Insights from the Village Level Studies

1. VLS Target: Past, Present and Future
1975-85 2001-08 2009 and beyond
Introduction
In 1975,the ICRISAT Economics Program initiated Village Level Studies (VLS) at six villages in two states
of semi-arid tropical (SAT) India and four villages in West and Central Africa (WCA).They provide the
most efficient way to understand the farming systems in rural areas,and to identify the socioeconomic
constraints faced by the farming community in the SAT.
Generate pro-poor policies,tools,lessons and investment guidelines that contribute to
improved food security,livelihood resilience and poverty reduction
Objectives
• To track changes in the livelihood options of the rural poor.
• To understand farmers’response to changing markets,policies and technologies.
• To understand farmers’perceptions on climate change and their coping mechanisms.
• To provide a socio-economic field laboratory for teaching and training of students and researchers.
• Research questions
are identified through
FGMs and surveys.
• The major enquiry
is to understand
the dynamics
of agricultural
transformation
• Project on assessing
the dynamics of
poverty in the semi-
arid tropics.
Role and recognition of VLS
• “Gene bank of social scientists”.
• Testing grounds for ICRISAT technologies.
• An IPG – unique longitudinal household panel data.
• Climate change/variability
becoming prominent
• Vulnerability and adaptation
strategies of village
communities
• Monitoring of direct and
indirect effects of climate
change
• Building layers of resilience
Key findings
• The drivers of change are:
surface and groundwater
irrigation,technology adoption,
non-farm income.
• Proportion of incomes from
non-farm sources,migration and
caste occupations increased,
while that of farm income
decreased.
• Demand for draft animals
reduced due to use of tractors.
• Annual per capita income
increased from Rs 3466 in 1975-
78 to Rs 8013 in 2001-06.
• Farmers invested little on
soil conservation measures
but heavily on groundwater
exploration.
• Changes in labor markets:increased real wages of labor,increased migration and spatial integration.
• Welfare and development programs of the government have helped households in coping with
income shocks.
• Organization of women into self help groups has reduced dependence on money lenders for small loans.
Policy implications for rainfed agriculture
• Provide supplemental irrigation in drought-prone areas to enhance sustainability of livelihoods.
• Strengthen public investment in water conservation and recycling.
• Food stamps worth Rs 150 per month may be given to the households below the poverty line in
lieu of Public Distribution System subsidy.
• Minimum support prices provided for rainfed crops have to be backed up by procurement
mechanisms by the government.
Moving forward
• Deepening of enquiry to include social and climatic aspects.
• Identification of drivers that help in moving out of poverty and achieving food and nutritional security.
• Vulnerability to climate change: adaptation strategies and layers of resilience.
• Smallholders’investment in natural resource management.
Linking climate change with VLS
Targets in WCA