At Sahara's edge, old habits protect crops from new climate

Farmers in Uttar Pradesh, India, are using an age-old farming practice known as flood recession farming, which involves planting crops in floodplains when water recedes, to grow crops with less water during droughts.

The community in Jakhni, India, reimplemented old farming practices, like building embankments to trap rainwater and planting trees to prevent erosion, to combat severe drought.

Farmers in California are taking advantage of recent heavy rainfall by intentionally flooding their fields to restore the underground aquifers after years of drought.

Farmers in southeast Utah grow wheat and other select grains without irrigation, a technique called dryland farming. Relying only on rainwater eases water pressure amid droughts.

The nonprofit Group to Promote Education and Sustainable Development teaches women in drought-ridden Indigenous communities across Mexico to use ancestral methods of irrigation and grow drought-resilient medicinal plants. The four-year training program also aims to address gender disparity through empowerment. Participants are encouraged to set up savings funds to increase their financial independence and attend group therapy sessions, among other activities.

In the Indian state of Bihar, women-led self-help groups are challenging traditional gender norms and saving money to buy and install solar irrigation pumps. The pumps increase the local agricultural capacity by providing a cleaner, more affordable alternative to the diesel pumps typically used to combat water scarcity in the region.

A nonprofit in India focused on supporting farmers, Urmul Seemant Samiti, is helping pastoralists transition to using hydroponics to grow fodder for their livestock amid increasing droughts. Alongside hydroponic fodder startup Hydrogreens, the organization trains pastoralists to use sprinkler systems to create fog that waters their indoor crops.

Farmers in West Bengal, India, are swapping rice for bananas to save on expenses and labor and adapt to increasingly erratic monsoons and rainfall impacting yields. The farmers use solar panels and drip irrigation setups funded by the state government to reduce emissions and minimize water loss, as bananas require a lot of water.

Nigerian farmers are adapting their practices to the dry season to avoid disastrous flooding during the rainy months. They use techniques like drip irrigation to conserve water by delivering it directly to plant roots and are cultivating drought-resistant crops. The government helps supports farmers in this endeavor by providing seedlings and fertilizer, too.

Farmers in Zimbabwe are diversifying their income with beekeeping to offset financial losses from crops underperforming during increasingly severe droughts.