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Determinants of adaptation practices to climate change by Chepang households in the rural Mid-Hills of Nepal

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Abstract

This study analyzes the factors influencing the adoption of various adaptation practices by a highly marginalized indigenous community in the remote rural Mid-Hills of Nepal. The analysis is based on a household survey conducted among 221 Chepang households selected randomly. A multivariate probit model was used to analyze five categories of adaptation choices against a set of socio-economic, institutional, infrastructural, and perception variables. Perception of rainfall changes, size of landholding, status of land tenure, distance to motor road, access to productive credit, information, extension services, and skill development trainings are all influential to enable households to deviate away from traditional coping strategies and adopt suitable practices to adapt to climate vagaries. Policies and development activities should be geared to address these determinants in order to facilitate adaptation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Global Environmental Leaders (GELs) Education Program for Designing a Low-Carbon World, and the Hiroshima International Center for Environmental Cooperation (HICEC) at the Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC), Hiroshima University, Japan, for providing research grant to conduct this study. We also owe thanks to Nepal Chepang Association (NCA) for facilitating the fieldwork and all the respondents for their cooperation. Finally, the authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments to improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan

    Luni Piya, Keshav Lall Maharjan & Niraj Prakash Joshi

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  1. Luni Piya
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  2. Keshav Lall Maharjan
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  3. Niraj Prakash Joshi
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Correspondence to Luni Piya.

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Piya, L., Maharjan, K.L. & Joshi, N.P. Determinants of adaptation practices to climate change by Chepang households in the rural Mid-Hills of Nepal. Reg Environ Change 13, 437–447 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0359-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-012-0359-5

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