Livelihood Vulnerability and Adaptive Strategies Assessment of Farmers Living in Rajapur Municipality, Bardiya, Nepal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66050/hk586293Keywords:
climate change, flood hazard, vulnerability, adaptation, farmer’s livelihoodsAbstract
Floods in the Terai region of Nepal cause substantial damage to property, increasing household indebtedness, disrupt sustainable livelihoods, and trigger migration. Despite the growing frequency and severity of floods, flood vulnerability remains under-researched. This study assesses local climatic trends, livelihood vulnerability, and adaptation strategies among farmers in Wards 1, 3, 4, and 7 of Rajapur Municipality. Specifically, it analyzes local climate trends to determine hazard exposure and assesses the livelihood vulnerability of small, medium, and large farmers using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and LVI-IPCC frameworks. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of adaptation strategies adopted by these farmer groups in responding to climate-related hazards. It had combined 30 years of climate data with empirical evidence from 160 households, four focus group discussions, and five key informant interviews. Results indicated an average annual temperature increase of 0.0084 °C, with seasonally consistent warming trends, except during the post-monsoon period. Annual average rainfall increased by 8.318 mm annually, while seasonal patterns revealed declining winter and post-monsoon precipitation and rising pre-monsoon and monsoon rainfall. The data confirmed that the small farmers have the highest levels of vulnerability, followed by medium and large-scale farmers. Adaptation strategies identified as effective included early warning systems, flood shelters, raised tubewells, capacity-building programs, social networks, and river embankments. This finding contributed to a deeper understanding of flood-related livelihood vulnerabilities and adaptive responses in the region, providing evidence-based guidance for interventions and risk-reduction planning.
Downloads
References
1. Agrawal, A. (2008). The Role of Local Institutions in Adaptation to Climate Change. Paper prepared for the Social Dimensions of Climate Change, Social Development Department. February, 65.
2. Alfieri, L., Burek, P., Feyen, L., & Forzieri, G. (2015). Global warming increases the frequency of river floods in Europe. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 19(5), 2247–2260. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2247-2015
3. Baniya, S., Bhatta, S., Ghimire, S.& Pandey, S. (2024). Assessing Wildlife Mortality Causes and Temporal Patterns: Insights from MaxEnt Modeling in Banke and Bardiya National Parks, Nepal. Taiwan Journal of Forest Science, 39(4), 241–258. https://doi.org/10.7075/TJFS.202412_39(4).0001
4. Bhatta, S., Joshi, R., & Ghimire, S. (2025). Assessing Tree Structure and Biodiversity in Community Forests and Spatial Distribution of Local Disturbance. Iranian Forest Magazine. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijf.2024.413621.1942
5. Cochran, W. G. (1977). Sampling Techniques. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
6. Cvetković, V. M., Tanasić, J., Ocal, A., Kešetović, Ž., Nikolić, N., & Dragašević, A. (2021). Capacity development of local self-governments for disaster risk management. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 10406. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910406
7. Cvetković, V., & Martinović, J. (2020). Innovative solutions for flood risk management. International Journal of Disaster Risk Management, 2(2), 71–100. https://doi.org/10.18485/ijdrm.2020.2.2.4
8. DHM. (2017). Observed Climate Trend Analysis of Nepal. Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Nepal, June.
9. Dugar, S. (2016). Flood Dynamics in the Karnali Basin, West Nepal.
10. Durbar, S., Kathmandu, N., Sindt, J., & Pham, R. (2021). Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Environment Climate Change Management Division. March.
11. Emma, L., John, T., & Getrude, L. (2019). Building Resilience for All To Natural Hazards in Nepal. Building Resilience for All Intersectional Approaches for Reducing Vulnerability to Natural Hazards in Nepal and Kenya.
12. Gerlitz, J.-Y., Macchi, M., Brooks, N., Pandey, R., Banerjee, S., & Jha, S. K. (2017). The Multidimensional Livelihood Vulnerability Index – an instrument to measure livelihood vulnerability to change in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Climate and Development, 9(2), 124-140. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2016.1145099
13. Hallegatte, S., Vogt-Schilb, A., Rozenberg, J., Bangalore, M., & Beaudet, C. (2020). From Poverty to Disaster and Back: a Review of the Literature. Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, 4(1), 223–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41885-020-00060-5
14. Hoq, M. S., Raha, S. K., & Hossain, M. I. (2021). Livelihood Vulnerability to Flood Hazard: Understanding from the Flood-prone Haor Ecosystem of Bangladesh. Environmental Management, 67(3), 532–552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01441-6
15. Huggel, C., Carey, M., Emmer, A., Frey, H., Walker-crawford, N., & Wallimann-Helmer, I. (2020). Anthropogenic climate change and glacier lake outburst flood risks : the climate litigation case of Huaraz , Peru. Geophysical Research Abstracts, EGU General Assembly, 20(February), 11970.
16. IPCC. (2021). IPCC press release AR6. Climate Change 2013 - The Physical Science Basis, August 2021, 1–6.
17. Islam, S. (2017). An assessment of Women Vulnerability for Flooding Hazard and Socio Economic Condition : A Case Study on Char Gonai of Tepamadhapur Union, Kaunia , Rangpur , Bangladesh. Imp. J. Interdiscip. Res., 3(4), 211–231.
