By Rohan Trivedi and Avani Panchal, AIDMI, India

Across multiple Indian cities, small businesses are experiencing climate-related hazards such as extreme heat, flooding, and infrastructure stress as recurring disruptions rather than isolated disaster events. Field-based evidence generated through AIDMI’s work, covering 2,723 small businesses across 11 cities, shows that these hazards consistently affect income continuity, health, and daily business operations. This pattern underscores the need to position livelihoods at the centre of disaster risk reduction (DRR). Localized, enterprise-level data reveals how disaster risk accumulates through everyday conditions. Exposure varies by work environment, housing quality, and hazard type, with repeated heat stress, waterlogging, and humidity contributing to productivity loss and income interruption. Systematic tracking of preparedness and business continuity shows measurable improvements where low-cost adaptation measures are adopted. These include ventilation and cooling arrangements, protective coverings, improved storage, and minor structural repairs. When documented over time, such measures allow disaster risk to be understood as a dynamic condition that can be monitored and progressively reduced through targeted intervention.

These observations align with the Government of India’s increasing emphasis on disaster risk reduction, as reflected in the National Disaster Management Plan and the expansion of Heat Action Plans, which prioritise risk-informed, preventive measures and livelihood continuity alongside emergency response. Access to timely and flexible financial support plays a critical role in enabling these risk reduction actions. Rapid financial assistance allows small businesses to respond to identified risks without resorting to high-interest borrowing or asset depletion. Observed outcomes include reduced duration of income disruption and faster stabilization following periods of climate stress. Women-led and home-based enterprises, which constitute a substantial share of the businesses covered, show notable gains in preparedness when financial access aligns with their specific work and household conditions.

Taken together, the evidence demonstrates a clear linkage between data and finance within DRR practice. Data enables precise identification of risk, while finance supports the implementation of appropriate protective measures. Applied together, they strengthen preparedness, continuity, and recovery at the livelihood level, reinforcing disaster risk reduction as a continuous, evidence-driven process embedded in everyday economic life rather than a response activated only after major disasters.