The government is planning to establish 150 climate-smart villages across the country in this fiscal year, where the local communities will be equipped with capacity, technologies and knowledge to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change on various sectors linked with livelihood.
The government is planning to establish 150 climate-smart villages across the country in this fiscal year, where the local communities will be equipped with capacity, technologies and knowledge to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change on various sectors linked with livelihood.
The Department of Environment (DoEnv) under the Ministry of Environment and Population (MoEP) has prepared a climate-smart village working procedure that will be implemented in two districts from each of the seven federal provinces decided under the new constitution in an effort to strengthen the capacity of the local communities to tackle the climate change impact on agriculture sector.
“The proposal is under discussion at the ministry. The major objective of the climate-smart village approach is to identify and develop climate-smart adaptation practices and technologies that will help to build resilience to the impacts of the climate change on agriculture,” said Keshab Raj Joshi, an environment inspector at the DoEnv.
As per the proposed document, two districts from each of the seven federal provinces are identified for the selection of villages to be developed as climate-smart villages.
Each selected village for the implementation of the climate-smart village concept will have at least 40 households as beneficiaries.
Udaypur and Okhaldhunga from province-1, Saptari and Siraha from province-2, Ramechap and Bhaktapur from province-3, Lamjung and Gorkha from province-4, Rukum and Rolpa from province-5, Surkhet and Salyan from province-6, and Dadeldhura and Darchula from province-7, have been picked for the programme, said Joshi.
There are five different areas of interventions planned to meet the objective of developing and scaling up climate smart village approach in the country, he said.
The water-smart practices as a part of climate adaptation intervention will include activities like rooftop rainwater harvesting, plastic ponds, cemented water tanks and wetland conservation. Similarly, under the carbon and energy smart practices, the activities including promotion of use of improved cooking stoves, compost manure in plantation, use of renewable energy technologies will be promoted.
Under the agriculture-smart practice, promotion on use of improved livestock sheds, Integrated Pest Management approach, promotion and development of drip irrigation, green house tunnels and use of drought resistant varieties will be done.
The fourth intervention will be through bio- diversity-smart practices that will include establishing home gardens and community master nursery, while the fifth intervention will be through knowledge-smart practices like helping in strengthening and capacity development of the local communities and concerned stakeholders working at local levels.
The government in its plans and policies, unveiled for the fiscal year 2016-2017, has prioritised the implementation of climate-smart village concept as part of its efforts to help the vulnerable local communities to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change on agriculture and livelihoods from erratic rainfall and weather patterns.
The DoEnv is the key implementation agency and will work closely with the local authorities, including the District Development Committees and District Energy/Environment and Climate Change Coordination committee formed in each
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