FOS Co-Director Raji Jayaraman and Marcatus QED are partnering to understand how extreme heat is changing smallholder farming in India, and to identify adaptation strategies that strengthen the livelihoods of community members, often women, on the front lines of climate change.

On small farms in India’s contract-farming network, it is often women who drive the production of crops like gherkins; an exception in a country where female labour force participation is generally very low. Because this work is labour-intensive, climate-sensitive, and a major source of smallholder earnings, rising extreme heat now threatens not just day-to-day productivity but also income stability and long-term resilience. As heat events become more frequent and intense, FOS Co-Director Raji Jayaraman and Marcatus QED are drawing on detailed, real-time data from smallholders to show how heat stress affects farming outcomes, and to pinpoint which agronomic choices and adaptation strategies can keep their vulnerable livelihoods viable.

Since Dr. Jayaraman’s first field visit in Summer 2023, Marcatus’ unique, granular data on farming practices and outcomes has opened up an opportunity to study the consequences of extreme heat and climate change, and to build an evidence base on which adaptation strategies are most effective. Those insights feed directly into how Marcatus works with farmers, shaping the training and support they offer to households most exposed to climate shocks.

“What drew me to this partnership is that women, who face extremely low labour force participation rates in India, are the drivers of gherkin contract farming. The impacts of climate change on the daily lives and earnings of smallholder farming communities are largely unknown, and disproportionately impact an already at-risk group. Our partnership with Marcatus is extremely important in identifying these impacts, and developing policies that can improve smallholder farmer wellbeing.”

– Raji Jayaraman, FOS Co-Director and Associate Professor of Economics at ESMT Berlin

The first project in this partnership uses detailed data on yields, earnings, and local temperatures to identify the heat thresholds at which smallholder productivity begins to fall, and to estimate how much income farmers lose on dangerously hot days. As this evidence base grows, this partnership is planning follow-up studies that dig into how households themselves cope with climate stress, and how field teams in the villages can test practical adaptation strategies that lead to better outcomes for their communities.