Description

Abstract: Climate change, along with other factors, such as deforestation and land-use changes, threaten to degrade the health of mixed farming systems in Nepal. For the majority of the nation’s population, agriculture is a source of livelihood, and any degradation in the agro-ecosystem has tenfold effects. To learn more about climate change impacts and to develop adaptation techniques, an Innovation Lab for Livestock project team selected a watershed in the Nuwakot district as a study site, with a research strategy that aimed to not only improve livestock health and productivity but also, ultimately, to improve livelihood and standard of living for Nepalese farmers. After collecting important scientific data on water availability, soil quality, disease and more, the project team organized several workshops and trainings for the local livestock communities in the watershed. Trainings focused on improving and expanding livestock productivity, formulating nutritional feed, treating animals for disease and keeping data records. By the end of the study, more than 350 households had received the skill set and knowledge to sustainably adapt to a changing climate.