Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
Message 5 – Factors enabling adaptation may also Message 7 – National institutions and policies
be constraining factors strongly affect people’s ability to adapt at the local
Enabling factors for adaptation include policies,
level, but the national level is rarely informed by
institutions, relationships, networks, or infrastructures that
adaptation concerns and priorities
play a role in reducing the risk posed by water stress
Policy landscapes dealing with water resources, disaster
and hazards. These are always specific to the local
risk reduction, agriculture, and other issues related to
situation and condition. However, what serves as an
local adaptation tend to be filled with overlaps and
enabling factor one day can be a constraining factor the
contradictions. In the countries studied, they also largely
next. Further, enabling factors can come at a high cost,
fail to take climate change and the adaptation needs of
and may benefit one person but not another. Enabling
local people into account, or even to prioritise the well-
factors might simultaneously be constraining, forcing
being of poor rural people.
people to make choices leading to tradeoffs that can
have consequences for their overall well-being.
For example, investment in irrigation in Yunnan in
China has provided the physical basis for strengthening
While infrastructure development such as embankments
communities’ coping capacity. When drought occurs,
have provided protection most of the time in Assam
irrigation system management is adjusted to reflect
and Bihar, people have also been falsely lured to
water supply limits and to minimise losses in agriculture.
feeling safe settling near them. This false sense of
However, the agenda is driven by the government’s
security has increased vulnerability to floods, because
economic interests in the cash crops rather than ensuring
traditional strategies to reduce flood risk have not been
that people are able to cope with dry periods or
implemented. In both Assam and Bihar, infrastructure has
inadequate rainfall. This is demonstrated by the fact that
also adversely affected people’s traditional mobility and
upland communities continue to face water constraints
natural river flows, further increasing their vulnerability to
because they have not been the focus of infrastructure
floods. In Nepal, the development of roads to provide
investments.
vital access to markets has damaged numerous natural
springs, leading to greater water scarcity.
The weak links between local adaptation and enabling
policy appear to stem from both the generally low
Message 6 – Adaptation requires striking a balance
priority given to climate change adaptation by
between short-term priorities and long-term gains
most governments (even in China, which is putting
considerable resources into greenhouse gas mitigation
The purpose of diversified livelihoods is to maximise
policies), and poor feedback loops for bringing local
well-being, and this includes dealing with a range of
priorities to the attention of policy-makers. Where local
factors apart from the risk posed by water stress and
level officials can sometimes mediate policy measures,
hazards. Some of the approaches adopted to support
as in the case of Yunnan, national policies and
well-being now may compete with approaches aimed
institutions can be more supportive.
at resilience later. Immediate concerns for financial gain,
for example, may outweigh long-term financial stability,
resulting in actions that pay off now but at a high cost to Conclusions
later benefits.
Local adaptation is an area of growing interest,
Adaptation is a process of moving towards resilience,
nationally as well as in the international environment and
and requires long-term thinking. Poor people in
development policy communities, in part because it is on
marginal environments plan in a different time frame.
the local level that the benefits of adaptation will be the
To them, there is no practical reason to question
most obvious. Furthermore, adaptation at the local level
whether responses to water stress and hazards will be
has clear links with development, as many of the actions
sustainable in fifteen years time if they do not ensure
that are considered necessary for households and
survival today or tomorrow.
individuals to adapt to climate change are also high on
the sustainable development agenda.
Some choices made to meet immediate short-term goals
may have adverse consequences in the long term, such
The case studies presented in this report document many
as selling off land and livestock during periods of crop
creative responses to water stress and hazards, but show
failure due to floods or droughts in order to be able to
that these need to be aligned with other processes if
pay off short-term debts.
they are to be successful, even over a short period. The
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