Vulnerability assessment is in growing demand in policy circles in order to choose adapted measures and policies to reduce vulnerability of water users and resources. Within the SHIVA ANR project, we present a method to first assess and map the vulnerability of South-Indian farmers to both climate and socioeconomic changes, and second assess the costs and benefits associated with farmers' vulnerability evolution at two time scales (medium and long term). The project is focusing on hard rocks area of South-India as in this geological context, both surface and ground water resources are naturally limited. We also target farmers' population as they are the main water users of the area and they rely exclusively on groundwater. By the end, the area covers the semi-arid zone of South-India, with a rainfall gradient from 1100 mm to 600 mm. Vulnerability is then expected to vary according to this local climatic conditions but also to socioeconomic characteristics of farmers' households. After a 10 months research, we present the first results of the project.