Agriculture and Food Security under Climate Change in Nepal

Abstract

Nepal is amongst the poorest countries worldwide, and its varied topography and social vulnerability make the country particularly susceptible to climate change. In turn, Nepal has low adaptive capacity to respond to the variability due to climate change. Small scale (average 0.7ha), subsistence agriculture is the mainstay of Nepal’s economy, employing 78% of work force, and contributing nearly 36% of Nepal’s GDP. Only 27% of agricultural land has access to irrigation, whereas the great part of arable land is rain–fed. Recent climate change in Nepal has demonstrably impacted crop productivity. The question thus arises whether present and perspective climate change will negatively impact agriculture, and food security. In spite of such, few studies recently explored future impact of climate change specifically on Nepal’s food security. Here I summarize, and critically comment the available literature about recent and perspective impact of climate change on Nepal’s agriculture, and rural economy, highlight the main findings and criticalities, and I suggest future directions of investigation.