Water security in times of disaster risks : strengthening community-led initiatives in urban settings

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bidur (Nepal) residents relied on smaller community-managed water supply systems. Government lockdowns barred travel for technicians (along with most people), and machines used by larger projects having technical problems could not be repaired. The Bidur model offers a powerful example for built-in resilience. Large water supply systems are important but susceptible to risks like landslides. Municipalities need urgent technical support in water security planning. A study of Bidur residents’ households with access to alternative water sources supplied through smaller community-led projects were less affected by the 2015 earthquake

Diversified Agroforestry for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Himalayan Region: Potential for Achieving Multiple Benefits

Land management and forests are crucial to tackling the concurrent issues of sustainable food production and climate change. Conventional modern agriculture, converting forests and naturally vegetated landscapes to farms and rangelands, contributes significantly to elevate carbon in the atmosphere. Agroforestry systems offer potential for local communities to meet livelihood needs while simultaneously adapting to and mitigating climate change. Data from several studies conducted in nine districts of central Nepal between 2007 and 2017 were analyzed. Forests and agroforestry systems in three central Nepal districts had significantly higher total carbon stocks than agricultural soils (2–5 times) due to high above and below-ground biomass carbon and SOC stocks. The application of improved FYM compost, cattle urine and biochar in four districts increased average SOC by 2.75% over 6 years, translating to an increase of nearly 100 t ha−1 in SOC stock. Along with soil quality benefits, biochar and FYM compost improved the yields of soybean, potato, millet and Swertia chirayita yields which were significantly higher than in untreated plots. The flux of N2O was significantly lower in biochar-amended soil compared to non-biochar. Crop diversification incorporating high-value horticultural and medicinal crops enhance economic returns as indicated by higher benefit-cost ratios for vegetable and Swertia chirayita than for cereals

Local experts as the champions of water security in the Nepalese town of Dhulikhel

This commentary paper examines our local expert engagement methodology that we developed to understand water supply issues as well as to inform the direction of our action research conducted in Dhulikhel, a small town in Nepal. Through three years of field-based research at Dhulikhel, our inquiry uncovered a range of data ‘gaps’ and emergent as well as long-term conflicts around increasingly scarce water resources. To respond to this gap and contribute to inclusive water management, we developed and used a local expert engagement method, through which we were able to pool and mobilise a rich repertoire of hybrid knowledge from a range of local experts in Dhulikhel and others from nearby towns. The method of expert engagement was simultaneously linked to deliberations among local water stakeholders concerned with water supply management. Based on the lessons from this work, we argue that rich local expertise exists in water management and policy in Nepal, one that transcends the dichotomy between indigenous and scientific knowledge. We also show that as formal scientific knowledge becomes hybridised in different ways, this creates an important and actionable opportunity for advancing local science-policy processes to support water security agendas across the country

Loss and Damage from Climate Change: Building Knowledge and Capacity in the Most Vulnerable Countries

Mitigation and adaptation are at the center of global climate negotiations. However, as climate change impacts become more frequent and more severe, these two well-accepted pillars of climate policy are not sufficient. Burgeoning damage and loss from climate change is inevitable, and it has become urgent to expedite international policy work on Loss and Damage (L&D) response. L&D has been identified as a policy action area within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) system; however, progress has been extremely slow. By undertaking a review of the current situation, including country-level examples from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Vanuatu, we consider the immediate needs of the most vulnerable countries and suggest high-priority actions to move forward. These actions include: 1. Clarifying conceptual dilemmas around loss and damage vis-à-vis adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction, demonstrating how L&D policy concepts can be implemented. 2. Assisting developing and vulnerable countries in undertaking diagnostic assessments with respect to loss and damage and identifying policy and institutional options to advance L&D at national and sub-national levels. 3. Facilitating knowledge-sharing among developing and most vulnerable countries with regard to policy, risk governance, response to Loss and Damage, and ensuring socially inclusive responses. 4. Helping create learning opportunities for key policy and research champions in vulnerable countries. 5. Helping develop a dedicated L&D financing system at national and sub-national levels. 6. Providing technical assistance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to formulate a coherent approach to L&D negotiation within the UNFCCC system as well as enhanced representation of Loss and Damage situations for the Global Stocktake 2023 international conventions. 7. Building the Research and Development (R&D) capacity of national research and training groups in most vulnerable countries vis-à-vis comprehensive risk management, including how national institutions can deliver with respect to multiple outcomes including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), adaptation at large and L&D. 8. Developing and strengthening national database systems to facilitate loss and damage accounting and financial delivery

