Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
infrastructures. It can be less severe in the mid- as droughts, can be mitigated by water storage,
elevation plain valleys due to the construction of particularly during the planting season in the early
reservoirs. monsoon. Investing in appropriate small-scale water
• Agricultural intensification (off-season vegetables infrastructure (with or without links to large water
in dry-hot valley, tobacco in the middle, and infrastructure) is a good option for addressing the
high-yield corn in highlands) depends on inputs accessibility of water in mountain regions.
of large quantities of chemical fertiliser, which • Revive village institutions. Village institutions and
might cause maladaptation and GHG emissions. local leadership are necessary for households
Smallholder farmers are using more fertiliser, which and social groups to deploy specific adaptation
is causing nitrogen to leak into underground water, practices. There is an urgent need to develop the
watersheds, reservoirs, and lakes. Nitrate water capacity of community-based organisations, such
pollution and eutrophication are becoming major as water resource associations and vegetable
threats to water resources and human health. cooperatives. This can be done through legal,
According to our first estimates, improving fertiliser financial, and technical support from government
application practices and lowering current rates of agencies, such as civil affairs, line agencies, and
fertiliser use by 50% can reduce fertiliser emissions the Communist Party. Village institutions should
by 0.8 tonnes CO
2
/ha. adopt more market-oriented approaches, such as
organic farming and payments for environmental
services.
Recommendations
• Provide support to improve farming systems. There
Based on the three study sites, the field team suggests
is an urgent need to develop climate-resilient crop
the following recommendations to manage climate
varieties, early warning for weather forecasting,
change induced risks in mountain regions of Southwest
cropping pattern adjustments, and conservation
China.
agriculture with high water use efficiency and low-
carbon emissions. Two options for securing food
• Utilise regional climate science to facilitate
production are extension services for rural livelihood
stakeholder dialogue on local adaption. Utilise
diversification and social insurance for climate risk
the availability of historical hydro-meteorological
reduction.
trend data to interpret local climate patterns.
• Promote participation by local people in
This information can illuminate dialogues among
developing adaptation plans. China is a growing
different stakeholders including local farmers,
economic power that is able to develop efficient
resource managers, government officials, and
top-down National Adaptation Plans for climate
planners, who often have their own knowledge
change. However, this approach can only be
systems and understanding of climate change.
implemented effectively with the active participation
Integrating local and scientific knowledge can
of local people in planning, monitoring, and
achieve better adaptation planning.
evaluation.
• Incorporate state afforestation efforts (Grain for
• Integration of climate change policy. Climate
Green Program) into local watershed/disaster-risk
change and climate change adaptation are
management. Due to its location at the headwaters
emerging as new explicit policy domains in China,
of major rivers, Yunnan Province has received large-
where the government is superimposing them onto
scale state funding for afforestation and ecosystem
existing sectoral and regional development policies.
restoration. If these tree-planting efforts involve local
A great opportunity exists to integrate climate
participation in species selection and site planning,
science into sectoral policies at a higher level and
they can benefit local villages by controlling
for it to inform plans for local level actions. There is
landslides and soil erosion in the uplands.
also a need to undertake further studies to evaluate
• Improve small-scale infrastructure. Some mountain
the extent to which policies promote or hinder
hazards, such as flash floods, happen due to
adaptation to climate change in a wider variety of
precipitation, but their impact may depend upon
contexts. Both political reform and climate science
the banking of rivers, drainage, proper retaining
call for synergy among all government sectors to
walls, and terracing of fields. Water stresses, such
develop an integrated climate change policy.
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