Helping the poorest to survive Promoting Adaptation to Climate Change

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1 Helping the poorest to survive Over the next several decades, individuals, communities and countries will have to continue to adapt to climate change, failing to do so will not only threaten the future development, but will also undermine the current achievements. Adaptation has now received attentions for discussion in various forums and gatherings, but it is still difficult and contextual to apply in practice. This paper briefly reviews the climate change and its impacts at national and local levels in Nepal, which indicate climate uncertainties are sure in the coming years. The paper also highlights adaptation strategy and areas for action at community level based on the experiences of Practical Action in Nepal.

2 2 Helping the poorest to survive The changing climate The global average temperature from 1990 to 2005 has increased by 0.2º C per decade. The temperature increase during is projected at 1.8º - 4.0º C relative to The average temperature over Nepal rose by 0.06º C per year from 1977 to The mean annual temperature of Nepal is projected to increase by C by the 2060s, and C by the 2090s. The range of projections by the 2090s under any one emissions scenario is C 3. These figures demonstrate that, it is very likely within next 100 years, there will be rise in temperature by 2 C or greater the dangerous global warming level. The impacts of climate change may be even more severe and more rapid than those reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the start of The change in temperature stimulates changes in other elements of climate, making rainfall less predictable, changing the character of the seasons and increasing the likelihood or severity of extreme events such as cyclones, floods and droughts. The inappropriate resource management and development malpractices are aggravating the impacts of climate change. Climate change and its impacts in Nepal The weather conditions have become hotter over most of the regions in the country. Monsoon rainfall has become erratic whilst winter rainfall has become scarcer and periods of drought have become longer. There are drastic drops in the number and quality of water sources. Higher levels of sedimentation have altered the watercourse arising difficulties to access water for use. The sedimentation in the valley bottoms and the landslides in the hills have reduced the area of cultivated land. Incidences of livestock endoparasites have increased in higher elevations due to warming while more pests and diseases with compounding effect of high temperature and water stress conditions have infested the crops. There are evidences that paddy fields have been converted into maize or millet fields or other crops as the Some facts about climate change in Nepal: Climate change is likely to bring rapid temperature increase over Nepal faster than the average global rate of warming. The temperature in the mountains is more likely to become extreme and mid western region is likely to experience high average temperature compared to other regions Maximum temperature is likely to increase at higher rate than the minimum temperature thereby creating extreme climatic situations The level of winter rainfall is expected to be uncertain, whilst summer rainfall might increase in total with erratic events in terms of time and place of rainfall Extreme weather events such as heat waves, cold waves, hail, droughts and intensive rainfall are likely to become more frequent Nepal is likely to experience wetter in wet seasons and regions, and drier in dry regions and seasons Mid western region is likely to become drier whereas Siwalik areas are likely to get increasing intensive rainfalls changes in rainfall pattern have brought changes in farming environment. The prolong drought, erratic rainfall, associated climate induced disasters, pests and diseases, have now become frequent and have adversely affected the production and productivity of agriculture. The adverse impact of climate change on agriculture has ultimately threatened the food security especially of the small farmers who vastly depend on the natural climate for their agriculture. The overall observed temperature over Nepal from 1976 to 2005 confirmed an increasing trend. However, some pocket areas have experienced relatively high annual positive trend while some have experienced negative trend. The case of precipitation is also the same. 1 IPCC (2007). Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Reports of Fourth Assessment Reports 2 Shrestha, A.B., Wake, C.P., Mayewski, P.A., and Dibb, J.E. (1999). Maximum temperature trends in the Himalaya and its vicinity. An analysis based on temperature records from Nepal for the period Journal of Climate 12, pp McSweeney, C., New M. and Lizcano G. (2008). UNDP Climate Change Country Profiles, Nepal

3 Helping the poorest to survive 3 Map 1: Spatial variation of Annual Mean Temperature Trend, ( C/year) Map 2: Annual rainfall (mm/year) trend,

