ABSTRACT
Masyarakat adat merupakan salah satu kelompok paling rentan terkena dampak perubahan iklim. Penelitian ini berusaha menginterprestasikan strategi adaptasi Masyarakat Adat Sunda Wiwitan, Kabupaten Kuningan dalam menghadapi bencana kekeringan sebagai upaya mereka mempertayankan kelangsungan hidupnya. Bencana kekeringan yang dihadapi Masyarakat Adat Sunda Wiwitan menimbulkan dua diemensi dampak, yaitu dampak langsung serta kerentanan sosial akibat bencana kekeringan. Dampak langsung bencana kekeringan ini saling terhubung satu sama lain, meliputi berkurangnya volume air untuk irigasi pertanian, menurunnya produktivitas lahan, gagal panen, serangan hama dan ketidakteraturan pola bercocok tanam. Dampak-dampak tersebut mendorong munculnya kondisi rentan kerentanan sosial yaitu ketersediaan bahan pangan, potensi konfik, masalah kesehatan dan gangguan pelaksanaan tradisi dan budaya. Penelitian dengan pendekatan etnografi ini menunjukan bahwa Masyarakat Adat Sunda Wiwitan melakukan strategi adaptasi bencana kekeringan pada level individual dan level institusional/komunitas secara sosial, ekonomi, institusional, fisiologis dan religius-psikologis. Kearifan lokal dan ajaran kepercayaan, persepsi terhadap risiko dampak serta pertimbangan pilihan adaptasi mempengaruhi proses penerapan strategi-strategi adaptasi. Masyarakat Adat Sunda Wiwitan juga harus melakukan strategi adaptasi terhadap intervening conditions atau non-climate forces yang meningkatkan sensitivitas sistem serta meluasnya dampak-dampak merugikan akibat bencana kekeringan terhadap kehidupan mereka.

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ABSTRACT
Indigenous peoples are one of the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change. This research tries to interpret the adaptation strategy of Sunda Wiwitan Indigenous People, Kuningan Regency in dealing with drought as their effort to maintain their life. The drought that faced by Indigenous Peoples Sunda Wiwitan raises two dimensions of impact, namely direct impacts and social vulnerability. The direct impacts of these drought are interconnected each other, including reduced water volume for agricultural irrigation, declining land productivity, crop failure, pest attacks and irregularity of cropping patterns. These impacts encourage the emergence of vulnerable social vulnerability conditions of food availability, potential conflicts, health problems and disruption of cultural and traditional practices. This ethnographic study shows that the Indigenous Peoples of Sunda Wiwitan embark on adaptation strategies for drought at the individual and institutional community level through the social, economic, institutional, physiological and religious psychological adaptations. Local wisdom and beliefs, perceptions of impact risk and consideration of adaptation choices affect the process of applying adaptation strategies. The Indigenous Peoples of Sunda Wiwitan should also implement adaptation strategies for intervening conditions or non climate forces that enhance system 39 s sensitivity and the widespread adverse impacts of drought to their livelihood.