The Himalayan country like Nepal, due to its poor adaptive capacity and limited access to alternate means of livelihoods, is more vulnerable to climate change. It is found that climate change exacerbates the situation and presents a daunting challenge to predominantly rain-fed agricultural livelihoods. This study aims to analyze the extent and sources of households’ livelihood vulnerability to climate change in western Nepal. We conducted a household survey (n = 200), focus group discussions (n = 4), and key informant interviews (n = 10) across the Phusre Khola watershed and a formative composite index of livelihood vulnerability (LVI) was constructed. The result shows drought as the most common climatic hazard followed by landslide and hailstone, respectively. It was found that agriculture was the most impacted resources. Livelihood strategies with LVI value (0.49) and climate variability (0.48) were seen as the most vulnerable and health (0.12) as the least vulnerable component in the study area. The Upper Phusre sub-watershed was observed as the most vulnerable with the LVI (0.33). Overall, the study shows that vulnerability assessment indices can be broadly applied in similar settings in different regions of the country, and they could contribute to identifying and prioritizing adaptation and mitigation needs.

中文翻译：

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喜马拉雅山流域社区生计易受气候变化影响

像尼泊尔这样的喜马拉雅山国家，由于其适应能力差，替代生计手段有限，更容易受到气候变化的影响。研究发现，气候变化加剧了这种情况，并对主要依靠雨养的农业生计提出了严峻的挑战。本研究旨在分析尼泊尔西部家庭生计易受气候变化影响的程度和来源。我们在 Phusre Khola 流域进行了家庭调查 (n = 200)、焦点小组讨论 (n = 4) 和关键知情人访谈 (n = 10)，并构建了生计脆弱性 (LVI) 的形成性综合指数。结果显示干旱是最常见的气候灾害，其次是滑坡和冰雹。结果表明，农业是受影响最大的资源。LVI 值 (0.49) 和气候变率 (0.48) 的生计策略被视为研究区域中最脆弱的部分，而健康 (0.12) 则被视为最不脆弱的部分。在 LVI (0.33) 中，Upper Phusre 子流域被认为是最脆弱的。总体而言，该研究表明，脆弱性评估指数可广泛应用于该国不同地区的类似环境，它们有助于确定适应和缓解需求并确定其优先顺序。