Farmers' responses to climate change impact on water availability: insights from the Indrawati Basin in Nepal

Pradhan, Neera Shrestha; Sijapati, S.; Bajracharya, S. R.

doi:10.1080/07900627.2015.1033514

Cited by 43 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…However, irrigated land has increased in Sindhupalchok (CBS 2010), including in the Melamchi Valley, where nearly 27% of respondents reported scarcity of water in the irrigation canals. This finding concurs with Sijapati and Bhatt (2012) and Pradhan et al (2015), who reported a decline in water supplies in recent years in the Melamchi Valley. Water scarcity can also be due in part to poorly maintained irrigation systems.…”

Section: Major Climate-related Hazards and Their Impacts On Livelihoosupporting

confidence: 95%

Farmers' Perceptions of and Adaptations to Changing Climate in the Melamchi Valley of Nepal

Sujakhu

Ranjitkar

Niraula³

et al. 2016

Mountain Research and Development

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Section: Major Climate-related Hazards and Their Impacts On Livelihoosupporting

confidence: 95%

Farmers' Perceptions of and Adaptations to Changing Climate in the Melamchi Valley of Nepal

Sujakhu

Ranjitkar

Niraula³

et al. 2016

Mountain Research and Development

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“…Farmers did not accurately perceive or were uncertain about future rainfall patterns and, actually, the rainfall scenarios do not provide a clear trend during the irrigation season, especially since most farming activities are irrigated in the study area. Their perceptions of rainfall differed to those of farmers reported in other studies (e.g., [50,51]) whose farming mainly relies on rain water, in which farming calendars/practices are to be adjusted to better cope with perceived changes in rainfall. In addition, farmers remembered more "unexpected events" [15,24] and production losses in the most recent years [52,53], often confusing weather with climate [15].…”

Section: Symmetries and Asymmetries Between Farmers' Perceptions And contrasting

confidence: 67%

Perceptions of Present and Future Climate Change Impacts on Water Availability for Agricultural Systems in the Western Mediterranean Region

Nguyen

Mula

Cortignani

et al. 2016

Water

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Many Mediterranean countries have experienced water shortages during the last 20 years and future climate change projections foresee further pressure on water resources. This will have significant implications for irrigation water management in agricultural systems in the future. Through qualitative and quantitative empirical research methods carried out on a case study on four Mediterranean farming systems located in Oristano, Italy, we sought to understand the relationship between farmers' perceptions of climate change (i.e., increased temperature and decreased precipitation) and of present and future water availability for agriculture as forecasted by climatic and crop models. We also explored asymmetries between farmers' perceptions and present and future climate change and water scenarios as well as factors influencing perceptions. Our hypotheses were that farmers' perceptions are the main drivers of actual water management practices and that sustainable practices can emerge from learning spaces designed from the understanding of the gaps between perceptions and scientific evidences. Results showed that most farmers perceived that climate change is occurring or will occur in their area. They also perceived that there has been an increased temperature trend, but also increased precipitation. Therefore, they are convinced that they have and will have enough irrigation water for agriculture in the near future, while climate change projections foresee an increasing pressure on water resources in the Mediterranean region. Such results suggest the need for (i) irrigation management policies that take into account farmers' perceptions in order to promote virtuous behaviors and improve irrigation water use efficiency; (ii) new, well-designed learning spaces to improve the understanding on climate change expectations in the near future in order to support effective adaptive responses at the farm and catchment scales.

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“…Some farmers have already abandoned some of their important traditional crops like rice, pulses, different cereal crops, tuber, and sweet potato-and have even abandoned agriculture on their land, which ends up becoming fallow. They cited that the lack of sufficient water, crop-specific diseases, low production, inadequate benefits, and unfavorable climate were the major reasons in this decision [7].…”

Section: Agricultural Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drought Impact and Adaptation Strategies in the Mid-Hill Farming System of Western Nepal

Adhikari¹

2018

Environments

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Climate-induced drought hazard has been emerging as one of the major challenges in the mid-hill farming system and rural livelihood in Nepal. Drought stress, in combination with century-long socio-political issues such as unequal social structure, gender discrimination, and marginalization of poor and disadvantaged groups have made smallholders more vulnerable in society. Climate changes are exacerbating issues within an already vulnerable society. Therefore, a review study on the impact of drought on the rain-fed hill farming system, and the potential adaptation measures, was carried out in the mid-hill region of western Nepal. Both agricultural impacts such as depletion of traditional varieties of crops, crop-specific diseases, low production, lack of water for irrigation; and non-agricultural impacts such as changing rural livelihood patterns, and social conflict due to agriculture and water issues were identified as major impacts. Some of the agricultural adaptation measures viz. the promotion of climate smart agriculture practices, crop diversification, and agroforestry practices seem to have been more effective in the region. At the same time, small-scale structural water harvesting measures, for instance, rainwater harvesting, conservation ponds, and irrigation channels, drip water irrigation, and an early warning system for drought events could also be an advantage in this context. Nonetheless, there are several adaptation barriers including ecological and physical constraints, human and information resource-shortages, and social barriers to adaptation. Therefore, local site-specific adaptation measures should be developed, and implemented, to increase the adaptive capacity of smallholders, and enhance the farming system in the face of the climate-induced drought scenario.

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Farmers' responses to climate change impact on water availability: insights from the Indrawati Basin in Nepal

Cited by 43 publications

References 13 publications

Farmers' Perceptions of and Adaptations to Changing Climate in the Melamchi Valley of Nepal

Farmers' Perceptions of and Adaptations to Changing Climate in the Melamchi Valley of Nepal

Perceptions of Present and Future Climate Change Impacts on Water Availability for Agricultural Systems in the Western Mediterranean Region

Drought Impact and Adaptation Strategies in the Mid-Hill Farming System of Western Nepal

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