Water sourced from Asian mountains is vital to the survival of an estimated 1.4 billion people, but current and anticipated changes in snow, ice cover, and precipitation patterns may threaten these supplies and, in turn, the food security of tens of millions of people. Despite the severity of this developing environmental hazard, the relative importance of each component of the water cycle still needs more detailed study so that those communities who will experience the greatest extremes in supply can be identified. Specifically, data showing how the contribution of meltwater varies with increasing distance downstream are lacking for many mountain catchments, although the use of stable isotope tracers provides some hope in this regard. Imprinted on regional-scale hydroclimatological controls of water availability are local-scale cultural beliefs and practices that have evolved over centuries, which determine who is able to access water supplies, for how long, and for what purpose. Building the resilience of human populations and the environment to future changes in water supply therefore depends on effective interdisciplinary team working to develop an understanding of the complex interactions between physical, socioeconomic, cultural, and historical factors, and that can only be properly realized if local communities are considered as an integral part of the research team. Developing simple and practical methods for water management, storage, and societal adaptation that are appropriate to the socioeconomic and political conditions of mountain-dwelling communities will only be sustainable if they are built on this integrated knowledge base.
Characterisation of 27 types of biomass was performed together with an assessment of regional resource availability. Charcoal was produced under two conditions from all samples and their yields were compared. Sugarcane bagasse, sal and pine produced the best charcoal with a low volatile matter and high calorific value. The amount of high-quality charcoal which can be made within Nepal from the biomass types tested is equivalent to 8,073,000 tonnes of firewood a year or 51% of the yearly demand. The areas which would benefit the most from charcoal making facilities are the Mid-hills of the Western, Central and Eastern Development Regions, as well as the Terai in the Central and Eastern Development Regions. The main potential benefit is to convert agricultural residues which are underutilised because, in their original form, produce large quantities of smoke, to cleaner burning charcoal. The conversion of agricultural residues to charcoal is also a viable alternative to anaerobic digestion in the Mid-hills.
Access to, and control over, water for irrigation is one of the most important factors for increasing agricultural productivity, thereby affecting household food security and levels of poverty in developing countries. However, investments in the irrigation sector have often failed to consider equity aspects of irrigation interventions. Using data from 199 households from three irrigation systems in the mid-hills of Nepal, we analyse access and control of water in different levels of socio-economic heterogeneities. The results demonstrate that efforts to improve livelihoods of the rural poor should give due consideration to the distributional aspects of irrigation interventions, with authority for allocating the level of access to irrigation water given to the farmers throughout the system. productividad agrícola, afectando a la seguridad alimentaria de los hogares y los niveles de pobreza en los países en desarrollo. Sin embargo, muchas veces las inversiones en el sector de la irrigación no han sabido considerar los aspectos de equidad en los programas de irrigación. A partir de datos de 199 hogares de tres sistemas de irrigación en las colinas medias de Nepal, analizamos el acceso y el control del agua en diferentes niveles de heterogeneidades socioeconómicas. Los resultados demuestran que en los esfuerzos por mejorar los medios de vida de zonas rurales pobres deberán tenerse en cuenta los aspectos distributivos de los programas de irrigación con autoridad para asignar qué nivel de acceso al agua de irrigación se proporciona a los agricultores en todo el sistema. ARTICLE HISTORY PALABRAS CLAVEDesigualdad espacial, heterogeneidad socioeconómica, acceso al agua, irrigación, pobreza, Nepal АННОТАЦИЯ Неравенство доступа к ирригационным системам Мид-Хилс Непала. Area Development and Policy. Доступ к воде для орошения и контроль над ней являются одним из важнейших факторов повышения производительности сельского хозяйства, которые влияют на продовольственную безопасность домашних хозяйств и уровень бедности в развивающихся странах. Однако инвестиции в ирригационный сектор часто не учитывали аспект справедливости подобных вмешательств. Используя данные 199 домашних хозяйств из трех ирригационных систем Мид-Хилс Непала, мы анализируем доступ и контроль над водой на различных уровнях социально-экономической гетерогенности. Результаты показывают, что усилия по улучшению жизнедеятельности сельской бедноты должны учитывать распределительные аспекты ирригационных вмешательств, с предоставлением полномочий по назначению уровня доступа к ирригационной воде во всей системе фермера КЛЮЧЕВЫЕ СЛОВА Пространственное неравенство, социально-экономическая неоднородность, доступность воды, орошение, бедность, Непал
Whilst access to clean energy is considered a fundamental to improve human welfare and protect environment, yet a significant proportion of people mostly in developing lack access to clean energy. Furthermore, efforts to generate clean energy through biofuel projects have attracted considerable controversy for displacing food production, land-grabbing, loss of biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions.Creation of community-based biofuel project for small scale farmers using indigenous plant species in areas such as field bunds, waste land, community forests and fences provide a real opportunity to overcome some of the environmental and social concerns about biofuels and provide clean energy to rural communities in developing countries. Energy Gardens for Small-Scale Farmers in Nepal: Institutions, Species and Technology" is a scoping study funded by Department for International Development (DfID) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the United Kingdom through ESRC-DFID Development Frontiers Research Fund -Grant reference: ES/K011812/1. This report brings together all the activities and outputs including fieldwork, workshops and advocacy work carried out as part of the Nepal Energy Gardens project.The overarching objective of the project is to explore farmer and community use and perceptions of biomass and biofuel energy in Nepal in order to assess the potential for uptake of the energy garden approach. In doing so, the project reviews biofuel policies in Nepal, identifies potential indigenous plant species suitable for biofuel production, and provides an overview of suitable technologies for community based energy gardens projects in the country. Also, the project seeks to transfer knowledge through active engagement with our collaborators in India where energy gardens concept has been successfully applied. In doing so the project also facilitated deliberative dialogues between policy makers, scientists, development activists, donors and grassroots community representatives to identify ways to resolve existing issues and tensions pertaining to renewable energy sector.The report highlights contemporary issues on renewable energy initiatives in Nepal with major focus on bioenergy. The workshop covered various aspects of renewable energy provisions in Nepal which included research approach, technology, past initiatives in bioenergy sector and emerging issues, and tensions at program level (meso level). It is important to point out that the participants from rural communities (community forestry and local schools) raised some key issues related to the failure of bioenergy initiatives in rural villages. This study also identifies factors constrained community members in adopting bioenergy. The community members continue to face multitude of problems such as lack of compensation schemes in case of any losses in production, lack of quality seeds and technologies, inadequate promotion/awareness, market dominated production system, agency led initiatives, inadequate species selections, lack of buy back mecha...
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