Economic vulnerability of small-scale coastal households to extreme weather events in Southern India

Various vulnerability assessment studies have revealed the effect of climate change and related extreme weather events on the small-scale fisheries households of coastal regions. However, hardly any study assesses the economic vulnerability of the poorest coastal households to extreme climatic events. The present study attempts to fill this gap by examining the economic vulnerability of deprived coastal households through a vulnerability assessment framework developed based on the IPCC approved strategy. A gender dimension is also brought to this study by assessing the households based on the household headship. A total of 120 male headed households and 30 female headed households from two coastal taluks of Thrissur district in Kerala, the Southwestern state of India, was selected for analysis. Female headed households emerged to be the most vulnerable group in all the three aspects considered – exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The study put forward suggestions to reduce the risks and improve the economic characteristics of poorest sections of the coastal households through women empowerment and policy intervention. •Poor coastal households suffer the greatest losses from climate change and related extreme weather events.•The nature of work and impoverished characteristics of the household render them highly vulnerable.•The gender of the household head influences the household economic characteristics.•Women headed households were more vulnerable to extreme weather events than men headed households with greater exposure and lower adaptive capacity.