Adapting to Global Environmental Change: How Can We Ensure Food Security in a Time of Uncertainty?

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ABSTRACT

Global environmental change, including climate change and natural resource degradation, is challenging food security around the world. This is particularly true in India, where climate change is expected to reduce yields and groundwater critical for irrigation is becoming depleted at unprecedented rates. In this region, yield losses are not only a matter of food security but also welfare, as agriculture is a primary source of livelihood for over 50% of India’s population. My research examines how environmental change is currently impacting agricultural production in India, and whether there are ways that farmers can adapt to mitigate the negative effects of this change. I will present research examining the impacts of warming temperatures and groundwater depletion on agricultural production, the adaptive strategies farmers adopt to reduce those impacts, and the potential for different policy interventions to enhance mitigation efforts in this globally important agricultural region.

BIO

Meha Jain is an Assistant Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Her research examines how we can sustainably increase agricultural production to feed the world’s growing population in the face of environmental change. She does this by combining remote sensing and geospatial analyses with household-level and census datasets to examine farmer decision-making and behavior across large spatial and temporal scales. She has a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, a PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Columbia University, and postdoctoral experience in the Department of Earth System Science from Stanford University.