18. Jarraud, M., & Steiner, A. (2012). Summary for policymakers. In Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Vol. 9781107025). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139177245.003
19. Kabir, A., Rahman, S. N., & Sraboni, H. J. (2018). Application of Livelihood Vulnerability Index in Assessing Local Vulnerabilities to Rapid Environmental Change: A Case Study of South Western Coastal Bangladesh. International Journal of Science and Research. Retrieved from https://www.ijsr.net/archive/v9i3/SR20229233725.pdf
20. Majid, N. A., Nazi, N. M., Idris, N. D., & Taha, M. R. (2019). GIS-Based Livelihood Vulnerability Index Mapping of the Socioeconomy of the Pekan Community. Sustainability, 11. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11246935
21. Ministry of Home Affairs. (2018). ). Nepal Disaster Report, 2017: The Road to Sendai. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal, Ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved from https://dpnet.org.np/uploads/files/Nepal%20Disaster%202019-04-01%2009-55-53.pdf
22. National Planning Commission (NPC). (2017). Post Flood Recovery Needs Assessment. In Government of Nepal.
23. Neupane, B., Joshi, R., Ghimire, S., Bhatta, S., & Panta, M. (2023). Nature-based solutions: Mitigating flood effects on forest tree biodiversity and societal factors. Scientific Reports in Life Sciences, 4(3), 53–83. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10198530
24. Paudel, S. P., Khanal, S. N., Mathema, A. B., Maharjan, P., & Bhatta, S. (2025). Assessing Agricultural Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Study on Flood-Induced Loss and Damage in Rajapur, Bardiya, Nepal. International Journal of Disaster Risk Management, 7(1), 265–282. Retrieved from https://internationaljournalofdisasterrisk management.com/Vol1/article/view/142
25. Paudel, S., Khanal, S. N., Mathema, A. B., Maharjan, P., & Bhatta, S. (2025). Assessing Agricultural Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Study on Flood-Induced Loss and Damage in Rajapur, Bardiya, Nepal. International Journal of Disaster Risk Management, 265–282.
26. Practical Action (2021) Assessing and addressing climate-induced loss and damage in Nepal, Practical Action, Rugby
27. Qaisrani, A., Awais, M., Ghamz, U., Siyal, E. A., & Majeed, K. (2018). What Defines Livelihood Vulnerability in Rural Semi Arid Areas ? Evidence from Pakistan. Earth Systems and Environment, 2(3), 455–475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-018-0059-5
28. SALHAB, J. E. R. (n.d.). 47 billion people face flood risk worldwide: for over a third, it could be devastating. https://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/147-billion-people-face-flood-risk-worldwide-over-third-it-could-be-devastating
29. Shah, K. U., Bansha, H., Johnson, C., & Baptiste, A. (2013). Understanding livelihood vulnerability to climate change : Applying the livelihood vulnerability index in Trinidad and Tobago Geoforum Understanding livelihood vulnerability to climate change : Applying the livelihood vulnerability index in Trinidad and T. GEOFORUM, 47(April), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.04.004
30. Smit, B., & Wandel, J. (2006). Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Global Environmental Change, 16(3), 282–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.03.008
31. Sujakhu, N. M., Ranjitkar, S., He, J., Schmidt-Vogt, D., Su, Y., & Xu, J. (2019). Assessing the livelihood vulnerability of rural indigenous households to climate changes in Central Nepal, Himalaya. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102977
32. Suryanto, S., & Rahman, A. (2019). Application of livelihood vulnerability index to assess risks for farmers in the Sukoharjo Regency and Klaten Regency, Indonesia. Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 11(1). doi:: 10.4102/jamba.v11i1.739
33. Tianyi Luo, Andrew Maddocks, Charles Iceland, P. W. and H. W. (2015). World’s 15 Countries with the Most People Exposed to River Floods. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/worlds-15-countries-most-people-exposed-river-floods
34. Urothody, A. A., & Larsen, H. O. (2010). Measuring climate change vulnerability: a comparison of. Banko Jankari.
35. WB, & ADB. (2020). Climate risk country profile - Vietnam. 32.
36. Weather-related disasters increase over past 50 years, causing more damage but fewer deathsNo Title. (n.d.).
37. Wilkinson, E., & Peters, K. (2015). Climate Extremes and Resilient Poverty Reduction: Development Designed with Uncertainty in Mind. Overseas Development Institute: Braced Knowledge Manager.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Prajun Chapagain, Ram Asheshwar Mandal, Ajay Bhakta Mathema, Sudip Pandey, Sewak Bhatta (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This journal operates under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, adaptation, and transformation in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
Authors retain the copyright of their articles.
The International Journal of Disaster Risk Management (IJDRM) encourages and permits authors to:
-
Post pre-print (submitted version), post-print (accepted version), and publisher’s version/PDF of their articles on personal websites, institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, and academic networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, or departmental websites,
-
Do so at any time, including before or after publication,
-
Provided that appropriate credit is given to the original publication in this journal, including:
-
Full bibliographic details
-
A clear mention of the journal name
-
A direct link to the article’s DOI (as an HTML link)
-
No prior permission is required from the publisher or editors for such actions, as long as the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license are followed.
