Livelihood vulnerability and adaptive strategies assessment of farmers living in Rajapur municipality, Bardiya

Flood is one of the serious problems in Nepal and annually several people were killed particularly in Terai. However, the study related vulnerability of floods was very limited so far. Thus, this study was objectively carried out to assess the change in rainfall and climate variability, to assess the livelihood vulnerability of farmers against flood, and to assess the adaptive strategies of farmers against flooding in Rajapur, Bardiya. Rajapur Municipality wards 1, 3, 4, and 7 were selected as the study site. The households were categorized into large, medium, and small farmers. Climate data like temperature and rainfall for 30 years were gathered and 160 household survey was conducted. In addition, four focus group discussions and five key informant interviews were conducted to collect data aiming to find the vulnerability and adaptation practices. The climatic data were analyzed using trend analysis and different indices. Similarly, the livelihood vulnerability index was used to analyze the context of vulnerability and descriptive analysis was conducted to analyze the data related to adaptation strategies. The result showed that the annual yearly temperature was increased by 0.0084⁰C and a similar trend in temperature was seen in all the seasons except the post-monsoon season. The annual average rainfall was increased by 8.318mm/year. The winter and post-monsoon rainfall trends were found to be decreasing whereas the pre-monsoon and monsoon rainfall was found to be in increasing trend. The overall LVI calculated from the major components indicates that small farmers were the most vulnerable to climate change, followed by medium farmers and the least vulnerable were large farmers. The LVI-IPCC index also showed the same pattern, small farmers were the most vulnerable and large farmers were the least. The adaptation strategies of early warning system, shelter house, elevated tube wells, capacity building training, social networks and embankment construction were found to be significant one against the impacts of floods. This research will be useful for decision-makers and the scientific community to understand the vulnerability context of floods from Rajapur, Bardiya.