Proactive Adaptation Responses by Vulnerable Communities to Climate Change Impacts (original) (raw)
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Rural coping and adaptation strategies for climate change by Himalayan communities in Nepal
Journal of Mountain Science, 2020
Climate change has major impacts on the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The unpredictable weather conditions in rural Nepal have been attributed to a changing climate. This study explored the climate change adaptation and coping strategies that rural communities adopt for the conservation of natural resources and livelihoods in the mid-hills of Nepal. This paper explored major climatic hazards, assessed different coping and adaptation measures, and barrier faced to climate change adaptation based on perceptions by forest-dependent communities. We conducted focus group discussions, questionnaire surveys, and semistructured interviews with local communities and stakeholders. The results showed that rural communities had experienced significant impacts of climate change and variability. In response, they are practicing diverse coping and adaptation strategies, including the construction of bioengineering structures and planting different species that grow quickly and establish promptly.
Climate and Development, 2019
Since 2000, adaptation has been the focus of the response to climate change in many least developed countries. However, there are recognized overlaps and tensions between mitigation, adaptation and development, and between top-down and community-based approaches to adaptation. This paper explores the approaches used to develop Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs) by three different programmes in the forest sector of Nepal. The analysis of information drawn from 37 interviews, with government, non-government and community representatives at national, district and local levels, shows that although the LAPAs in Nepal are prepared with limited external and scientific contribution, they are rich with local information. However, the limited knowledge and capacity of local people in relation to specific climate change impacts and potential solutions mean the plans bear little difference to regular development activities. Nearly all the activities identified contributed to adaptation and mitigation, as well as economic development, within a context of environmental sustainability, but appeared not to address the social equity and justice aspects of social sustainability. Moreover, this article argues that the community has greater confidence in plans prepared when donor funding is channelled through existing government mechanisms than through more directly donor funded approaches. It may continue to be necessary to keep adaptation plans separate from development plans until there is a greater understanding of the means to and need for adaptation as part of mainstream development planning.
Banko Janakari, 2015
Climate change is now recognized as one of the most serious challenges facing the world-its people, the environment and its economies. Rural people are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its high dependence on climatesensitive sectors like glaciers, agriculture and forestry, and its low financial adaptive capacity. This study was carried out with the aim of assessing and documenting vulnerability and adaptation strategies of forest-dependent people to climate change effects in Mid-hills of Nepal. Primary data were collected from household survey, interview with key informants, and focused group discussion. The results showed that the average annual rainfall was decreasing at the rate of 18.02 mm whereas the average annual mean temperature was increasing at the rate of 0.07°c per year. The major climatic hazards, of the study area, identified were long drought and landslide. The chi-square test shows that the poor forest-dependent people are more vulnerable to long drought, landslide and floods as compared to the rich rural people. Indigenous adaptation practices such as cultivation of vegetables and other crops that are less susceptible to droughts, and rearing of hybrid-varieties of livestock are mostly used to cope with climate change impacts. The results indicate that 15% of the respondents have changed their cropping pattern from paddy to off-seasonal vegetables crops because of more income from vegetable farming. Raising awareness and sharing information as well as increasing income from farming among the locals by applying new technologies should be done in order to build their capacity to cope with climate change impact.
Assessing Climate Change Adaptation Strategies of Rural People in Nepal
Nepalese Journal of Development and Rural Studies, 2018
This paper presents climate change adaptation strategies applying by the rural people living around Chedaguard Municipality ward no. 6 of Jajarkot district. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in the survey and further data were obtained through focus group discussions, case study and participant observations techniques. In doing so, the fous was given to agriculture based livelihoods including forest, water resources, health sector, energy and natural land reform practices. Likewise, changing pattern of rainfall, temperature, humidity were analyzed. Existence of new diseases on agriculture, water resource dryness, forest degradation, forest fire, etc. has been explored resulting with degradation of agricultural production and productivity To adapt from the climate change of this impact, local people have been using Jeevatu, Sisnu, Titepati, Banmara, Khirro, etc. as a bio-pesticides. Similarly, people have used improved cooking stoves to protect forest and they ha...
Regional Environmental Change, 2013
This study analyzes the factors influencing the adoption of various adaptation practices by a highly marginalized indigenous community in the remote rural Mid-Hills of Nepal. The analysis is based on a household survey conducted among 221 Chepang households selected randomly. A multivariate probit model was used to analyze five categories of adaptation choices against a set of socio-economic, institutional, infrastructural, and perception variables. Perception of rainfall changes, size of landholding, status of land tenure, distance to motor road, access to productive credit, information, extension services, and skill development trainings are all influential to enable households to deviate away from traditional coping strategies and adopt suitable practices to adapt to climate vagaries. Policies and development activities should be geared to address these determinants in order to facilitate adaptation.
