This article explores how rural women are not only coping with the impacts of climate change but are actively shaping the future of climate adaptation in India through leadership, collective action, and systems thinking.
India, home to over 1.4 billion people[1] and ranked sixth on the Climate Risk Index 2025[2], is grappling with a rising tide of climate-induced disruptions. From intensifying heatwaves and erratic monsoons to glacier melt in the Himalayas and rising sea levels in its vast coastal zones, the impacts are far-reaching. With nearly 70% of India’s population residing in rural areas, and over 40% directly reliant on agriculture and allied sectors[3], the consequences of climate change are particularly devastating in regions where livelihoods are climate-sensitive and infrastructure is weak.
Among the most affected are rural women, who constitute more than 60% of India’s agricultural workforce[4], yet remain largely invisible in land records, underrepresented in governance systems, and underserved by agricultural extension and climate services. Their vulnerability is shaped not only by gender but also by caste, class, age, and geography. As primary caregivers, food producers, and water fetchers, women experience climate change not as an abstract risk but as a daily struggle.
Yet, in this landscape of vulnerability lies an untapped reservoir of resilience. A paradigm shift is underway through Locally Led Adaptation (LLA), an approach rooted in community agency, decentralised governance, and culturally embedded knowledge systems.[5] LLA moves beyond top-down development models, placing communities, particularly women, at the helm of designing context-specific climate responses.
Key Adaptation Strategies Led by Women
Across India’s rural and tribal landscapes, women are pioneering innovative, locally grounded adaptation strategies that are not only climate-resilient but also socially transformative. Their efforts span a wide array of sectors, from agriculture and water management to health, forest conservation, and disaster preparedness.
In Odisha, women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the Mission Shakti programme have revived millet-based agroecological farming systems in response to increasing drought risk and soil degradation.[6] These efforts have restored native crop varieties, improved household nutrition, and enhanced economic agency by creating value chains around millets, an indigenous climate-resilient super grain.
In Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, where water scarcity is a recurring crisis, women-led groups have implemented decentralised water harvesting structures, including check dams, farm ponds, and percolation tanks. Through community watershed development programmes, women have increased groundwater availability, revived fallow land, and fostered joint water governance. Their leadership in Water User Associations has ensured more equitable access to irrigation for marginal and landless farmers.[7]
Women are also pivotal in community-based disaster risk reduction. In the flood-prone plains of Assam, SHG networks collaborate with local NGOs to disseminate flood warnings through SMS alerts, megaphone announcements, and community radios. They also lead preparedness trainings and evacuation drills, particularly for elderly residents, pregnant women, and children.[8]
In Chhattisgarh, tribal women have revitalised ecosystem-based adaptation through forest stewardship. They preserve wild edible plants, practise zero-waste food storage, and utilise forest herbs to treat ailments exacerbated by climate variability.[9]
In some States, women farmers are adopting climate-resilient cropping systems, such as System of Rice Intensification (SRI), and integrating vermicomposting, organic pesticides, and drip irrigation. Supported by community resource persons and NGOs, these transitions reduce water usage and boost yields without reliance on costly external inputs.[10]
Despite limited recognition, these examples show that rural women’s adaptation strategies are not peripheral; they are central to India’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), climate commitments (NDCs), and resilience-building agendas. Their practices, rooted in experiential knowledge, social cohesion, and environmental stewardship, offer scalable, replicable models for community-based climate resilience across the Global South.
Enablers and Barriers: What Empowers and Hinders Women’s Leadership in Locally Led Adaptation
The emergence of rural women as climate leaders in India is not incidental, it is supported by a convergence of enabling policies, financial mechanisms, and community-driven institutions. Yet, their pathways to climate resilience remain riddled with systemic barriers that threaten to limit both their participation and the scalability of their efforts.
One of the most significant enablers has been the institutional support offered through national programmes like the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), which has mobilised over 90 million rural women into SHGs across the country.[11] These platforms have not only fostered social capital but have also given women access to revolving funds, livelihood diversification training, and local governance mechanisms, providing the groundwork for grassroots adaptation.
Decentralised governance has also played a vital role. Through Panchayati Raj Institutions, especially in states with mandated gender quotas, women have found a foothold in village-level planning and climate budgeting. Additionally, the growing recognition of indigenous and traditional knowledge has elevated the roles of older women as custodians of ecological wisdom. Additionally, access to climate finance and microcredit, often facilitated by government schemes or non-profits, has further enabled women to invest in water conservation, renewable energy, and agroecological innovations.
However, these gains are tempered by enduring barriers that inhibit women's full participation in climate governance. Land ownership remains a glaring gap; only about 13% of women in India own land,[12] which excludes them from agricultural extension services, subsidies, and formal credit systems. This lack of tenure security not only undermines their autonomy but also their eligibility to participate in adaptation schemes officially.