4 4 Helping the poorest to survive resources and weak coping and adaptation mechanisms and capacities. Climate change makes it easier for falling into poverty trap, and harder for the poorest to escape from it. Adaptation to meet the challenge The scale of long term impacts of climate change can be controlled through mitigation - the reduction of Green House Gases (GHG) concentration in the atmosphere. However, regardless of efforts to reduce GHG emissions the effects of climate change are already visible and are unavoidable because of the GHG level that is already in the atmosphere and the slow process in the climate system. A poor family in front of their shelter Hitting the poorest first Climate change is affecting to all the resources that we depend on for our livelihoods. The impacts are more visible among the poor and vulnerable communities. Climate change has added extra burden on the social and economic challenges that the poorest are already facing i.e. displacement, disintegration and increasing poverty. It has made the vulnerable communities more vulnerable due to dependence of their livelihoods on climate sensitive natural Effects of climate change on the livelihood assets: Natural resources: Climate change directly threatens ecosystems. Change in natural environment undermines the poor who depend on local ecosystems for a variety of goods and services. Changes in local ecosystems will entail changes to agricultural systems and practices, the basic livelihood of the poor Physical assets: Shelter and infrastructure will be more susceptible to damages as frequency of flooding, storms, landslides, untimely rainfall and climate related hazards increase Financial resources: The repeated failure of crops or loss of infrastructure, homes, lives and properties leads to increased household costs, decline in income, slower economic development and poor livelihood security Human resources: Malnutrition, heat stress and the incidents of infectious diseases are predicted to rise with changing weather patterns and the impacts of climate change on resources Social assets: Reduced livelihood security and prolonged or more frequent droughts, floods and landslides will lead to the displacement of the communities due to livelihood failures, this brings disintegration and conflict between the communities The actions and strategies to build communities' ability to adapt to climate change can and must be undertaken before "the last crops have failed". Sharing experiences, obstacles and positive initiatives with other communities and development policy makers must be an integral part of national adaptation strategies. Government must allocate resources to prepare for the inevitable impacts of climate change and develop adaptation activities and skills within the communities. The Challenges: Building adaptive capacity of the vulnerable communities: this demands to consider/mainstream climate change into community based development, improve in the availability of appropriate information and skills, effective institutions; and increase in the poor people's access to technology, opportunities and resources Reducing vulnerability of communities from the adverse impacts of climate change: this requires the protection of existing assets including the ecosystems on which communities depend, improved risk management, increased assets and widening the available range of livelihood options An elder community member demonstrating the flood level