Biochar Effects on Carbon Stocks in the Coffee Agroforestry Systems of the Himalayas

Coffee agroforestry is an emerging agricultural practice in the mid hills of Nepal. Smallholder farmers of low-income strata have progressively adopted coffee as a perennial crop over seasonal crops. A multi-year study was conducted to test effects of locally produced biochar derived from coffee wastes, e.g., pulp and husks, on carbon stocks of: i) coffee trees, and, ii) soil organic carbon (SOC) in selected coffee growing pockets. We conducted on-farm experimental trials in three different physiographical locations of the Nepal mid-hills, namely, Chandanpur (Site I at 1475masl), Panchkhal (Site II at 1075masl), and Talamarang (Site III at 821masl) where smallholders grow coffee together with other cereal crops and vegetables. We applied biochar to the soil at a rate of 5 Mgha-1 , then, monitored the SOC and biomass growth of the coffee trees in the three treatment plots at sites I, II and III over two years beginning in 2013. The average stocks of aboveground carbon in coffee trees increased from 6.2±4.3 Mgha-1 to 9.1±5.2 Mgha-1 over the trial period of two years in biochar treated plots. The same in control plots increased from 5.6±2.8 Mgha-1 to 6.7±4.7 Mgha-1 . In the biochar plots, the average increments of ABG carbon was 0.73 Mgh-1 while in the control it was 0.29 Mgh-1 . Analysis of soil organic carbon of the plots indicated overall incremental change in carbon stocks in the coffee farms. During the base year, the average SOC stocks in the top 0-15cm layer of the soil at sites I, II, and III were estimated 74.88 ± 15.93; 63.96 ±16.71 and 33.05 ±4.42 Mgha-1 respectively. Although both the biochar treated and control plot registered incremental change in SOC stocks, the volumes were remarkably higher in the former than the latter. Compared to the baseline data, the changes in SOC stocks in the three biochar treated plots were 19.8, 49.8 and 45.3 Mgha-1 , respectively, whereas in the control plots these were 8.3, 29.3 and 11.3 Mgha-1 , respectively. The higher incremental rates of C-stocks in all the biochar treated plots in comparison to the corresponding control plots of the coffee agroforestry implies that application of biochar can enhance accumulation of carbon in the form of aboveground biomass and soil organic carbon

Верэсяловыя кусточкі

Верэсяловыя кусточки / Не ламаўшы храскают. / Ой, цеперашныя мальцы, / Не любиўшы, хвастаю

Urban water security in South Asia:Crucial policy lessons from the Nepalese town of Bidur

The rapidly urbanizing and highly populated South Asian region is facing a water crisis. As a key response, large centralized water systems are being put in place, replacing small and community-based systems. In this discussion note, we present the case of Nepal's town of Bidur to show that Himalayan South Asian towns cannot ensure water supply by neglecting community-based and small-scale water supply systems. Using insights from qualitative and quantitative data collected during 2014–2019, we argue that decentralized and community-based urban water systems are more resilient than large ones during disasters. Our argument is based on the analysis of Bidur's response to the 2015 earthquake as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. We show that a mixed approach of large and small water supply schemes provides a promising solution to water insecurity in the South Asian towns. This approach can be realized by promoting diversity of water management strategies and creating research-informed planning and discussion forums at the community and municipality levels. We also recommend municipalities to formulate a comprehensive water security strategy, considering the current and future scenarios of water demand and supply

A political ecology of water and small-town urbanisation across the lower Himalayas

This paper traces the logic, goals and arising changed socio-ecological relations and water norms introduced by donor- and state- led drinking water supply schemes to small urbanising settlements across the lower Himalayas of India and Nepal. While urban development and water planning tend to boundarise needs and interventions to city limits and city- dwellers, we adopt a hydro-social lens to trace the impacts and consequences of infrastructure and water as both travel through the landscape. Investments into water supply introduce new scales, spatialities and visions for urban development that actively peripheralise rural needs and interests, and introduce new dependencies for infrastructural maintenance that towns have considerable difficulty meeting, such as around energy, finance, and expertise. We find that water supply projects give rise to new power differentials and development trajectories between more- powerful, typically urban and down-stream communities, and rural, up- stream source regions. Projects bring new potentials but also disrupt old relations and customs around water, resulting in the emergence of conflicts within and without towns as water availability and access opportunities change. Application of a hydro-social and urban metabolism focus to Himalayan waterscapes makes visible the interdependent nature of resource provisioning to urban development centres, with environmental and societal trade-offs