**3.4 Approaches to adaptation**

In 2010, Nepal's Ministry of Environment released the *National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to Climate Change* [8]. The report reflected the results of a 2-year, multi-stakeholder effort. After the Dickinson Mosaic Program had concluded, a Ministry of Forests and Environment report [9] also pointed to the need for collaboration. At the outset, the latter described the NAPA as an ongoing process that "will leave no one behind"; included numerous functionally based working groups; and recognized the need for engagement by multiple types of stakeholders ranging from local to national levels.

#### **3.5 Basic system concepts**

Meadows [10] explains that a human system has three essential components: elements; interconnections; and a purpose. Elements may be either physical items or intangible items. Interconnections are the relationships that hold the elements together: for human systems, they include customs, rules, or laws. The purpose of the system reflects intended outcomes. Since systems can be nested within systems, purposes can be nested inside other purposes.

She also explains that systems have three important attributes: self-organization, hierarchy, and resilience. Self-organization is the "capacity of a system to make its own structure more complex" ([10], p. 79). Hierarchy is the arrangement of systems and subsystems that tends to arise when self-organizing systems engage in the "process of creating new structures and increasing complexity" ([10], p. 82). In a manner consistent with Twigg [5], Meadows says resilience arises from the rich structure of many feedback loops that can work in different ways to restore a system even after a large disturbance. Resilient systems can be dynamic in nature and evolve over time.

### **3.6 Qualitative research methods**

A few weeks into the semester, the three Dickinson professors assigned the students to one of four research teams. The teams were asked to develop questions for three different types of semi-structured interviews. Each type was intended for one of three different groups of interviewees: individual household members; key informants; and focus group participants. The teams shared proposed interview questions with the professors, took their comments, and engaged in fine-tuning.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. We are a group of students from Dickinson College in the United States and we are working with the Institute for Crisis Management Studies of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu to learn about your community and the challenges it faces. The goal of the interview is to understand how weather and climate-related events and other hazards have affected your community and how resilient you and the community are in anticipating and adapting to these events and disasters.. .. Participation in the conversation is totally voluntary.. .. May we have your permission to audio and video record the conversation? **To what hazards is the community currently exposed?** Prompt: Disasters (large storms, landslides, earthquakes, floods, and disease) Prompt: Weather or climate related (heat, drought, erosion, and rainfall) **Please write answers on the cards.** Let us place the cards on the table and discuss the results. **Of the weather and climate-related hazards you noted, which have gotten more frequent or intense? Over what time period: 5, 10, or 15 years? How have the hazards you described affected the community?** Prompts: Food availability/production, water, health, livelihoods, and income. What areas of the community are most at risk to the hazards? **What members of the community are the most affected/impacted?** Prompts: Women/men, poor/wealthy, and caste/ethnicity Why do you think this is? **What actions has the community taken to reduce the impacts of the hazards?** Have the actions you described improved the situation and/or reduced risks? How does the community work together to cope or respond to changing conditions? Where does the community get information to improve the situation? If something happens (weather event, disaster, etc.), where does the community turn for help? Do you seek assistance (financial, resources, and training) from groups outside the community? Has it been helpful? Do you think the community has a clear understanding of actions that can reduce risks associated with hazards? **What more do you think should happen to address the hazards and to meet the community needs?**

#### **Table 1.**

*Example of a focus group survey instrument: Subset of comments, permission requests, and questions.*

When ready, each team forwarded their work to the ICMS graduate students, who provided further comments to the students and translated the survey instruments. All four teams used the "Toolkit for Measuring Community Disaster Resilience" [11] and Twigg [5] as their points of reference for designing their surveys. To illustrate, **Table 1** provides a condensed version of the focus group survey instrument created by one of the four teams.

#### **4. Context for the field research in Nepal**

#### **4.1 Geography and climate**

The geography of Kavrepalanchok District, and Nepal more generally, includes five major zones. From the lowest elevation to the highest, they are the Terai, Siwalik, Middle Hills, High Hills, and the Mountains including the Himalayas.

The two major agricultural regions that served as the focus of the Nepal Mosaic were the Terai and the Siwalik. The Terai has a warm, subtropical climate, and land that can be irrigated to grow rice and vegetables. The Terai generates most of Nepal's' agricultural output [12].

At the time of the research, teams learned that farmers of the Siwalik primarily planted maize and millet as their major subsistence crops on terraces dug into the hillsides. Rainfall was a major source of water in the zone, but the land did not retain much of the water that resulted from rainfall. Springs, streams, and natural aquifers were other important water sources that were supplemented by man-made water-channeling infrastructure and water-storage ponds and facilities. Land in the

**7**

*Collaboration to Counter Fresh Water Scarcity and Promote Human Security*

homes, and disrupted aquifers and water-infrastructure.

and become more intense during a shorter season [13].