Journal of Environment Science, 2017
Climate change impacts and adaptation needs for farmers residing the rural settlements of Nuwakot district, Central Nepal were analyzed based on both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative data were collected using participatory social survey techniques viz. key informant interview (KI), household survey (HH), focus group discussions (FGDs) and case studies. Quantitative data includes historical precipitation and temperature trends. Result shows that local residents have observed clear signs of climate change over the years. Local farmers have developed their own ways of adaptation, though a systematic adaptation strategy valuing the structural causes of vulnerability is must to scale up adaptive capacity of farmers residing these rural settlements.
Improving Forest-Based Livelihoods through Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Planning
Crossing the Border: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2014
Forest-based livelihoods are ruthlessly affected by climate change and other non-climatic stressors. Forests as one of the precious natural assets available in the Chitwan Annapurna area is an appropriate sector to address community and ecosystem vulnerability through adaptation works like plantation, protecting biophysical environment against hazards like landslide, floods, and water scarcity. In Nepal, Community Forest Users Groups with legal entity serves as grassroot organizations in preparation of community based adaptation plan of action (CAPA). Hariyo Ban Program, have facilitated in preparation of community based adaptation plans in remote, vulnerable and marginalized communities of different places of Gandaki river basin. The result shows community perception towards climatic and non climatic stresses and its impacts in forest based livelihoods. Climate change, its variability and extreme events have mystified people’s livelihood and forced them to further suffering. Prepar...
Evaluating participatory techniques for adaptation to climate change: Nepal case study
Forest Policy and Economics, 2018
The community-based climate change adaptation plan of action (CAPA) ensures a bottom-up planning process to minimize climate impacts on the livelihood of vulnerable people and provides adaptation actions for increasing resilience capacity in Nepal. This paper mainly examines the role of participatory tools and techniques with the potential to identify the level of vulnerability and likely adaptation measures to increase the forest resilience capacities of communities where CAPA has been prepared (i.e. CAPA group). In total, 13 participatory qualitative tools were evaluated against 15 criteria for identifying their performance in nine CAPA groups representing three geographical regions of Nepal. Multivariate analyses of the participatory tools and their performance allowed for selecting the most similar and dissimilar CAPA groups. The results indicated how CAPA groups are evaluating the likelihood of climate change impact, determining the vulnerability of specific ecosystem services and understanding the possible local adaptation measures. Many methods do not offer conditions for exploiting new innovative opportunities, assessing scenarios or identifying ecosystem services in the CAPA process. Tools are required that consider qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, measure vulnerability and ecosystem functions and services. Although many issues related to local conditions and vulnerabilities have not been tapped adequately, it is difficult to generalize individual case study results within the different geographical contexts of Nepal. The integration of adaptation planning in local institutions, in order to deal with different ecosystem-based adaptation options, along with identification of climate change scenarios, impacts, trade-offs, synergies and the sensitivity of management problems, is highly recommended.
Household and community responses to impacts of climate change in the rural hills of Nepal
Climatic Change, 2018
The research was designed to answer how households and local communities in rural Nepal are responding to the impacts of climate change. Using four villages as case study units, a mixed method approach was adopted in a multi-scaled process carried out at community, district and national levels. The research found that adaptation practices being adopted differ according to household well-being and are largely governed by access to education, information and resources within the community. Responses such as livelihood and income diversification, internal migration, share cropping, taking consumption loans, use of alternative energy and use of bio-pesticides were found to mostly vary according to well-being status of the interviewees. Development of adaptation plans, strategies and support mechanisms should take account of the different adaptation practices and needs of households. If such individual situations are not considered, adaptation responses may be ineffective or even be maladaptive and increase vulnerability. The research also found that the autonomous, unplanned and reactive nature of adaptation practices chosen by rural communities can contribute to further inequity and unequal power relations. The knowledge generated from this research contributes to understanding of how climate change contributes to vulnerability, but also how local practices and lack of an effective climate policy or response measures may magnify the effects of many existing drivers of vulnerability in terms of maladaptation and increasing social inequalities.
The conservation and sustainable use of biological resources and help local people to adapt in adverse impacts is best solution of adapting towards the anticipated climate change. To address the effective means of adaptation it is necessary to know in which natural system they live. Mainly local people perception, experience, Indigenous practices are often under-prioritized due to lack of scientific proof. Many Nepalese people in rural area have been implementing such cost effective and eco-friendly mechanism knowingly and unknowingly. Therefore this study introduces different kinds of local people activities and approach which are used towards changing environment. A case study of the Panchase Area western region of Nepal is presented to demonstrate the applicability of this approach. The result of the study shows the how the local people of panchase area are responding toward climate variability and its impacts on different ecosystem goods and services including agriculture. The protection of biodiversity is essential in the fight to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development. The impact of environmental degradation is most severe for people living in Poverty, because they have few livelihood options to fall back on. This study with the aim of assessing and documenting ecosystem based adaptation strategies of rural people to climate change effects. Primary data were collected from household survey. Local Indigenous adaptations methods are mostly adapted by the various communities in the study area. Various ecosystem based adaptation practices have been carried out by local people towards anticipated climate change and they are applied especially in forest and soil conservation, agriculture, livestock, and tourism and watershed management.