivileged community in Bangladesh. Most of them are uneducated and engaged in the agricultural sector. From the following table, among 80 respondents, 61.6 % are young (18-35 years old), 26.6% are middle-aged (36-50), and 12.8 % are old (above 50). 55% of respondents are illiterate, 85% of Santals are landless, and 91.3% are engaged in agricultural activities.
Table 4: Socio-economic characteristics of Santals (n=80) Category Respondents
(%)
Mean Standard Deviation (SD) Age
Young (18-35) Middle (36-50) Old (above 50)
61.6%
26.6%
12.8%
33.4250 13.75718
Education Illiterate Primary Higher Secondary S.S.C.
Others (Vocational)
55%
32%
12%
0%
0%
1.5750 .70755
Household Size Small (2-4) Medium (4-6) Large (above 6)
35%
45%
20%
1.8500 .73087
Farm Size Landless (0.002- 0.02 ha)
Marginal (0.021- 0.2 ha)
Small (0.21- 0.99 ha)
Medium (1-3 ha) Large (Above 3 ha)
85%
11.3%
3.8 0%
0%
1.1875 .47981
Annual Income Up to 10000 tk 10000-30000 tk 30000-50000 tk Above 50000 tk
31.3%
62.5%
6.3%
0%
1.7500 .56254
Source of Income
Agricultural Labor
Small business Others
91.3%
6.3%
2.5%
1.1125 .38954
To determine the correlation between two variables, the explanatory variable and the focus variable are needed. In this study, the explanatory variable is the socio-economic characteristics of the Santal community, and the focus variable is the identified adaptation strategies. A null hypothesis ( ) was formulated to dictate the correlation and specified no relation between the explanatory and focus variables. Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was calculated to test the. To reject the two-tailed test of significance (a five percent of probability) was used.
The following table represents the correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of Santals and their identified adaptation strategies.
Table 5: The correlation between socio-economic characteristics of Santals and their identified adaptation strategies
Socio-economic Characteristics
Correlation Co-efficient (r)
P value
Age .419 ** .000
Education - .268 * .016
Household Size .008 .943
Farm Size .109 .336
Annual Income .240 * .032
Source of Income .031 .336
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (p < 0.01), reflects significance at 98% confidence interval (2- tailed)
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (p < 0.05), reflects significance at 95% confidence interval (2- tailed)
The value of correlation coefficient lies between -1 to +1 and value “0” indicates that there is no correlation (Chetty, 2015). Again, the strength of the correlation can be assessed by the following guidelines:
a. If .1 < |r|< .3, then the correlation is small or weak b. If .3 < |r| < .5, then the correlation is medium or moderate c. If .5 < |r|, then the correlation is large or strong
The table (Table 5) shows that the correlation coefficient (r) in the case of age is .419. Therefore, there is a moderately positive correlation between age and adaptation practices of the Santal community. For, age p-value (.000) < 0.01 which reflects significance at 98% confidence interval. This result anticipates that aged Santals are found to participate in more adaptation strategies. In the case of education, the correlation coefficient (r) is -.268, and there is a negative correlation and p-value (.016) < 0.05, which reflects significance at a 95%
confidence interval. Most of the Santals are illiterate, so the correlation between adaptation strategies and education of Santals is negative. Moreover, in the case of the annual income of Santals, the correlation coefficient (r) is .240, and there is a correlation with their identified adaptation strategies. In this case, p-value (.032) is < 0.05 that indicates significance at a 95% confidence interval. This result dictates that they can get more income if the Santal community is more associated with adaptation practice. The p values of household size, farm size and
source of income are respectively 0.943, 0.336 and 0.336 (p-value >0.01; 0.05).
Therefore, increase or decrease in household size, farm size, and source of income of Santal community are not related to their practiced adaptation strategies.
3.4 Strength, Opportunities, Weakness and Threat of the Santal Community The SWOT analysis further indicates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and associated threats in the Santal community. This is a qualitative analysis conducted from a focused group discussion. SWOT analysis aims to find out the Santal community’s tendency to be reluctant to expand agriculture.
Table 6: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Weakness (SWOT) Analysis Strengths Drought intensity reduced after deep tube well establishment.
Livestock are source of income during drought.
People have access to govt. owned deep tube well irrespective of class, caste, social status.
Ponds are used in fish cultivation adding economic value.
Women practice homestead gardening to protect drought impact on agricultural production
No conflict
Excavation of mini pond for water storage Weaknesses Insufficient Water
Lack of deep tube well
Stiff soil
Low rainfall
Death of livestock
Paddy burn due to extreme temperature
Mainly paddy cultivation
1 crop land
No self-owned land
Moderate increase of fallow land Opportunities Seasonal migration
Medical and school facilities
More tree plantation at present
Threat Ground water levels are decreasing due to surrounding DWT’s.
Other crops such as maize, wheat cannot be cultivated
Unfavorable Environment
Plantation of Eucalyptus tree
Increase of diseases
The Santal people mainly depend on agriculture for their survival. The severity of drought affects crop production and puts livelihood assets in distress. Erratic temperature, shortage of rainfall, high evaporation rate, and the dominant drought circumstances dry up surface water bodies, degrade the environment, and land soil becomes unsuitable for production. This condition compels farmers to work as day laborers or shift their occupations. Being ethnic minority, Santal community are a less advantaged section of the society. Most of them are poor and less educated. They receive less help than the other people, comparably affected by the drought.
