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In this article, using the Department of Irrigation in Nepal as a case study, we argue that professional performance in irrigation engineering and water resources development is gendered and normalised as ‘masculine’
. In Nepal, the masculinity of professional performance in irrigation engineering is located in intersections of gender, class, caste, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality and disciplinary education, and hinders especially female engineers to perform as a ‘normal’ engineer. Our analysis is based on interviews with male and female engineers in the department, documentation research, and ethnographic observations in the period 2005–2011. Our study suggests that professional performances and engineering identities in the organisation have always been tied to performances of masculinity. This implies that career prospects in the Nepalese irrigation department for female engineers remain grim; because for them to succeed and belong, they have to reconcile the near incommensurable: a performance of a ‘lady engineer’ with that of a ‘normal’ engineer
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Air pollution is known to lead to substantial health burden with the majority of evidence based in North America and Europe
. Despite rising pollution, very limited information is available for South Asia. We investigated impacts of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10) on hospitalization by cause and subpopulation in Kathmandu Valley, an understudied and rapidly urbanizing region in Nepal. Individual-level daily inpatient hospitalization data (2004–2007) were collected from each of six major hospitals as Nepal has no central data collection system. Time-stratified case crossover analysis was used with interaction terms for potential effect modifiers (e.g., age, sex, socioeconomic status), with adjustment for day of the week, and weather. Daily PM10 averaged 120 μg/m3 with daily maximum reaching 403 μg/m3. A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10 was associated with increased risk of hospitalization of 1.00% (95% confidence interval: 0.62, 1.38), 1.70% (0.18, 3.25), and 2.29% (0.18, 4.43) for total, respiratory, and cardiovascular admissions, respectively. We did not find strong evidence of effect modification by age, sex, or socioeconomic status. These results in combination with the high levels of exposure indicate potentially serious human health burden from air pollution in the Valley. This is the first large study of ambient air pollution and health in Nepal
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Banikoi, H.; Thapa, S.; Bhattarai, N.; Kandel, R. C.; Chaudhary, S.; Chaudhary, S.; Timalsina, N.; Windhorst, K.; Karky, B. S.; Adhikari, M. D.; Pokheral, C. P.
Finding solutions to human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is one of the complex challenges conservationists and local communities have to contend with for an enduring period
. Biodiversity is crucial for enriching the forests including the existing flora and fauna species residing in the forest, which is a key element of the GIZ/ICIMOD REDD+ Himalaya Initiative. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) has been selected by the Government of Nepal for developing the REDD+ programme. This area harbours numerous wildlife corridors, and with the enhancement of habitats through REDD+ conservation activities, the wildlife population will increase. This will further exacerbate existing human-wildlife conflict. Therefore, to ensure and address such challenges, REDD+ mechanisms need to incorporate human-wildlife mitigation measures. The study employed various methods including mapping of the fences, observation, focus group discussions, and key informant and official interviews with conservationists in the CNP and NTNC-BCC to collect data. A total of 57 fences were visited and mapped in 54 community forests which are made up of buffer zone community forests and community forests under the district forest office
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The Himalayan nettle (Note 1) is a fiber yielding non-timber forest product that has cultural, economic and medicinal values to many ethnic communities residing in the hill and mountain areas of Nepal and India
. If the nettle value chain can be strengthened at each node of the chain, then it has high potentiality to uplifting the livelihoods of many poor households in those areas. With this objective, the Himalayan nettle value chain development interventions in the form of promotion of local institutions, enterprise development, product value addition and development, capacity building at the community level and promotion of linkages through private sector engagement were initiated in Darchula, one of the remote districts in far-western Nepal. This paper essentially analyzes the impact of Himalayan nettle value chain development interventions on households’ income from the sale of nettle products. Using propensity score matching (PSM) technique in a cross-sectional data, this study finds that participation in the Himalayan nettle value chain development intervention has positive and significant impact on the households’ annual income from the sale of nettle products. The participating households’ annual income from the Himalayan nettle increases by NPR (Note 2) 2265-2410 than that of non-participating households with similar socio-economic characteristics. The study therefore argues that capacity building and facilitation activities on product development and market linkages are important to help increase productivity and decrease per unit production cost of non-timber forest products like the Himalayan nettle. Value chain development and concentrated market linkages are hence essential to diversify livelihood options for natural resource dependent rural communities
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The incidence of conflicts among communities over the collection of Yarsagumba, the high value caterpillar fungus, has increased after the Government of Nepal has lifted a ban on its collection and trade in 2001
. In most cases, conflicts over Yarsagumba harvesting persist either between locals and outsiders, or between collectors within a local community. In the Api Nampa Conservation Area in Darchula District, Nepal, conflicts are primarily caused by the competition for control over resources. The rights of the indigenous Shauka community(migratory herders), the Api Nampa Conservation Authority, and the non-Shauka communities of lower villages are at odds due to a lack of clarity, and the absence of coordination regarding the access to resources in the landscape. The Shauka community has restricted the Yarsagumba collection by ‘outsiders’ to specific and limited areas of their community forest and traditional grazing land. The lowland, non-Shauka community who are dissatisfied with the restrictions have excluded the Shauka people from the utilization of their winter pasture for animal grazing possible through the introduction of a community forestry programme. In this conflict, both communities suffer as the migratory lifestyle of the Shauka has been adversely affected, and earnings of the lowland community from Yarsagumba collection have been reduced. This is a no-win situation. Our study suggests that the Government of Nepal should prepare a national Yarsagumba management policy and local Yarsagumba management guidelines to address conflicts by clearly defining the roles, responsibilities and rights of local institutions and actors, while ensuring the provision of particular services in the community forestry programme to distant and seasonal users
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In 2010, forests accounted for 40 percent (5
.96 million ha) and other types of woodland made up 4 percent (0.65 million ha ) of the land area of Nepal (DFRS 2015c). Of the total forest area, 38 percent was in the mid-hills, 32 percent in the high mountains, 23 percent in the Siwaliks, and 7 percent in the Terai. The Terai comprises the plains of Nepal and the Siwaliks are a low range of hills between the Terai and the mid-hills. The Terai and the Siwaliks have witnessed steady deforestation with the gradual conversion of forest to agricultural land and the growth of infrastructure development. In the mid-hills and high mountains, however, forest cover has been increasing since 1995 (DFRS, 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b). The annual deforestation rate is 0.44 percent (1,648 ha/yr.) in the Terai and 0.18 percent (2,537 ha/yr.) in the Siwaliks. The average carbon stock in Nepal’s forests is 177 tC/ha, with the lowest amount (117 tC/ha) in the Siwaliks and the highest amount (272 tC/ha) in the mountains (DFRS, 2014a, 2015a, 2015c)
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Climate change adaptation practices constitute local knowledge and practices as well as autonomous and planned interventions targeted at reducing risk and enhancing the resilience of vulnerable households and communities with respect to their livelihoods and the economic sector they depend on for their well-being
. The main purpose of this paper is to report on an assessment and documentation of adaptation strategies followed in policy and practice to address risk and vulnerabilities of communities living in the Gandaki River-basin. It is expected that understanding of existing adaptation options will help tailor effective responses for them in the Gandaki River-basin and beyond
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Economic burden to households due to out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) is large in many Asian countries
. Though studies suggest increasing household poverty due to high OOPE in developing countries, studies on association of multidimensional poverty and household health spending is limited. This paper tests the hypothesis that the multidimensionally poor are more likely to incur catastrophic health spending cutting across countries
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