Vulnerability and Adaptation Analysis in Flood Affected Areas of Orissa

This article is an attempt to study about the way people adapt to the impact of climate change, especially with floods. It also looks at the sustainability of the coping mechanisms, which the communities adopt for this extreme event. This study tests for ex-ante and ex-post adaptation responses to weather risk for rural farm households of Orissa and also examines how poor rural families adapt with the changing pattern of livelihood. An examination of the coping mechanisms of the agricultural households during the flood period revealed a number of factors that include the sequencing of adaptation options adapted by the people responding to a particular event. The next step is to find out the factors affecting the success of the adaptation. The very important task then is to integrate those factors with the climate policy, which will have an adaptive solution in a sustainable way.