In Nepal, Climate Initiatives Leave Behind the Most Vulnerable

In Chisapani, Ramechhap district, a remote corner in eastern Nepal, the snow-fed Tamakoshi River cascades down the Manthali valley, but residents in upstream villages pray for a few drops of rain. Scorching heat has turned these high hills into a barren landscape.

On Feb. 17, I went there to monitor the status of a water resource conservation project that was originally implemented in 2013 by the Resources Himalaya Foundation.

The region had repeatedly experienced extreme droughts that left the communities scrabbling for a few buckets of water. To help formulate the region’s local adaptation action plan, the foundation consulted local residents to help them with planting, water tank construction, and the distribution of taps. Trees of guava, hog plum, Himalayan figs and a few others were planted to shade natural water sources that fed the tank.

But now, after eight years, the trees were barely standing. The tank had water flowing into it for the moment, but unmanaged wastewater had turned the place into a shabby wasteland. Moving around, I was careful not to step my foot in in areas with poor drainage. While the tank provided clean drinking water to 200 locals, they seemed unconcerned about its maintenance.

When I was in Chisapani, a little Majhi girl came by and fetched a bucket of water from the tap. The Mahji people make up the majority of the village’s population. They are one of 59 indigenous groups in the country, and live near rivers across Nepal. This little girl was one of the beneficiaries of the water system’s ripple effects.

“If we hadn’t built this tank in time, girls could have missed schooling because they would be carrying water all day long from the river,” said Ram Bahadur Majhi, a community member.

The effects of climate change have rocked this village, like so many others in Nepal. But, while girls like the one I saw at the tap may be some of the most affected by the unpredictable rains, and even wildfires, they are left on the sidelines of working toward possible solutions.

Women are bearing the brunt of the crisis

Across Asia and Africa, women make up nearly 50 percent of the agricultural workforce. As men from these regions migrate abroad in search of jobs — partially because of the climate crisis — women remain at home as the primary caretakers of children. Increasing vulnerability due to climate change puts exhausting pressure on women. In many places, they need to walk hours at a time to fetch water, and they bear the physical and psychological burden of fallow farmland.

Rural women often return to heavy physical labor immediately after giving birth, leaving them at a greater risk for a number of health issues like uterine prolapse — a serious condition in which the uterine wall collapses and protrudes into the vagina. In Nepal, prolapses are the leading cause of illness among women of reproductive and post-menopausal age, and experts estimate that some 600,000 Nepalese women suffer from it.

Nepal’s patriarchal society limits women from leadership positions, and often education. With their ever-increasing workloads, women find it even more difficult to fully participate in capacity-building for their own communities. On top of that, international NGOs are not always sensitive to their dual role as activists and homemakers.

Kribina Pathak, a research officer at Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, has worked with many indigenous tribes on water-source conservation projects. In our conversation, she recalled a discussion with an indigenous woman of the Chepang tribe who said she wished she had known about climate change and its effects before Pathak told her about it.

“The woman said that it could have given her purpose to work and educate more people about this issue,” Pathak said. But like other women throughout the country, she was barely given room to do that. “As she passed 10th grade, she became a wife, and a whole new set of responsibilities came in a bundle.”

There are solutions, many women- or youth-led

In order to raise climate consciousness among vulnerable groups — whether indigenous peoples or women as a whole — government bodies and NGOs need to work from the grassroots level up, Pathak believes. One possibility could be the creation of groups like Mothers’ Group, or Aama Samuha, a peacebuilding organization of mothers that has sought to make women financially independent and raise awareness about social issues for many decades. Many districts have already successfully organized campaigns against early marriage, menstrual exile (chaupadi), and alcoholism.

“Now, the focus should shift toward climate consciousness as well,” Pathak said.

Youth-led networks could be another alternative. Nepalese Youth for Climate Action is a volunteer group of college undergrads raising their voices for climate consciousness. There are already 14 regional subchapters with a high number of female advocates.

“Some of our regional chapters are already working with local governments to empower vulnerable communities on resilient agriculture,” said Shreya KC, 22, coordinator of the network. “But, to go big, we need more voices, more collaborators, and more funders.”

For Manjeet Dhakal, a climate analyst, it has been encouraging to see wider inclusivity and effective implementation of some government-supported initiatives, like the National Climate Change Support Program and Hariyo Ban.

“There are overall good feelings about these programs,” he said, “but there is always room for improvement.”

Despite signs of optimism, vulnerable communities are still at the greatest risk of not surviving climate change. Longer dry spells, extreme monsoons, and unpredictable climate hazards will likely only worsen the socioeconomic challenges for these communities.

Governmental, nongovernmental, and grassroots-level climate activists all need to recognize who exactly will not make it as the world’s climate mutates, and they need to commit to truly making a difference for those most in need.