Titled: TOLAKARI (Transformation of Lived experience And Knowledge of heat, Agriculture and depRession in India)
The Department of Anthropology at the University of Hyderabad is pleased to announce its participation in an international project to understand the causal pathways of heat-related mental health issues among farmers in India.
The “ TOLAKARI ” project, funded by the Wellcome Trust with £3 million, brings together a global team of researchers from the UK and India to conduct novel participatory research. It explores the holistic understanding of heat and mental health among the farmers. Through its research findings, it also aims to co-design a community-owned intervention to address the mental health problems and provide sustainable support.
Dr Nanda Kishore Kannuri
The “TOLAKARI” project involves a team of collaborators from the University of Edinburgh (UK), Ashoka University, Sonipat, the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, and the Mariwala Health Initiative, Mumbai.
The University of Hyderabad is represented by Dr Nanda Kishore Kannuri, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, as a Co-Investigator, and the University will receive a grant of £175,971 (approximately INR 2,18,43,019) over a five-year period to support this significant initiative. Dr Nanda Kishore leads the implementation of two other research projects, including After the Single Use (Wellcome Trust Discovery Grant) and Integration of Healthcare Innovations into Sustainable Public Health Programs (ANRF PAIR)
“For the University of Hyderabad, this collaboration agreement marks a milestone in enriching international academic partnerships that tackle the immediate impact of climate change on vulnerable communities in India. It will also attempt to propose a scalable policy suggestion that advances the University’s mission of research excellence and social impact,” said Dr Nanda Kishore Kannuri.
About the project:
Farmers are one of the most vulnerable communities to both heat exposure and depression. India, where nearly half of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, is no exception. Extreme heat can reduce crop yields, lower cultivation incomes and potentially increase the risk of depression. Whilst studies to date have focused almost solely on this yield-income pathway, agricultural household income is increasingly diversifying away from cultivation.
In this context, the TOLAKARI team will explore other causal pathways. The overarching aim of our project is to determine, based on both farmers’ perceptions and quantitative data, the relative importance of different causal pathways between heat and depression among farmers in India. The team will employ Participatory Research Appraisal and Focused Ethnography as a methodology to:
- Understand how farmers and farm workers conceive the impact of heat on depression, including suicide ideation, in the Indian context.
- Find out if there is any quantitative (big data) relationship between heat and depression among farmers.
- Formulate an intervention to solve the identified mental health issues of farmers.
The project will be based in three states: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.