Women, who spend nearly 60% of their time caring for and managing livestock, will be a particular focus

of this research. Although womens knowledge has long been undervalued and ignored, this project will specifically engage women to uncover their understanding of climate change impacts, adaptations, and the impact climate change and other factors have on their lives and the lives of their children. Dr. Netra B. Chhetri, Assistant Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University will lead this project with Shreeram Neopane, Executive Director of Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD), a Nepal-based non-governmental organization founded in 2003 and committed to enhancing the resiliency of vulnerable rural communities through interdisciplinary research and development. Another Nepalbased NGO, Nucleus for Empowerment through Skill Transfer (NEST), will bring their expertise on organizing field-level training and capacity-building to this endeavor.

Building a foundation for long-term investment

Sarah Lupis and Jessica Davis, Livestock-Climate Change CRSP PB-03-2011
Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program

The Seed Grant Program for Nepal

JUNE 2011

Program Brief

Yak are confined to the mountainous, northern districts of Nepal where Himalayan glaciers are melting as a result of global climate change. Livestock keepers are now coping with flooding, disease risk, and other consequences.

Seed Grant Projects are one-year endeavors designed to lay the foundation for a longer-term research program. This process allows research teams to refine their problem model, test data collection techniques, and refine team composition to fit their evolving problem model and ensure that key partners are engaged. The Livestock-Climate Change CRSP selected Nepal as a focus country and initiated a Seed Grant Program there for several reasons. In Nepal, nearly 70% of households depend on livestock production for a significant part of their income and as a source of meat, dairy products, and eggs. In addition, Nepal is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts. Finally, Nepal is one of the 20 Feed the Future countries, due to rampant malnutrition rates and a high degree of food insecurity.
Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1644 PH: 970.297.5060 FX: 970.297.4321 Email: csucrsp@colostate.edu www.LCCCRSP.org

The Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program is dedicated to catalyzing and coordinating research that improves the livelihoods of livestock producers affected by climate change by reducing vulnerability and increasing adaptive capacity.
This publication was made possible through support provided to the ALS-CC CRSP by the Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of Grant No. EEM-A-00-10-00001. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. government.

The Nepal Seed Grant cohort includes three U.S. university partners; one university in Nepal; and a total of seven U.S and international aid, development, and research organizations, and government agencies.

existing strategies for adapting to climate change; and identify opportunities for capacity-building and training that could have the greatest impact on the system. The project will be focused in the Nuwakot district in the mid-hills region of Nepal. Ultimately, by building capacity, strengthening policy, and improving livestock production practices, this project will benefit hundreds of rural households that depend on and are impacted by the interwoven relationships between livestock, the environment, and climate change. This project will be led by Dr. Durga D. Poudel, Professor and Head of the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is joined by a team of interdisciplinary scientists from the University of Louisiana. Partners in Nepal include CARE Nepal; Nyayik Sansar; the Agricultural Development Bank Limited; the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC); Tribhuvan University; district level governmental offices in Nuwakot, including District Livestock Services, District Forest Office, and District Agricultural Office; the Asta-Ja Abhiyan Nepal branch office in Nuwakot; and local governments, media, farmers, and other stakeholders in Nuwakot district and Kathmandu. Livestock, Livelihoods, and Climate Change Interaction: Collaborative Research in the Mountains of Nepal (LLCCI) Netra Chhetri, Arizona State University and Shreeram P. Neopane, Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development The Mountain region of Nepal is especially vulnerable to climate change. Already, residents are experiencing warming temperatures, frequent drought, glacial retreat, and receding snowline. These changes are have led to drying up of water sources, shifts in traditional grazing practices, and abandonment of entire settlements--all negative effects on the livelihoods of the primarily agro-pastoral people in this region. These changes are likely to have specific impacts on the livestock sector, including animal health and pasture quality. Through household surveys and focus group interviews, this project will investigate the emerging animal health issues that livestock keepers are experiencing and what impacts these issues are having on livestock production. Researchers will also evaluate how climate trends have altered transhumance systems, fodder production, and pasture quality for mobile herders living at higher-elevations. By looking at these and other factors, researchers will gain a better understanding of what influences adaptation and decision-making processes at the local community levelinformation that will lead to the development of a portfolio of climate adaptation strategies for livestock-based systems.

Nepal Seed Grant Project Profiles

Past and Future Climate Assessments of Livestock Vulnerability in Nepal (CALVN) Robert Gillies and Dale Zobell, Utah State University Most of Nepals population depends on agriculture for their subsistence and livelihoods. Extreme weather, especially droughts and floods, is increasing food vulnerability of about 3.4 million people in Nepal who are already food insecure. The Government of Nepal wants climate change adaptation to be incorporated into all agricultural initiatives, but lacks expertise on climate forecasting. This project will link state-of-the-art climate assessments for Nepal to a network of 420 women-run Village Model Farms serving 13,000 farm-families. The overall project goals are to complete country-wide climate analyses, map livestock production in climate vulnerable areas, and provide training related to livestock management and feeding practices to help farmers adapt and respond to climate change. This project is led by Dr. Robert Gillies, Associate Professor of Meteorology in the Department of Plants, Soils and Climate at Utah State University and Director of the Utah Climate Center and Dr. Dale Zobell, Professor, Associate Department Head, and Extension Beef Specialist in the Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences at Utah State University. Project partners in Nepal include Helen-Keller International and the Ministry of Agriculture and CooperativesDepartment of Livestock Services (MACDLS). Capacity-Building and Strengthening of Livestock Production Systems while Adapting to Climate Change in Nepal (SLPS) Durga D. Poudel, University of Louisiana at Lafayette The livestock production system in Nepal is intricately tied to forest resources, soil quality, and crop productivity and ultimately, to the livelihoods of most of the population. In a healthy system, forests provide fodder, grazing land, and balanced hydrology, while livestock systems convert fodder and grasses into milk, meat, manure, and draft power. In a healthy system, rural families reap the benefits of food production, and income for school and supplies. Disruptions to this system, including rapid land use changes, forest degradation, soil erosion, policy deficits, and community incapacity are compounding climate change impacts and causing a decline in the livestock production system in Nepal, with cascading effects on human health and livelihoods. A system-wide approach is needed to re-invigorate livestock production in Nepal. This project will identify factors responsible for the decline in the livestock production system, a first step in developing interventions and improvement strategies; characterize livestock management systems and feed supply to understand constraints and opportunities for improvement; document