Page 47 - IJPS-6-1

International Journal of Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE

District-level analysis of climate

vulnerability and household nutrition

status among rural communities in

Odisha, India

Arabinda Acharya *, Anup Kumar Das 1,2
1,2
1 Knowledge Management and Learning Expert, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
2 Deputy Director, TARINA Programme, CARE India Solutions for Sustainable
Development, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Abstract: Good nutrition is the foundation of human well-being that leads to better health,
ARTICLE INFO effective engagement of the workforce, and productive lifestyle, resulting in higher income and
an integrated development trajectory. This paper attempts to comprehend the impact of climate
Received: December 5, 2019 vulnerability on household nutrition status through agriculture production systems in Odisha,
Accepted: January 20, 2020 India. This study using secondary data estimates a composite index of climate vulnerability
Published: January 28, 2020 on the agriculture ecosystem in Odisha at the district scale. Results suggest that among all
*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR the districts in Odisha, Bhadrak (0.193) is the most vulnerable district followed by Sonepur
(0.191) and Baudh (0.190). On the other hand, Mayurbhanj (0.099) is the least vulnerable
Dr. Arabinda Acharya, district followed by Ganjam (0.103) and Sundargarh (0.105). The findings also suggest that
Knowledge Management
and Learning Expert; there is a wide variation in vulnerability indicators among the districts in Odisha (0.099 – the
CARE India Solutions for lowest district value vs. 0.193 – the highest). The results of multivariate analysis evince that
Sustainable Development, in households (both women and children) nutritional status, the composite value of “climate
Eastern Hub Office, Plot vulnerability” has a greater role in predicting the predictors in Odisha through the agriculture
No 372, Saheed Nagar, production system. The climate vulnerability has a positive and significant relationship with
Bhubaneswar-750007, Odisha, forest area (r=0.403*), gross cropped area (r=0.489**), percent of scheduled caste population
India. arabinda@careindia.org
(r=0.510**), percent of urban area (r=0.427*), and per-capita income (r=0.712**). The findings
CITATION also signify that district-wise gross cropped area (t=3.01), average annual rainfall (t=4.05),
area under irrigation (t=3.36), cropping intensity (t=3.60), and forest areas (t=1.81) play a more
Acharya A, Das AK. (2020).
District-level analysis of climate predictive role to determine the household nutritional status along with socioeconomic and
vulnerability and household health factors such as per-capita income (t=1.8), urbanization (t=1.91), and women’s anemic
nutrition status among rural status (t=2.74). Drawing inferences from the empirical evidence, the study suggests that climate
communities in Odisha, vulnerability has a much greater role in influencing household nutrition status, particularly
India. International Journal of with women and child nutrition through the agriculture production system. Appropriate policy
Population Studies, 6(1):41-55. level measures for climate-sensitive and adaptive action are the need of the hour to make
doi: 10.18063/ijps.v6i1.1069
agriculture production ecosystem contributes positively to nutrition status.
Copyright: © 2020
Acharya and Das. This is Keywords: Climate change, Climate vulnerability, Nutrition, India
an Open-Access article This article belongs to the Special Issue: Environment and Population Dynamics in South Asia
distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons
Attribution-Non Commercial 1. Introduction
4.0 International License
(http://creativecommons.org/ Good nutrition is a foundation of human well-being that leads to good health, effective
licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting engagement in the workforce, and productive lifestyle, resulting in higher income and
all noncommercial use, an integrated development trajectory. Over the years, the burden of undernutrition and
distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the micronutrient deficiencies remains staggering across the globe with the regional disparity at
original work is properly cited. the center. Research findings on public health reveal that better-nourished mothers can give

International Journal of Population Studies | 2020, Volume 6, Issue 1 41