Grassroots climate investment in Nepal
Project Overview
Remote communities under threat
“In monsoon season, some project sites were completely inaccessible for two to three months,” says project manager Duncan Tossell. “Even in mild weather, it could take several days trekking on foot to reach the most remote villages.”
Duncan is describing one of the challenges faced on the Nepal Climate Change Support Programme, a £23M, five-year initiative funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Its aim has been to help some 600,000 people in remote and rural communities adapt to rising temperatures, less predictable rainfall resulting in both droughts and flooding, and increased risk of landslides.
At the end of 2023, the programme’s second phase, NCCSP2, had supported 412 community infrastructure projects across 42 municipalities (known as palikas) in Nepal’s largest province, Karnali. A further 183 projects across 35 palikas will have been implemented by the end of 2024.
Even in mild weather, it could take several days trekking on foot to reach the most remote villages.Project manager, Mott MacDonald
Mott MacDonald was appointed by the FCDO in 2019 to provide technical assistance to the government of Nepal to implement NCCSP2.
NCCSP2 has addressed four major climate risks for Nepal: climate risks to infrastructure; the quality and quantity of water; agricultural yields and food security; and the sustainability of biodiversity and natural resources. One of the programme’s key goals is to improve livelihoods for the poorest in society, and especially women.
Women are strongly represented on the management committees that define and oversee delivery and long-term management of resilience initiatives
Six types of project
Karnali is in western Nepal. Poverty and vulnerability to the physical impacts of climate change are interlinked – and Karnali suffers from both.
NCCSP2 has focused on six types of project:
Irrigation projects have a major impact both on farmers’ incomes and wider food security. Secure year-round supplies of water for irrigation increase cropping areas and enable farmers to harvest crops throughout the year.
Drinking water projects save people, and especially women and girls, time. Instead of walking long distances to fetch water, they can pursue other activities, including education. Easier access to clean water contributes to higher household productivity and income.
Flood control measures protect property, assets and farmland, allowing year-round agriculture. As well as reducing the disruptive impact of flooding on households, improved flood control prevents soil and crops from being washed away, boosting agricultural productivity.
Slope stabilisation, employing nature based solutions such as vegetated walls and bunds, reduces the probability and severity of landslides, protecting property and keeping roads open.
Road improvements with better drainage help to keep roads passable, enabling transportation of goods and greater access to markets and supply chains in all weathers.
Training programmes have equipped almost 2000 government officials – including 600 women – to identify climate risks and implement measures to improve climate resilience.
River training and reinforcement of river embankments protects farmland
Communities build and maintain many of the projects delivered under the programme – here, community members are briefed on maintenance of the reinforced embankment seen in the background
The programme has provided water storage tanks for crop irrigation
Tangible benefits
To protect against landslips in Aathbees palika, retaining ‘crib walls’ were constructed with bamboo. Shiva Bishwokarma, chair of the local user committee, says: “When we started working on the crib wall we quickly realised that it was really effective.
“It protected the land and created greenery when the bamboo grew. This prevented landslides. We feel a lot more secure now. I am very encouraged by the approach of this programme.”
Locally led climate action
One of the distinctive aspects of NCCSP2 is that local communities and institutions have had significant influence over which projects are prioritised and how they are implemented.
We worked with local, provincial and federal governments to align projects with Nepal’s Local Adaptation Plans for Action (LAPA) process, a national framework to channel climate finance to local communities in a transparent and accountable way.
We helped local governments establish a systematic approach to project planning, design and governance, supported by guidelines for integrating climate considerations into policies and processes.
We supported palikas to create user committees to lead the implementation of projects. Women were much better represented, and exerted greater influence, than in Nepalese society more widely. At the end of 2023, women chaired 10% of all user committees, while 44% of committee members were female.
Local people also received training in how to analyse and use climate data as an evidence base to develop adaptation plans, as well as in climate resilient farming and water management techniques. Soft skills training included procurement, report writing and leadership.
NCCSP2 used an innovative co-financing model, with 80% of project costs covered by the programme, 10% by local government and 10% in kind by local communities, through labour and materials.
