Home garden is a complex multi-functional land use system that combines multiple farming components of the homestead and provides environmental services, household needs, and employment and income generation opportunities to the households. Predicted climate changes have serious implications for crop and livestock yields particularly in tropical regions. Home garden may act as a cushion to the adverse climate shocks. There is dearth of in-depth study of home garden ecosystem in India. The authors have selected 100 households in Garhbeta-1 block, which is in the dry zone in the district of Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal, India for the study. The main objectives of the chapter include (1) identification of the key characteristics of the home garden, (2) assessing biodiversity in home gardens, (3) identifying the pattern of climate change from the household perceptions and the problems in home garden, and (4) the changes made in the home gardens.
Coping with climate shocks: The complex role of livestock portfolios