World at 1.5C: In India, gold is a woman’s security, but as climate change-fuelled heat kills crops, many are cashing it in.
- Women’s gold jewellery being pawned to keep livestock alive
- Worsening heat and drought undermine crop production
- Fodder costs for livestock rising, eating up savings
JAMBHULNI, India – Farmer Hirabai Kalel remembers being awash in gold jewellery as a new bride, sporting anklets, arm bands and a waist belt in a country where a woman’s gold is her savings and her insurance policy.
But as rising heat and extreme weather fuelled by climate change batter farmers across India, Kalel – like many women – is being forced to cash in her savings.
In the rural areas of Maharastra state, increasingly extreme heat has led to rising crop failures, leaving many families heavily reliant on just their livestock.
Story: Roli Srivastava
Publisher: Context, TRF.
Date: 10 Oct 2022.
Link to the story: Read More
India has the world’s highest livestock population. But of the 148 million hectares of farmland in the country, only about 5% is used to grow fodder crops. 
Extreme heat has led to rising crop failures.Many families rely heavily on just their livestock now, but now they lack the crops that once to feed them. Now, they have to buy fodder – a new and unsustainable cost that’s quickly eating up their gold. 
In India, a woman’s gold is her savings… and now it’s a lifeline. As climate change disasters worsen, here’s why women in rural India are being forced to sell their last assets to keep their livestock alive. 
As their crops die from climate change-fueled heat and drought, rural women in India are being forced to sell their last asset to keep their livestock alive – gold jewellery. 
Farmer Sarita Bapu Gejage feeds her buffalo in Karkhel village in Satara district, India, September 14, 2022. 
Farmer Sarita Bapu Gejage feeds her buffalo in Karkhel village in Satara district, India, September 14, 2022. 
A woman sits on a bank counter that has a sticker with “gold mortgage” written on it in Marathi at Mann Deshi bank in Mhaswad village of Satara district, India, September 14, 2022. 
A woman shows gold earrings for mortgage at the shop of a bank-appointed gold evaluator Farmer Hirabai Shankar Kalel sits on the floor, wrapping her hands covered with glass bangles around her legs, at Jambhulni village in Satara district, India. 
Farmer Hirabai Shankar Kalel sits on the floor, wrapping her hands covered with glass bangles around her legs, at Jambhulni village in Satara district, India. 
Animals graze on a grassland as a farmer looks on 
Farmer Yadav Yuthoba Lakhade sits with his sheep on a grazing land
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