The Resilient Mountain Village (RMV) approach offers simple and affordable solutions for mountain farmers to adapt to ongoing environmental and socio-economic changes and better prepares them for future challenges. The approach combines local knowledge with scientific risk and vulnerability assessments to contribute to resilience building through enhanced productivity and disaster risk reduction (DRR) with simple, affordable, and people-driven solutions. The project focuses on three overarching goals: climate resilience, socio-economic resilience, and future resilience. Together, these goals form a basis for an integrated approach to sustainable development and resilience building in mountain communities.

The issue

Kavre District, situated in the mid-hills of Nepal, has long been a place of significant agricultural production, with a large market for fresh vegetables in the capital city of Kathmandu. However, in the past 20–30 years, an increase in hazard risk due to changes in rainfall patterns has been observed in Kavre. Changes in the rainfall patterns and in seasonality are the most severe challenges impacting agricultural production, the livelihood mainstay for over two-thirds of the population here. In addition, crops are being affected by higher incidences of insect-pest attacks, forcing farmers to apply higher doses of ‘red-labelled’ chemical pesticides, leading to severe health hazards to people and the environment. Simultaneously, increasing outmigration, predominantly by young men, has substantially shifted the responsibilities of agriculture to women.

The solution

The RMV approach was developed by ICIMOD, and the pilot project has been implemented in eight villages by the Center for Environment and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension, and Development (CEAPRED) since 2014. Based on a risk assessment and participatory planning (see Figure 1), the project addresses water scarcity, soil nutrition, crop productivity, information gaps, risk reduction, and institutional linkages.

The project takes a holistic approach to simultaneously address aspects of resilience enhancement. A number of technologies and practices based on farmers’ traditional knowledge, as well as scientific knowledge, are tested, demonstrated, and disseminated (see Table 1). Average investment per household was less than USD 100 in the first two years of interventions. The actions are kept site-specific, simple, and affordable, to ensure easy uptake for farmers and to enable practices to be shared by word of mouth among the communities not directly participating. Local-level government departments are involved from the beginning to ensure project ownership and support.

A project-management committee has been formed representing all stakeholders, ensuring approval, monitoring, and networking with other organizations.

Impact and uptake

The project has directly benefitted 1,089 households, among whom 1,212 (83 percent) comprise women farmers. Female participation is high, partly because the project encourages women to join, but also because of the high level of male outmigration – in almost 40 percent of the households in the mid-hills, at least one man had migrated.

The project is supported by district line agencies and agro-veterinary centres in Nepal. Regular monitoring from high-level authorities, including Nepal’s National Planning Commission (NPC), has also aided the upscaling efforts. The Government of Nepal has already adopted and included the RMV approach in its development plan and plans to pilot this approach in 14 districts.

Table 1: Interventions and outcomes related to water management and soil nutrition

Contributors

Nand Kishor Agrawal, ICIMOD

Laxmi Dutt Bhatta, ICIMOD

Further reading/information

Resilient Mountain Villages (RMV): Laying Foundations for Resilient Development through Simple Solutions, ICIMOD