Background and Rationale
Climate change continues to impact agriculture and food systems globally, with developing countries being particularly vulnerable due to high reliance on agriculture and limited capacity to respond to climate-related shocks (Lybbert & Sumner, 2012; Karki & Gurung, 2012). In the Asia-Pacific region, increasingly erratic weather patterns, rising temperatures, and intense rainfall events have led to crop failures, reduced yields, and significant economic losses. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2018) urges countries in the region to strengthen their agricultural systems against these climate threats.
In Nepal, where agriculture employs over 74% of the active workforce and contributes nearly a third of GDP (CIAT; World Bank; CCAFS; LI-BIRD, 2017), adopting climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is crucial. CSA aims to increase productivity, build resilience, and reduce emissions where possible. This study explored how smallholder farmers in two distinct agro-ecological zones—the Mid-Hills
(Kathmandu) and the Terai lowlands (Kapilbastu)—are adopting simple, cost-effective, and scalable CSA practices. The goal was to test and promote solutions that enhance resilience to climate variability while remaining accessible to rural farmers.