Despite drought vulnerabilities, Santal people have attained several adaptation practices to adjust to the impacts of drought. The cultivation of Aman rice is very much dependent on rainfall. In case of low rain, farmers need to use irrigation water. Aman rice is mainly cultivated between August to November.
During the drought period drought resistant, IRRI rice is grown (usually January-March) primarily through irrigation water. Farmers re-excavate existing
traditional ponds to collect rainwater and reuse it during the drought period.
Women practice homestead gardening and plant brinjal, bottle gourd, tomato, etc.
Weighted Average Index Calculation shows that the highest impact of drought in the Santal Community is the scarcity of soil water. Adaptation Strategy Index calculation signified deep tube-well as the most practiced adaptation strategy by the Santal people. They predict drought by observing weather patterns or environmental indicators.
4. Conclusion
The Santal community differs from the mainstream population in culture, origin, food habits, religion, social values, and norms. They depend on the agro-based professions. Drought has become more frequent in the study area owing to changes in rainfall pattern, increase in temperature etc. scarcity of surface water, lowering of groundwater level, limited irrigation facility, and higher dependency on rainfall are influential factors of crop production, fish cultivation, poultry, and livestock rearing. Santal farmers have adopted various adaptation measures such as drought-tolerant rice varieties, intercropping, kitchen gardening, etc. to stand against drought impacts. These adaptive measures may be helpful to minimize the drought impacts on agriculture. Drought destroys agro-based production system creating pressure on food security in the Barind Region (Islam et al. 2014;
Alamgir et al. 2015). Government and the other organizations need to take appropriate decisions to prioritize actions for policy formulations to reduce drought risk both at local and national level. Disseminating proper drought early warning, improving existing irrigation facilities, credit support for poor Santal
farmers, awareness raising, livelihood diversification, integration of drought education in school curriculum can be some useful ways to lessen the impacts.
Acknowledgment
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Santal community living in Niamatpur Upazilla for their hospitality and willingness to share important information regarding their adaptation strategies to cope with drought.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Questionnaire Survey Socio-economic characteristics 1. Name of the respondent:
2. Age:
3. Gender:
Male
Female 4. Marital Status:
5. Education Level:
i. Illiterate ii. Primary
iii. Higher Secondary iv. S.S.C.
v. Others (vocational) 6. Household size of the family:
i. 2-4 ii. 5-6 iii. Above 6
7. What is the main source of income?
i. Agricultural labor ii. Small business iii. Other (Specify)
8. What is your annual family income?
i. Up to 100000 ii. 101000-200000 iii. Above 200000 Farmer’s Perception of Drought
9. Do you think droughts are becoming more or less frequent in last 10-12 years?
i. More ii. Less
iii. No differences iv. Don’t know
10. Do you know about drought forecasting information?
i. Yes ii. No
11. If yes, then how do you get information on weather forecasts?
i. Radio/TV ii. Newspapers
iii. Word of mouth (friends/neighbors) iv. Self-judgment
v. Traditional knowledge sources vi. Others (specify)
Agricultural and Livestock
12. How much cultivable land do you have?
i. 0.002-0.02 ha ii. 0.021-0.2 ha iii. 0.21- 0.99 ha iv. 1-3 ha
v. Above 3 ha
13. How much land with irrigated and rain fed area (acre)?
i. Rain fed:
ii. Irrigated:
14. What is the source of irrigation water?
Dug well
Bore well
River Pond Canal Other Normal
Period Drought Period
15. Do you have any livestock?
i. Yes ii. No
16. If yes, then mention the type and number of livestock:
Cows Goats Buffalos Bullocks Others
17. Do livestock get sufficient water in drought year?
i. Very less ii. Less iii. Medium iv. High
v. Very high
18. Please rate following agricultural and livestock dought impacts:
Scale Impacts
High Moderate Low No Scarcity of soil water
Increase cost of production Decrease of crop production Food shortage
Increase fallow land Crop failure
Loss of livestock
Less production of livestock Livestock diseases
Pasture degradation Environmental impacts
19. How do you rate following environmental changes caused by drought?
Scale Impacts
High Moderate Low No Increase in average temperature
Water scarcity in surface water bodies Decline in ground water levels Deteriorated water quality Damage to fish habitat Other Impacts:
20. Please rate following drought impacts-
Scale Impacts
High Moderate Low No Drought causes malnutrition
Drought effects on health
Drought causes population migration Drought causes unemployment Drought affects schooling of children Drought causes conflict for water in society
Adaptation Strategies
21. Do you prepare during normal period to cope against drought?
i. Yes ii. No
22. If yes, then how do you prepare yourself?
23. Please rate following adaptation practices based on the extent of practice to mitigate the impact of drought:
Scale Extent of practices
Regularly Occasionally Seldom Not at all Deep Tube well (DTW)
Shallow Tube well (STW) Drought tolerant crop
cultivation (rice, wheat, maize) Lower extent crop cultivation Tree plantation (mango, litchi orchard)
Less water required cultivation Re-excavation of pond, khari and canal
Rain water harvesting Intercropping system Storing crop harvest Storing crop residues for livestock
Saving money
Migration for employment Selling some livestock Alternative source of income
24. Are you satisfied with government water supply tankers? Specify following scale:
i. Highly ii. Moderately iii. Low iv. No
25. Do you have restriction on using water according to priorities from these tankers by governing authorities?
i. Yes ii. No
26. If yes, then specify order of water use allowed for different sector according to priority set during drought:
Seasonal Pattern of the community:
27. Please represent the seasonal pattern of the community based on some components;
Components Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Rainfall and
temperature Crops Migration Employment Diseases Sufficient water Irrigation water demand