Information asymmetry and technological inaccessibility further exacerbate vulnerability. With limited access to digital platforms and agrometeorological advisories, often distributed via smartphones or online portals, many women remain uninformed about early warning systems or weather-related risks. While SHGs and community radios have tried to bridge this divide, the outreach remains uneven, particularly for marginalised groups such as tribal women or those in remote geographies.
Moreover, social norms continue to restrict mobility and decision-making. Many women cannot travel to training centres or participate in public meetings without male consent. Even when included in village committees or disaster response teams, their voices are often marginalised in favour of male leaders or technocrats.
To fully realise the potential of LLA, these systemic barriers must be addressed through gender-transformative approaches. This includes securing land rights for women, ensuring gender-equitable access to climate information and technologies, and embedding women’s leadership in formal adaptation planning processes. Without structural change, women’s climate resilience efforts risk remaining isolated success stories rather than catalysts of broader transformation.
Towards Scalable and Inclusive LLA
To ensure that LLA is truly transformative, women’s voices must be structurally embedded in policy and planning processes, from National Adaptation Plans to local climate action strategies.
Scaling inclusive LLA requires a three-pronged approach. First, capacity building must go beyond skill development to empower women as planners and decision-makers. This includes investing in community knowledge systems, leadership programs, and digital inclusion.[13] Second, climate finance mechanisms should earmark funds specifically for gender-responsive and community-led initiatives.[14] [15] Flexible funding models like small grants to SHGs or cooperatives have shown promise in improving access and ownership.[16] Third, institutional partnerships must enable collaboration between women’s collectives, local governments, and civil society to co-produce solutions.
Designing gender transformative LLA programmes requires grounding interventions in local realities while embracing principles of recognition, redistribution, and representation. Programmes must shift from viewing women as beneficiaries to recognising them as adaptation leaders, rooted in agency, solidarity, and systemic equity.
As India navigates the intensifying impacts of climate change, the leadership of rural women in LLA offers a powerful blueprint for resilience that is equitable, sustainable, and grounded in lived realities. Their contributions, though often unrecognised, are reshaping development paradigms through collective action, ecological stewardship, and social innovation. To realise the full potential of LLA, systemic barriers must be dismantled, and women’s leadership institutionalised across scales. The path forward demands a shift from token inclusion to transformative empowerment, where rural women are not peripheral participants but central protagonists in designing and driving climate adaptation for a more just and resilient future.
References
[1] Worldometer. (2025). India population (2025). https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/
[2] Adil, L., Eckstein, D., Künzel, V., & Schäfer, L. (2025, February 12). Climate Risk Index 2025. Germanwatch e.V. https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/Climate%20Risk%20Index%202025.pdf
[3] Koli, S. H. (2024, July). Climate change and its impact on Indian agriculture. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, 12(7), Article IJCRT2407300. https://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2407300.pdf
[4] Press Information Bureau. (2023, March 27). Agriculture has highest estimated percentage distribution of female workers followed by manufacturing as per the Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report 2021-22. Ministry of Labour & Employment. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1911142
[5] Global Center on Adaptation. (n.d.). Locally Led Adaptation. https://gca.org/programs/locally-led-adaptation/
[6] Mohanty, A., & Mallick, P. C. (2023, July 31). Women SHGs in Odisha champion push for millets. Down To Earth. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/agriculture/women-shgs-in-odisha-champion-push-for-millets-90913
[7] National Water Mission. (2021, July). Women Water Champions: A compendium of 41 women change-makers from the grassroots. Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. https://nwm.gov.in/sites/default/files/Women%20Water%20Compendium_July%2021.pdf
[8] Asom Barta. (2025, March 12). Assam launches community-driven flood management. https://asombarta.com/assam-launches-community-driven-flood-management/
[9] Dhruwey, R. (2022, May 25). Tribal women in northern Chhattisgarh innovate with forest produce. 101Reporters.https://101reporters.com/article/development/Tribal_women_in_northern_Chhattisgarh_innovate_with_forest_produce
[10] Swayam Shikshan Prayog. (2023, July). Women-led climate resilient farming [Four-page report]. https://swayamshikshanprayog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SSP_Women-led-Climate-Resilient-Farming_four-pager-2023.pdf
[11] Press Information Bureau. (2025, March 18). Target achieved under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission. Ministry of Rural Development. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2112203
[12] Centre for Social Justice. (2023, June 5). Women's land rights in India: What's missing from our land laws? Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/developing-contemporary-india/womens-land-rights-in-india-whats-missing-from-our-land-laws/
[13] Agarwal, B. (2010). Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women's Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry. Oxford University Press
[14] IPCC. (2022). Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2
[15] Adaptation Fund. (2023). Enhancing Direct Access: Scaling Community-Based Adaptation. https://www.adaptation-fund.org/projects-programmes/project-data
[16] UNFCCC. (2023). Progress in Incorporating Gender into Adaptation Policies. Report from the Gender and Climate Change Workstream. https://unfccc.int/topics/gender/workstreams/gender-and-climate-change