Context:
Climate change induced risks and hazards have created both opportunities and challenges to the rural livelihoods of the countries like Nepal. Specifically in Nepalese context, rural livelihoods are challenged by increased frequency and intensity of droughts, rainfall, landslides, flash floods, heat and cold waves resulting into loss of productive assets, lives, pest attack, decreased crop productivity, decreased ecosystem services, forest fires, health impacts, and infrastructure damage. Some of the advantages due to climate change are early crop maturity, production of more crops per crop cycle, shifting tree line, possibility of more crops production and livelihood opportunities in higher altitudes, etc.
Evidences/Cases:
Participatory interactions with local farming communities and user groups in various locations of Nepal revealed that there are local initiatives to adapt to climate risks and hazards that are further strengthened with the external inputs from research and extension agencies promoting community based adaptation. Some of the key examples of community based adaptation are:
Dang (Midwestern Nepal):
The users of Debisthan Community Forest User Group (CFUG) of Kathaberuwa village of Bela VDC of Dang district have prepared local adaptation plan. With the preparation of Plan, communities are more aware on the climate change, its impacts and the need of local adaptation. They have identified untimely rainfall and floods are the key climatic hazards facing challenging to their livelihoods resulting into deposition of sands in the productive lands and river cutting. After the preparation of local adaptation plan, they have started community sensitization by forming a drama group, realized and started sustainable management of their forest and conservation of water resources.
Gorkha (Western Nepal):
The farmers of Taklung Village of Taklung VDC of Gorkha district in 2011, due to prolonged drought during June, could not transplant rice in uplands. As a result, they lost a local upland rice variety called as Shovara because the seeds of the variety did not germinate in 2012 season. Over the time, they have also lost aroma in Gauriya rice. Due to untimely rainfall, maize plantation has delayed by 1 month [Earlier they used to plant in last week of March]. They also realized differential gender impacts of such changes in the communities. Such as drying of water sources have increased work load of women, whereas decreased production of crops and performance of livestock has increased more responsibility for men to manage the crisis.
Despite the few efforts of communities to deal with the changes brought by climate change, they have introduced early maturing variety of maize such as Arun 2 and Rampur Composite from agro-vets and farmer to farmer knowledge exchange to deal with late planting due to untimely rainfall. In rice, they have grown a drought tolerant variety named Judi. In the Bakrang VDC of the district, maize planting is delayed by one month and spring rice planting is also delayed by 1 month [in Late April]. Yield of upland rice has decreased due to disease. In lower belt, farmers have observed decline in mandarin production and has shifted in upper belt [i.e. in higher altitudes]. Farmers also experienced early flowering of peach. As a bottom up adaptation, agro-forestry practiced by the farmers is helpful to reduce soil loss to some extend during high intensity rainfall. Some farmers have initiated broom grass cultivation that has provided forage for livestock, broom for income generation, and soil erosion control. Some farmers have been shifting mandarin in higher altitudes and cultivating banana in lower altitudes.
The key community based adaptation oriented livelihoods options identified in the area (Taklung and Bakrang VDCs) are-i) promotion of agro-forestry e.g. promotion of forages and fodders along with diverse farming in the terraces such as coffee, broom grass; manure management and soil fertilization with organic manures; crop diversification: growing legumes integrating with cereal crops such as maize, millet; promotion of local underutilized crops such as yam, taro, etc; integrated management of home gardens: integrating diversity with water management; water harvesting structures to collect water; water sources conservation; and drainage maintenance in the terraces and slope stabilization.
Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL):
During the preparation of community adaptation plans of action (CAPAs) in the selected 16 CFUGs of Gorkha, Lamjung, Tanahun, Kaski, and Syangja districts of Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, the forest users have perceived an overall increase in temperature, shortened winter period, erratic rainfall with high intensity in short duration, prolonged drought, early flowering and maturity of crops, increased distribution of invasive species in forests and agricultural land, drying up of water sources, and decreased soil fertility and crop productivity. Among the impacts in three ecosystems (agriculture, forest and water), communities scored highest impacts of climate change in agro-ecosystem in most CFUGs.
The key community based adaptation interventions identified in the CAPAs are promotion of tree plantation along with bioengineering structures, conservation of water sources, management of invasive species (such as Mikania, Crofton weed, etc), promotion of conservation agricultural production system (ensuring minimum soil disturbance, continuous soil cover, and crop rotation with legume integration), promotion of drought tolerant crop species, sustainable forest management, fire control interventions, and agro-forestry in crop lands. During the endorsements of CAPAs, communities seemed very hopeful for implementation of CAPAs with support from concerned agencies (government, non government, and private sector) with their cash matching for the implementation of CAPAs amounting 11% of the total fund of all CAPAs ranging from 5%-23%.
In addition, the operation of weather monitoring stations (called climate diaries) by local communities in Rupa Watershed of Kaski has increased communities access to weather information as well as provided confidence to carry out farming operations as for example in the Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fishery Cooperative has referred the temperature record of the climate diaries to decide on introduction of fish fingerlings into the lake.
