Abstract
Climate change and related hazards affect the livelihoods of people and their vulnerability to shocks and stresses. Though research on the linkages between a changing climate and vulnerability has been increasing, only a few studies have examined the caste/ethnicity and gender dimensions of livelihood vulnerability. In this study, we attempt to explore how cultural and gender-related aspects influence livelihood vulnerability in indigenous farming mountain communities of the Nepal Himalaya in the context of climate change. We applied the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) to estimate household (social group and gender-based) vulnerability in farming communities in the Melamchi River Valley, Nepal. The results identified female-headed families, and those belonging to disadvantaged social groups as more vulnerable and in need of being preferentially targeted by policy measures. Higher exposure to climatic extremes and related hazards, dependency on natural resources, lack of financial assets, and weak social networking were identified as components that determine overall vulnerability. The study also visualizes complex adaptation pathways and analyzes the influence of gender and ethnicity on the capacities of households and communities to adapt to climate change.
Highlights
Climate change and its impacts on livelihood have become areas of prime concern in the scientific and political community [1]
We found financial assets, and natural disaster and climate variability to be the most important components affecting livelihood vulnerability of the social group, which is followed by the components of livelihood strategies
We found the indicators that have been used are very important for calculating livelihood vulnerability and are suitable for mountainous regions
Summary
Climate change and its impacts on livelihood have become areas of prime concern in the scientific and political community [1]. Current climate shocks and stresses already have an overwhelming impact on the vulnerability of households, in rural communities [3,4,5]. Frequency and intensity of weather-related extremes and gradual changes in the average temperature are expected to exacerbate vulnerability and are more prominent in mountainous regions [5,6]. In addition to exposure to climate extremes and gradual changes in climatic conditions, a combination of social, economic, and environmental factors is responsible for the vulnerability of rural households [7,8]. Social, and economic challenges especially for indigenous rural communities in mountains because of their high dependency on climate-sensitive natural resources [9,10] and because lack of resources limits their ability to cope with and adapt to stresses of all kinds
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