5 Helping the poorest to survive 5 Adaptation responding to the threats of climate change: Adaptation must focus on the priority needs of the people and the priority sector most affected by adverse impacts of climate change Adaptation must aim to secure the livelihoods of the poor and reduce the most significant hazards and their impacts Adaptation must identify and promote the communities' knowledge alongside science based knowledge to develop sound adaptation strategies The government must develop adaptation policies that enable local level actions Nepal has initiated preparing National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) while this paper was being written. To ensure a positive impact on the livelihoods of most vulnerable communities, climate change adaptation should support the development of community based adaptation systems. The adaptation strategies should be based on sustainable livelihood options and sound management of ecosystems through strengthening capacities, skills and institutions to react and adapt to climate changes. More specifically, climate change adaptation strategies, should: Begin with vulnerability assessments based on strong social analysis to focus on the most vulnerable; and to identify and reduce the most significant vulnerabilities they face according to their needs Value the knowledge and strategies that the poor are already using to cope with climate change, use them as a basis to identify priorities and to define actions Empower communities to participate in the development of climate change sensitive interventions and policies; ensuring effective interaction between decision makers and planners from key climate change affected sectors in both government and funders' structures Require agriculture, water resources including energy, transport, forestry and health departments of the government to undertake an analysis to asses climate change impacts on their sectors and identify policies and interventions that will increase the resilience of these sectors Facilitate delivery of resources, supports and services at community level, including information, skills, technology, and finance aimed at reducing risk from climate change induced disaster Ensure risks related to climate change and community based responses to adaptation are mainstreamed into the most appropriate planning frameworks and development plans, including Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Promote integration of mitigation and adaptation through appropriate actions such as forest conservation and renewable energy programmes Coordinate for investment at the national and intergovernmental levels for important adaptation activities such as management of increasingly scarce water resources and infrastructures. Community Based Adaptation (CBA) reaching Nepal's rural poor Climate change and its impacts are localised. It is more so in the case of Nepal where the geography creates numbers of microclimates. The localised climate change and its impacts demand localised actions. Therefore, the most appropriate approach for climate change adaptation is community based adaptation (CBA) where the communities have localised traditional practices and climate knowledge. These practices and knowledge should be incorporated into climate change adaptation together with systematic understanding of the local climate change and its impacts. Nevertheless, because of integrity of one microclimate and micro ecosystem with another, the CBA might require to coordinate and integrate with the actions beyond the local borders at various levels for its effectiveness. Climate change profoundly affects the lifestyles and destroys the livelihoods of communities. Only the CBA can provide effective adaptation mechanism that support to adjust and timely respond to the adverse impacts of the climate change. Awareness of climate change is a key pillar of CBA CBA activities provide communities with diversified livelihoods, alternative sources of income and better infrastructure; such strategies have immediate positive impacts whilst supporting the ability of communities to adapt to climate changes in the future CBA can be more effective by focusing on two existing areas of policy - disaster risk reduction and livelihoods support with diversification; these overlapping activities address the key climate vulnerabilities and build capacity to deal with the future challenges

6 6 Helping the poorest to survive Practical Action's experiences on CBA CBA emphasises the importance of understanding the traditional responses to climate variabilities. However, the traditional knowledge may no longer be sufficient when long term unpredictable shifts in temperature and rainfall are expected. By building on their understanding of the climate and environment, and by sharing experiences, communities are able to develop their own strategies for climate change adaptation. Women, who play a key role in natural resource management, household chores and taking care of the family members, are central to ensuring that they properly understand the impacts of climate change. Local and national government policies are needed to support the communities in this process of defining and achieving their goals. In Practical Action's experience, there is an urgent need for support to the communities affected adversely by the impact of the climate change, and taking appropriate action now can be more cost effective and timely. While the adaptation strategies provide opportunities for livelihood improvements for the communities, it also creates 'win-win' situation as the strategies target the twin goals of CBA i.e. building adaptive capacity and reducing vulnerability. Areas of immediate focus for CBA Adaptation to climate change at community level requires an integrated approach across the sectors and institutions. Followings are the areas that need immediate focus for CBA: A farmer adopted banana farming in response to climate change change hits agriculture in many ways. High, low and intensive rainfall, prolonged drought, changed in timing of rainfall, frequent erratic weather events have affected the agricultural production, making it more difficult for poor farmers to continue with traditional cultivation practices. Furthermore, the increasing pests and diseases have adversely affected the agriculture when crops grow under stressful conditions with high temperature combined with prolonged drought. Strengthening the existing agriculture livelihoods - Agriculture is the way of living for most of the rural people in Nepal. Climate The experiences say: Livelihood diversification and disaster risk reduction are integral parts of climate change adaptation and CBA provides low cost interventions with significant difference to those most affected by climate change Whilst local community based interventions are essential aspects of adaptation, there is an urgent need for adaptation planning and investment across all sectors. Long term reductions in water supply, declining yields of staple food crops, risks to hydropower, roads and other infrastructures, vegetation changes and new challenges to human health are all examples of anticipated impacts of climate change that need planning immediately Government at all levels need to support CBA together with communities, and develop and implement strategies that respond to the wider and larger scale implications of climate change Impact of climate change on water resources has directly affected the agriculture. Nepal's majority farmers depend on rainfall for cultivation. Since the rainfall deviates from past pattern, the available water resources and irrigation facilities are negatively affected. Previously irrigated lands are also now converted into rain fed land. To minimise these effects, diverse measures for water conservation and management have to be introduced. Similarly, farmers are forced to use more chemicals since there is increase in pests and diseases. Farmers' awareness on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and timely actions to enhance their capacity and skill on pest management is one of the key areas in adaptation of agriculture to climate change. To minimise the effects of climate change on agriculture require diversification of crop species, varieties, cultivation and management practices that match with changed climatic situation. Promote alternative livelihoods through skills development and harnessing opportunities - The changing climate is affecting agriculture, to continue their livelihoods the poor farmers are