The shifting cultivators of Gorkha, Dhading, Chitwan, Tanahun and Nawalparasi districts have adopted technologies such as integrated hedge rows that include forages and fodders in the hedges and fruits and legumes in the alleys in the shifting cultivation lands. These interventions have reduced soil erosion, increased availability of fodders for livestock and increased market linkage of the communities due to fruits and commercial crops such as banana, citrus, legumes (black gram, cowpea and horse gram), and broom grass.
Key Message:
Besides the local initiatives to community based adaptation to climate change, the local adaptation responses and plans are offering opportunities for building local resilience with the leadership of local communities and stakeholders. In this context, in order to effectively adapt to the impacts of climate change, scaling up of community based adaptation interventions through creation of synergies and leverage of resources at local level is central to building and sustaining communities' responses to climate change. Hence local level financing for building local adaptation should be the key strategy to promote community based adaptation approaches in the climate change vulnerable countries like Nepal.
Despite the few efforts of communities to deal with the changes brought by climate change, they have introduced early maturing variety of maize such as Arun 2 and Rampur Composite from agro-vets and farmer to farmer knowledge exchange to deal with late planting due to untimely rainfall. In rice, they have grown a drought tolerant variety named Judi. In the Bakrang VDC of the district, maize planting is delayed by one month and spring rice planting is also delayed by 1 month [in Late April]. Yield of upland rice has decreased due to disease. In lower belt, farmers have observed decline in mandarin production and has shifted in upper belt [i.e. in higher altitudes]. Farmers also experienced early flowering of peach. As a bottom up adaptation, agro-forestry practiced by the farmers is helpful to reduce soil loss to some extend during high intensity rainfall. Some farmers have initiated broom grass cultivation that has provided forage for livestock, broom for income generation, and soil erosion control. Some farmers have been shifting mandarin in higher altitudes and cultivating banana in lower altitudes.
The key community based adaptation oriented livelihoods options identified in the area (Taklung and Bakrang VDCs) are-i) promotion of agro-forestry e.g. promotion of forages and fodders along with diverse farming in the terraces such as coffee, broom grass; manure management and soil fertilization with organic manures; crop diversification: growing legumes integrating with cereal crops such as maize, millet; promotion of local underutilized crops such as yam, taro, etc; integrated management of home gardens: integrating diversity with water management; water harvesting structures to collect water; water sources conservation; and drainage maintenance in the terraces and slope stabilization.
Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL):
During the preparation of community adaptation plans of action (CAPAs) in the selected 16 CFUGs of Gorkha, Lamjung, Tanahun, Kaski, and Syangja districts of Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, the forest users have perceived an overall increase in temperature, shortened winter period, erratic rainfall with high intensity in short duration, prolonged drought, early flowering and maturity of crops, increased distribution of invasive species in forests and agricultural land, drying up of water sources, and decreased soil fertility and crop productivity. Among the impacts in three ecosystems (agriculture, forest and water), communities scored highest impacts of climate change in agro-ecosystem in most CFUGs.
The key community based adaptation interventions identified in the CAPAs are promotion of tree plantation along with bioengineering structures, conservation of water sources, management of invasive species (such as Mikania, Crofton weed, etc), promotion of conservation agricultural production system (ensuring minimum soil disturbance, continuous soil cover, and crop rotation with legume integration), promotion of drought tolerant crop species, sustainable forest management, fire control interventions, and agro-forestry in crop lands. During the endorsements of CAPAs, communities seemed very hopeful for implementation of CAPAs with support from concerned agencies (government, non government, and private sector) with their cash matching for the implementation of CAPAs amounting 11% of the total fund of all CAPAs ranging from 5%-23%.
In addition, the operation of weather monitoring stations (called climate diaries) by local communities in Rupa Watershed of Kaski has increased communities access to weather information as well as provided confidence to carry out farming operations as for example in the Rupa Lake Rehabilitation and Fishery Cooperative has referred the temperature record of the climate diaries to decide on introduction of fish fingerlings into the lake.
The shifting cultivators of Gorkha, Dhading, Chitwan, Tanahun and Nawalparasi districts have adopted technologies such as integrated hedge rows that include forages and fodders in the hedges and fruits and legumes in the alleys in the shifting cultivation lands. These interventions have reduced soil erosion, increased availability of fodders for livestock and increased market linkage of the communities due to fruits and commercial crops such as banana, citrus, legumes (black gram, cowpea and horse gram), and broom grass.
Key Message:
Besides the local initiatives to community based adaptation to climate change, the local adaptation responses and plans are offering opportunities for building local resilience with the leadership of local communities and stakeholders. In this context, in order to effectively adapt to the impacts of climate change, scaling up of community based adaptation interventions through creation of synergies and leverage of resources at local level is central to building and sustaining communities' responses to climate change. Hence local level financing for building local adaptation should be the key strategy to promote community based adaptation approaches in the climate change vulnerable countries like Nepal.
