Innovating Climate Policy by harnessing Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Qualitative insights from India

Abstract

Climate change threatens food and water security in rain-fed countries like India, where climate policies like the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) often prioritize monetary, non-participatory, and techno-centric interventions, overlooking Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). This empirical study explores TEK’s potential to enhance the efficacy of NAPCC, especially in terms of water resource management, and highlights its potential in informing climate policies and promoting participatory, location-specific climate adaptation practices. In-depth interviews with farmers revealed that rain-fed TEK practices like in-situ rainwater harvesting, hybridized with modern technologies (e.g., drip irrigation), and community-driven wastewater management can enhance climate resilience and address policy gaps in the NAPCC. The study highlights a novel pathway for cost-effective, scalable, and socially inclusive climate adaptation and is among the first to empirically connect farmers’ TEK with identifiable policy gaps in India’s NAPCC. The insights call for integrating traditional resource management and participatory decision-making in climate policy.