Climate Change and Women’s Vulnerability: Traditional Coping Mechanisms and Adaptive Capacity in Rural Jammu & Kashmir

Abstract

Climate change has emerged as one of the most crucial socio-environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. In ecologically fragile regions such as Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), climatic variability has begun to significantly affect agriculture, water resources, public health, and livelihood systems. Women in rural communities experience disproportionate vulnerability due to gendered divisions of labour, unequal access to productive resources, and limited participation in institutional decision-making. This study examines the gendered impacts of climate change in selected blocks of Samba district and assesses the role of traditional coping mechanisms in strengthening women’s adaptive capacity. Study has adopted mixed-methods research design for framing this paper and analysing the field data. Quantitative data were collected from 50 women respondents using a structured interview schedule, while qualitative data were obtained through Focus Group Discussions conducted among four groups. Major findings basically uncover high awareness of climate change (86%) and widespread reporting of reduced crop yield, income instability, water scarcity, and climate-related health concerns. Traditional coping mechanism and practices such as seed preservation, crop diversification, herbal medicine, seasonal food storage, and community-based water management contribute meaningfully to resilience. However, these strategies remain constrained by financial insecurity, weak insurance coverage, declining social cohesion, and insufficient policy integration. The study argues that sustainable climate adaptation in Himalayan regions requires institutional recognition of indigenous knowledge systems, expansion of gender-responsive social protection frameworks, and strengthening of women’s decision-making power at community and governance levels.