Chapter 2 - Assessment and management of small Farmer's climate risks in the hills and plains of Nepal

Abstract

The reliance of the majority of small farmers of Nepal on rainfed agriculture makes them highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. A better understanding of the climate risks and vulnerability of small farmers is required for good adaptation planning. In order to manage the climate risks of the small farmers in the hills and plains of Nepal, we, in this study, attempted to empirically assess their climate risks by randomly selecting a total of 300 households from five villages each in the plains and hills in Nawalpur district. In line with the risk framing of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we estimated the climate risks of the small peasants by computing their climate hazard, exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity based on primary survey-based data. We used the ideal displaced method advocated by Mishra and Nathan for the estimation of vulnerability. Our findings demonstrate that smallholders of both the plains and hills of Nepal face high climatic risks due to their dependence on rain-fed farming combined with high exposure and susceptibility to water-related stress and poor adaptive capacity. However, smallholders of hill regions face higher climatic risks than those in plains. A comprehensive and contextual approach to adaptation that accommodates people's values and addresses diverse and multidimensional risks is more effective than those with a narrow focus on singular risks. Thus, an integrated, multiscalar, and transformative adaptation approach is needed to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce risk and vulnerability of small farmers of Nepal.