Climate Change Adaptation Undertaken by Small-scale Farmers in Nepal: A Reference from Tinau River Basin

Background: Climate change is an emerging challenge that the global society will have to deal with over the coming decades. The task is particularly daunting to developing societies as they are considered more susceptible to climate change because of their exposures and sensitivities to climate-related extremes, and especially because of their restricted adaptive capabilities to deal with the effects of hazardous events. Objectives: This research attempts to seek evidence of adaptation undertaken as a result of climate change-induced impacts and analyze the factors affecting the capability and strategies of climate change adaptation by small scale farmers in Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cum correlational research design was employed in the study following a quantitative approach. Using a convenience sampling method, primary data for each variable was collected from 67 small scale farmers of Tinau River Basin located in the Western region of Nepal. 5-Point Likert Scale questions were prepared and pilot testing was conducted to collect the responses. Descriptive statistics, Kendall Rank Correlation and Cronbach's Alpha (α) Test were used while analyzing the data and testing the hypotheses. The inferences were made at 5% and 1% level of significance. Results: The findings indicate that the small scale farmers in the Tinau River Basin are experiencing the varied level of changes in climate. It revealed the existence of some barring factors for adaptation, further, insisting that farmers are prone to suffer from capability losses due to climate change. Conclusion: The study concludes that small scale farmers are prone to suffer from capability losses due to climate change. Climate change effects are hampering their ability to cultivate the land, increasingly damaging their production, and causing lower yields of harvests. Implications: This study suggests that such influencing factors should be taken into prime consideration (while developing additional intervention) to enhance farmers' capabilities to better cope with climate change effects; thus improving their adaptation measures for maintaining a flourishing relationship with the changing climate.