**4.3 Political context and governance structures**

of Nepal replaced the 2007 Interim constitution.

p. 1) to say:

change.

**4.2 Demography and economy**

Siwalik was subject to landslides. Far more devastating, in April of 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale, centered in Gorkha, a district near Kathmandu, killed 9000 people and resulted in billions of rupees in damage. In the wards of Panchkhal located in the Siwalik, the earthquake destroyed buildings and

Due to the elevation differences, each zone had its own microclimate. Nonetheless, all models forecasted increases in temperatures at the country level in coming decades that ranged from 2° to 6° Celsius, increases more pronounced than those at the global level. Projections for rainfall trends were even more varied than those of climate change, yielding results that ranged from a 30 percent decrease to a 100 percent increase by 2100, when compared to the 1970–1999 average. Moreover, climate change could destabilize the monsoon season, leading rainfall to increase

Those factors led Nepal's Ministry of Population and the Environment ([14],

disasters and hydro-meteorological extreme events such as droughts, storms, floods, inundation, landslides, debris flow, soil erosion, and avalanches.

mately 30 million people and was expected to continue to grow into the future, though at a slower rate. Nepal was characterized as a Least Developed Country by the United Nations. Roughly one in four people lived below the international poverty level of US\$ 1.25 per day. Agriculture accounted for nearly one-third of Nepal's GDP; thus, the onset of climate change had contributed to the struggles of the people ([15], p. 17). Furthermore, Nepal had inadequate infrastructure and was not a destination for foreign direct investment, factors that together suggested a shortage of the technological and financial resources needed to adapt to climate

Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, water-induced

Nepal's population tripled between 1960 and 2010. As of 2017, it totaled approxi-

Nepal broke into a civil war in 1996, fueled by sharp disparities in living standards between rural and urban populations and by discrimination against social classes, women, and indigenous ethnic groups. A peace agreement was signed between insurgents and authorities in 2006. An Interim Constitution agreed in 2007 ended the 240-year-long Hindu Monarchy. In the ensuing decade, nine different coalition governments were formed. In September of 2015, the current Constitution

In the decade following post-war reunification, government reform was slow in coming. For example, the first local elections in 20 years in the wards of Panchkahl took place in the summer of 2017 [16], only a few months before the Dickinson research trip. At the outset, local governments were headed by unelected bureaucrats or community leaders, leading to increases in corruption [17]. During that era, building capacity for local governance was clearly not a priority. To fill the void, community groups emerged and worked alongside nongovernmental organizations

As of 2017, the governance structure of Nepal consisted of seven provinces, which collectively comprised 77 districts. In turn, each district was made up of municipalities, each municipality of wards, and each ward of various villages or clusters of people who did not have their own formal governance structures.

to help promote collaboration and resilience in the face of challenges.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93693*

*Collaboration to Counter Fresh Water Scarcity and Promote Human Security DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93693*

Siwalik was subject to landslides. Far more devastating, in April of 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale, centered in Gorkha, a district near Kathmandu, killed 9000 people and resulted in billions of rupees in damage. In the wards of Panchkhal located in the Siwalik, the earthquake destroyed buildings and homes, and disrupted aquifers and water-infrastructure.

Due to the elevation differences, each zone had its own microclimate. Nonetheless, all models forecasted increases in temperatures at the country level in coming decades that ranged from 2° to 6° Celsius, increases more pronounced than those at the global level. Projections for rainfall trends were even more varied than those of climate change, yielding results that ranged from a 30 percent decrease to a 100 percent increase by 2100, when compared to the 1970–1999 average. Moreover, climate change could destabilize the monsoon season, leading rainfall to increase and become more intense during a shorter season [13].

Those factors led Nepal's Ministry of Population and the Environment ([14], p. 1) to say:

Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, water-induced disasters and hydro-meteorological extreme events such as droughts, storms, floods, inundation, landslides, debris flow, soil erosion, and avalanches.

#### **4.2 Demography and economy**

*Environmental Issues and Sustainable Development*

**To what hazards is the community currently exposed?**

**How have the hazards you described affected the community?**

What areas of the community are most at risk to the hazards? **What members of the community are the most affected/impacted?** Prompts: Women/men, poor/wealthy, and caste/ethnicity

**Over what time period: 5, 10, or 15 years?**

Why do you think this is?

risks associated with hazards?

**Table 1.**

Prompt: Disasters (large storms, landslides, earthquakes, floods, and disease) Prompt: Weather or climate related (heat, drought, erosion, and rainfall)

Prompts: Food availability/production, water, health, livelihoods, and income.

**What actions has the community taken to reduce the impacts of the hazards?** Have the actions you described improved the situation and/or reduced risks? How does the community work together to cope or respond to changing conditions?

Where does the community get information to improve the situation?

