Climatelinks Photo Gallery

A young girl from Parsa Rural Municipality in Sarlahi pumps water from a tube well at her house in June 2019. Young girls in Nepal such as this one often hold the familial responsibility of procuring water for their household. As climate change increasingly threatens water supplies in Nepal this responsibility is becoming more and more burdensome, reinforcing unequal gender divisions of labour and marginalizing girls from economic activities. IWMI’s work to combat such discords is completed in partnership with the DFAT Water for Women Fund.

An International Water Management Institute (IWMI) colleague inspects a rural village water tank built in Shikharpur, Baitadi, Nepal in 2017. Climate change is drying out many of the mountain springs in Western Nepal, forcing rural villages to adapt and find new water sources. Water tanks ensure a stable water supply for entire villages even as spring flow depletes. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

In 2017, a young boy from Shikharpur, Nepal plays on the roof of his house, where a solar panel has been installed to provide his family with renewable electricity. As the effects of climate change on natural resources become more and more detrimental, renewable sources of energy are necessary to ensure climate change resilience in Nepal’s most vulnerable regions. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with ADB, the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

Rupa Thapa (left) is a Community Business Facilitator (CBF) and Plant Doctor in Lele, Lalitpur District Nepal. Rupa is conducting a Plant Clinic diagnosing samples to recommend safe Integrated Pest Management (IPM) bio solutions for disease and pest problems that are made worse by climate change. CBF Rupa earns a commission on agro input sales and provides training to her 600 small farmer customers (420 are women). Rupa earns $1,300/year working part time. Rupa’s 600 customers earn over $400/year selling vegetables, in aggregate over $240,000/year, greatly benefiting the community. Rupa was trained to be CBF by the USAID IPM Innovation Lab (IPM-IL, 2015-19) led Globally by Virginia Tech and in Nepal by partner iDE. Rupa uses IPM based recommendations developed by the IPM-IL working with Government. The IPM-IL in partnership with the global CABI Plant Wise program trained Rupa and 43 other CBFs to become Plant Doctors. Plant Doctors receive intensive training, have access to online databases, and are backstopped by Nepal’s plant protection services. Rupa has extended safe technologies to successfully control the devastating exotic Tuta Absoluta Tomato pest that arrived in Nepal in 2016. (Photo by Bimala Rai Colavito, iDE Volunteer, December 31, 2018.

Pabitra Sharma is a Community Business Facilitator (CBF) and Plant Doctor in B-Gaun, Banke District Nepal. CBF Pabitra earns a commission on agro sales, including safe bio products for plant protection and she provides training to 585 smallholder customers (410 are women). Pabitra is observing a customer’s pheromone funnel trap with Spodo-lure for the tobacco caterpillar that attacks tomatoes, right is a yellow sticky trap. Climate change increases risk by making plant disease and pest problems worse. Pabitra earns $1,400/year working part time. Pabitra’s 585 customers earn over $430/year selling vegetables, in aggregate over $208,000/year, greatly benefiting the community. Pabitra was trained to be CBF by the USAID IPM Innovation Lab (IPM-IL, 2015-19) led Globally by Virginia Tech and in Nepal by partner iDE. Pabitra uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) recommendations developed by the IPM-IL working with Government. The IPM-IL in partnership with the global CABI Plant Wise program trained Pabitra and 43 other CBFs to become Plant Doctors. Plant Doctors receive intensive training, have access to online databases, and are backstopped by Nepal’s plant protection services. Pabitra as a Plant Doctor conducts regular Plant Clinics in her community diagnosing samples. (Photo by Bimala Rai Colavito, iDE Volunteer, November 13, 2019.

IWMI and DSCWM staff inspecting a meteorological station built in Shikharpur Baitadi, Nepal in 2017. The station will provide data to better plan and develop climate change mitigation technologies in the countries most vulnerable regions and communities. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with ADB, the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of DSWCM.

Improving Livelihoods through Agro-preneurship Tissue culture banana, an innovative idea and technology is turning around subsistence farming of an inconsequential crop to a lucrative agribusiness venture for Joshua Okundi. A smallholder farmer in Homa Bay County, Joshua, aged 57 earns KES 430,000 from tissue culture bananas planted in a one acre piece of land. "Besides the income I from the bananas, I also plant staples and horticulture crops, and rear fish in a pond to supplement nutritional needs in my home and for sale," said Joshua Okundi. In photo: Joshua Okundi in Homa Bay County demonstrates usage of a solar pump.

Micro-hydro, powered by nearby streams, brings much-needed electric power to remote mountain communities. Sunbir Ghale (pictured here) maintains Simjung village’s micro-hydro plant in Gorkha district; it was badly damaged during the 2015 earthquake and Hariyo Ban funded repairs as part of its support to earthquake recovery.

Cooking with biogas greatly reduces firewood consumption, improving women’s health and enabling forests to regenerate and increase protection from landslides and floods.

The Chisapani location in the Terai of Western Nepal is a key spot as the Karnali river exits from the higher mountains to the lowlands, creating significant flood hazards that kill people almost every Monsoon. As part of an enhanced end-to-end early warning sytem, the Chisapani flood gauge reader monitors the river for alert levels and dispatches warnings to downstream vulnerable communities as part of Practical Action's efforts to build community flood resilience in Nepal.

The Chisapani location in the Western Terai of Nepal is a key spot as the Karnali river exits from the higher mountains to the lowlands, creating significant flood hazards that kill people almost every Monsoon. As part of an enhanced end-to-end early warning sytems, the Chisapani flood gauge reader monitors the river for alert levels and dispatches warnings to downstream vulnerable communities as part of Practical Action's efforts to build community flood resilience in Nepal.