Engaging and empowering people has had impressive results: When evaluating the programme, we surveyed 253 households supported by 11 projects. Nine of every ten people who had been consulted when developing projects felt that they had benefited. This contrasted with respondents who had not been consulted, of whom only a quarter felt the projects were beneficial.
We have incorporated NCCSP2’s learning in other projects too. The approach pioneered on these projects is transferable to projects in other climate vulnerable regions.Secretary at the Ministry for Industry, Tourism, Forest & Environment in Karnali
This approach, involving local contribution, was developed and proved on the Blue Gold flood defence and climate adaptation programme in Bangladesh, which we managed for more than a decade. However, it is still unusual on aid funded projects more widely.
Getting communities involved in planning, delivering and maintaining projects is an effective way to spread technical knowledge within local government and communities, and it maximises the likelihood of projects being sustainable after the initial funding and implementation phase is complete.
Dr Binod Devkota, secretary at the Ministry for Industry, Tourism, Forest & Environment in the province of Karnali, says: “We have incorporated NCCSP2’s learning in other projects too. The approach pioneered on these projects is transferable to projects in other climate vulnerable regions.”
Spreading technical know-how
Providing technical support to communities in the remotest areas of western Nepal was challenging but critical for success, says Duncan.
“The best solution was to post experts in nine cluster offices providing technical assistance to 35 palikas. In each cluster office we had three specialists in climate and water, agriculture and forestry, and public finance.
“These teams carried out project site visits and provided technical support and guidance to palikas on project implementation, working through any challenges that arose.” The teams helped control project costs and quality.
Multi-layered projects
The Bhursu Khola irrigation canal and water mill project in Naumule municipality has provided multiple benefits to local communities.
Intense rainfall brought increasingly severe flooding and landslides, which blocked the flow of water from the Bhursu Khola river, needed to irrigate farmland and supply water to households. Meanwhile, the earth embankments of irrigation canals that feed water to farmland during dry spells required increasing maintenance. Farming had become steadily harder, and there was high seasonal migration to India by smallholder farmers to increase incomes.
Under NCCSP2, a programme of river engineering was carried out to reduce flood risk, while the earth embankments were protected and reinforced. The programme also upgraded the local water mill, which enables farmers to process grains into flour, which they can sell for more at market.
NCCSP2 provided 62% of the overall funding, while Naumule municipality provided 24% and the community provided 14%.
Evidence based decisions
We developed several data based tools to help municipalities understand their climate risks and make evidence based decisions. For example, 28 user-friendly hazard maps identified areas most at risk from floods, droughts and landslides. This helped to design and target interventions at the most vulnerable communities.
Rainfall and temperature data from Karnali’s 24 hydrology and meteorology stations was also used to create climate profiles of palikas, giving information on current and future climate trends, river flow and water access across 35 municipalities.
We also use the climate risk index to identify the most at-risk palikas based on the local hazard score, vulnerability and exposure. This was one of the criteria used to allocate annual climate finance to communities in greatest need.
Currently federal data on climate trends in different geographies is not visible to local government. We are working to make it available in real time.Team leader, Nepal climate change support programme
We helped to upload data from these tools and local adaptation plans to provincial climate change management systems. In 2024 we will build an interface between local and federal government climate data platforms.
Kiran Wagle, Mott MacDonald’s team leader in Nepal, says: “Currently federal data on climate trends in different geographies is not visible to local government. We are working to make it available in real time and to give local policy makers and planners the knowledge they need to use it for climate resilient development.”
Financial accountability
NCCSP2 is one of the few programmes in Nepal where international funding is disbursed by the government. Climate grants are paid to palikas by the federal treasury, which is only reimbursed through NCCSP2 programme funding if specific climate objectives are achieved.
With our support, palikas prepare quarterly financial management reports and submit them to the treasury. The reports detail expenditure and provide evidence that planned climate adaptation work had been completed to the required standard. The treasury can only claim reimbursement via the British Embassy in Kathmandu once it has that evidence.
It is a funding model that promotes transparency, accountability and value, and could be used to access additional sources of climate finance, such as the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, the Loss and Damage Fund, and private banks.