7 Helping the poorest to survive 7 compelled to seek for alternative livelihood opportunities. Generally, farmers prefer alternative livelihoods that depend on locally available natural resources, existing skills and knowledge and local economic opportunities. Therefore, adaptation programmes should promote livelihood options that are based on the needs, opportunities and priorities of the affected communities which are locally feasible. The preference of local resources brings additional pressure on the existing resources so a reasonable balance is to be promoted between the use and conservation of local resources like forest while delivering adaptation strategies. It is also imperative to enhance the skills and capacity of the community to tap the opportunities available beyond their local circumstances, since the people look for opportunities out of their local area if they fail to get any local opportunities. Support the communities with disaster risk reduction actions - As the climate has changed with unpredictable rainfall, evidences of increasing trend in climate related disasters has been observed resulting from floods, landslides and droughts. The shifting of temperature regime towards higher elevations is likely to threaten the health of the people, livestock and crops with pests and diseases which were not prevalent there earlier. To cope with the effect the DRR activities including early warning system should be promoted as a part of adaptation strategy. Moreover, the DRR activities should be integrated with the livelihood activities to enhance risk reduction capacity of the communities and reduce the vulnerabilities. Forest conservation for livelihood enhancement Integrate mitigations including clean and low carbon development mechanisms with adaptation - Nepal's GHG emission is negligible. Nevertheless, adaptation activities should also include carbon sinks and low emission activities. These include conservation of forest and promoting energy access at the community level through renewable energy sources. The conservation of natural resources and forest will not only help sequestrate the carbon, but also provide necessary resources for alternative livelihoods. Mainstream the CBA into local and national development process - Climate change affects at local level and the communities are the ones who need to take actions for climate change adaptation. However, adaptation at local level cannot be achieved in isolation. The CBA plans and actions should be integrated into the government's development process at local and national levels. They need to be supported through institutional mechanism, financial resources and technical backups. Currently, support mechanism to CBA is not in place in Nepal which is urgently needed and should be a priority of the government. Bio-engineering used as an appropriate technology for river bank protection Working for scaling up Practical Action's majority activities are focused at community level which helps generate useful knowledge and experiences. As one of the main goals of the organisation is "achieving impact at scale" Practical Action shares the learning and experiences with wider stakeholders to scale up the proven technologies, approaches and activities. For this, Practical Action works with

8 8 Helping the poorest to survive like minded organisations to cover more geographical area and number of beneficiaries; brings such practices, knowledge and experiences to the notice of policy makers; and influence to incorporate the learning into local and national policies, plans and programmes for wider applications. Focus of Practical Action in Nepal Nepal as a whole is highly vulnerable to impacts of climate change. However, from economic, environmental and climate change point of view, the far-western and mid-western development regions of the country are the priority areas to Practical Action. People living in different ecological zones (mountains, hills and plains) in the regions are in need of immediate actions that help them adapt to climate change. Practical Action in Nepal aims at working with an estimated population of 60,000 (10,000 households) over a period of four years in the regions with integrated and community based climate change adaptation programme. For further information: PRACTICAL ACTION NEPAL OFFICE Pandole Marg PO Box Lazimpat, Kathmandu Telephone: / Fax: info@practicalaction.org.np