Research, Capacity Development

Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly due to regular monsoon floods and unpredictable flooding, which have exacerbated food insecurity and livelihoods loss, especially for marginalized communities. The Building Agroforestry-based Adaptation Plans for Resilient Floodplains (BAGAR) project focuses on regenerating and sustainably managing floodplains in Nepal’s Marin and Gadhimai municipalities within the Bagmati river basin. The project targets vulnerable groups, including Indigenous communities (Tamang, Magar, Majhi) and Dalits, who make up 60% of Marin’s population and 35% of Gadhimai’s. These groups face challenges in local governance and land tenure systems. Sedimentation in floodplains has made land uncultivable, worsening their situation. BAGAR will collaborate with these communities to develop ecosystem-based agroforestry plans that integrate native fodder species, which are resilient to floods and can provide food and livestock feed. These plans aim to reduce flood risks, improve ecosystem services, and generate livelihood opportunities. By focusing on floodplain regeneration, the project will create models for scalable riparian restoration and floodplain management across similar municipalities.

The project will make two key innovative contributions:

1. Empowering communities through the co-design of Ecosystem- based Adaptation (EbA) plans using Heifer’s community development approach, which fosters agency and active participation.
2. Leveraging Heifer’s existing partnerships with local governments to build trust and scale the program across the region.