Abstract ID: 3.12259 | Not reviewed | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Climate change impacts are becoming more severe, adversely affecting the population living in rural areas of Nepal. Rising temperature, erratic rainfall and extreme climatic event such as drought and flood have led to water shortage, crop failures and infestation of diseases and pests. Besides climatic changes, communities are also experiencing non-climatic changes such as infrastructure development, which have feedback on local environment. These changes can have both positive and negative implications on adaptive capacity and precarity of rural communities. This study is undertaken in Indrawati rural municipality, Sindhupalchowk district to investigate interplay between environmental change and socioeconomic outcomes and assess effectiveness of existing interventions aimed at improving local lives and livelihoods. This study analyses trends of rainfall, using data of the nearest meteorological station. Participatory rural appraisal tools such as focus group discussions (FGD), field observations and key informant interviews were conducted to gather information on local livelihoods, climate change impacts and interventions of governmental and non-governmental organizations in the area. Analysis of rainfall data from1994 to 2023 shows a decline in total annual rainfall than compared to average annual rainfall. This matches with perception of FGD participants and interviewees about increasing drought. Decrease in rainfall led to drying of springs and water shortages for domestic uses and irrigation. Despite water shortage, locals have been continuing agriculture with limited available water, using grey water and shifting to crops requiring less water. Crop raiding by wildlife such as monkey has dampened their efforts and increased crop failures. There have been incidences of conflict on water supply between upstream and downstream communities. The local government has implemented livelihood support programs focusing on agriculture, livestock and water supply projects; however, success of these livelihood projects hinges on water supply, which has not yielded desirable outcomes. Consequently, local people have gradually abandoned agriculture, shifting to non-farm-based livelihoods and migrating to urban areas for alternative livelihood opportunities. It is imperative for governmental and non-governmental agencies to implement integrated interventions mitigate climate change impacts, improves adaptive capacity and ensures well-being of communities.