Cotton Farmers Alone Made up 15% of India's Suicides in 2021, Climate Change Making Things Worse

Farmers’ suicide rates are higher in Indian states that focus on cash crops like cotton, says a new research report.

• Overall, farmers are among the most at-risk groups in India for death by suicide, accounting for 15.08% of the country’s recorded suicides in 2021.

The findings come in a policy brief published by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) that supports some of the world’s most vulnerable people to strengthen their voice in decision-making, and promotes sustainable development, linking local priorities to global challenges.

• The IIED establishes some of the key factors putting farmers at risk and presents new analysis of year-on-year data from five drought-prone Indian states, demonstrating how suicide rates are affected by: i. rainfall variation, and  ii. access to wage employment via social protection schemes. 
• In states reporting the highest suicide rates, farmers are more heavily engaged in cotton cultivation. This requires significant investment in seed, pesticide and insecticide, forcing farmers to borrow money from formal and informal sources. If drought or erratic rainfall cause the cotton crop to fail, farmers cannot make repayments.

Effect of climate change: Climate change has increased the frequency and coverage of drought in India; in 2020–22, nearly two-thirds of the country was drought-prone.

• Badly impacted states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (reporting 62%, 44% and 76% of land as drought prone, respectively) also report high suicide rates among farmers. 
• The IIED analysed year-on-year data from Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana to understand the relationship between how far rainfall deviated from normal levels and the number of farmers dying by suicide.
• The suicide rate is consistently higher in years with a rainfall deficit. 
• From 2016–17 to 2021–22, a third or more of all crops were lost across approximately 35 million ha (an area slightly larger than the land mass of Germany). 
• Research from other geographies shows that recurring droughts affect emotional wellbeing and health. 
• There is a causal connection between loss of livelihood and drug/alcohol addiction, anxiety and emotional distress.
• Men and women who misuse alcohol may be less able to work, increasing their risk of falling into poverty and hopelessness. This issue is compounded by low levels of literacy, lack of awareness about where to get help and a poor family or community support network. 
• The interplay of these risks, combined with socioeconomic factors (such as marginal landholding, debt traps, food insecurity, transitory poverty due to crop failure and livelihood loss), can push farmers to their limits and can put them at risk of suicidal ideation.

Preventive Measures: The findings point to four preventative actions that could support farmers to cope with common risk factors by improving local climate resilience and mental health services. 

1. Policymakers in India must urgently acknowledge and act on the link between climate impacts and an increasing suicide rate among farmers, and how recurring climate crises exacerbate poverty and marginalisation, which can promote feelings of despair.
2. Government social protection policy can be designed to act as a preventative measure: more access to support for rural livelihoods damaged by climate events would alleviate many of the economic, and other, factors that put farmers at risk of suicide.
3. Inventive national responses to provide insurance against climate events and to ensure rural communities can access mental health services would help protect farmers’ economic and psychological wellbeing.
4. Delivering appropriate support before, during and after climate events will help farmers cope better with fluctuating markets and climate-driven production risks. For example, during a crisis, the government could distribute targeted cash transfers.

The backdrop: The link between increasingly severe climate events and the rising suicide rate among India’s farmers has long been a concern. 

• But with the latest national data reporting the highest ever number of deaths by suicide, effective action to prevent the risk factors endangering farmers—and the climate events that exacerbate them—is a matter of urgency. 
• This research will resonate in many countries of the Global South and North that are struggling with a similar crisis.