**Please write answers on the cards.** Let us place the cards on the table and discuss the results.

**Of the weather and climate-related hazards you noted, which have gotten more frequent or intense?**

record the conversation?

created by one of the four teams.

**4.1 Geography and climate**

Nepal's' agricultural output [12].

**4. Context for the field research in Nepal**

When ready, each team forwarded their work to the ICMS graduate students, who provided further comments to the students and translated the survey instruments. All four teams used the "Toolkit for Measuring Community Disaster Resilience" [11] and Twigg [5] as their points of reference for designing their surveys. To illustrate, **Table 1** provides a condensed version of the focus group survey instrument

If something happens (weather event, disaster, etc.), where does the community turn for help? Do you seek assistance (financial, resources, and training) from groups outside the community? Has it been helpful? Do you think the community has a clear understanding of actions that can reduce

**What more do you think should happen to address the hazards and to meet the community needs?**

*Example of a focus group survey instrument: Subset of comments, permission requests, and questions.*

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. We are a group of students from Dickinson College in the United States and we are working with the Institute for Crisis Management Studies of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu to learn about your community and the challenges it faces. The goal of the interview is to understand how weather and climate-related events and other hazards have affected your community and how resilient you and the community are in anticipating and adapting to these events and disasters.. .. Participation in the conversation is totally voluntary.. .. May we have your permission to audio and video

The geography of Kavrepalanchok District, and Nepal more generally, includes

The two major agricultural regions that served as the focus of the Nepal Mosaic

At the time of the research, teams learned that farmers of the Siwalik primarily planted maize and millet as their major subsistence crops on terraces dug into the hillsides. Rainfall was a major source of water in the zone, but the land did not retain much of the water that resulted from rainfall. Springs, streams, and natural aquifers were other important water sources that were supplemented by man-made water-channeling infrastructure and water-storage ponds and facilities. Land in the

five major zones. From the lowest elevation to the highest, they are the Terai, Siwalik, Middle Hills, High Hills, and the Mountains including the Himalayas.

were the Terai and the Siwalik. The Terai has a warm, subtropical climate, and land that can be irrigated to grow rice and vegetables. The Terai generates most of

**6**

Nepal's population tripled between 1960 and 2010. As of 2017, it totaled approximately 30 million people and was expected to continue to grow into the future, though at a slower rate. Nepal was characterized as a Least Developed Country by the United Nations. Roughly one in four people lived below the international poverty level of US\$ 1.25 per day. Agriculture accounted for nearly one-third of Nepal's GDP; thus, the onset of climate change had contributed to the struggles of the people ([15], p. 17). Furthermore, Nepal had inadequate infrastructure and was not a destination for foreign direct investment, factors that together suggested a shortage of the technological and financial resources needed to adapt to climate change.

#### **4.3 Political context and governance structures**

Nepal broke into a civil war in 1996, fueled by sharp disparities in living standards between rural and urban populations and by discrimination against social classes, women, and indigenous ethnic groups. A peace agreement was signed between insurgents and authorities in 2006. An Interim Constitution agreed in 2007 ended the 240-year-long Hindu Monarchy. In the ensuing decade, nine different coalition governments were formed. In September of 2015, the current Constitution of Nepal replaced the 2007 Interim constitution.

In the decade following post-war reunification, government reform was slow in coming. For example, the first local elections in 20 years in the wards of Panchkahl took place in the summer of 2017 [16], only a few months before the Dickinson research trip. At the outset, local governments were headed by unelected bureaucrats or community leaders, leading to increases in corruption [17]. During that era, building capacity for local governance was clearly not a priority. To fill the void, community groups emerged and worked alongside nongovernmental organizations to help promote collaboration and resilience in the face of challenges.

As of 2017, the governance structure of Nepal consisted of seven provinces, which collectively comprised 77 districts. In turn, each district was made up of municipalities, each municipality of wards, and each ward of various villages or clusters of people who did not have their own formal governance structures.

### **5. On-the-ground research in Nepal**

Once in Nepal, the Dickinson student teams were partnered with a pair of graduate students—one male and one female for each team—who served as guides, and as language and cultural translators. In the field, each of the four teams conducted interviews in accordance with the semi-structured interviews they had previously created. Each team managed to conduct about 20 household interviews, six or so expert interviews, and two focus group interviews. (In each case, teams asked for participants' permission to record the interview.) Given the outmigration in some wards by single young men and by husbands in search of more stable income for their families, women were more highly represented than men in the interviews.

While in the field, students took turns each day asking primary and follow up questions and taking notes. Each evening, the teams reviewed what they had heard, and revised and upgraded their notes. When the teams returned to campus, they spent the final 4 weeks of the semester further refining their data and revisiting course materials and other sources as they completed their respective 50-page team-written research reports.
