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Adaptation to Global Change in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems of the Gandaki Basin in Nepal

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Adaptation to Global Change in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems of the Gandaki Basin in Nepal Adaptation to Global Change in Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems of the Gandaki Basin in Nepal Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Thapa, Bhuwan Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 13:15:51 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/630247 ADAPTATION TO GLOBAL CHANGE IN FARMER-MANAGED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OF THE GANDAKI BASIN IN NEPAL by Bhuwan Thapa ____________________________ Copyright © Bhuwan Thapa 2018 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY AND DEVELOPMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN GEOGRAPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2018 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Bhuwan Thapa 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I sincerely thank my committee members: Christopher A. Scott, Diana Liverman, Connie Woodhouse, Robert G. Varady, Tauhidur Rahman, and Philippus Wester. Each member has inspired, motivated, and shaped my intellectual growth in distinct ways. This dissertation would not be possible without their constant guidance and support. I thank the Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) team at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) for awarding me three years of Ph.D. Fellowship that also included field research support. Special thanks to Anjal Prakash, Aditi Mukherji, Arun B. Shrestha, Santosh Nepal, Aneel Piryani, Nani Bajracharya, Nilhari Neupane, and Amina Maharjan at ICIMOD who provided intellectual and administrative support during my field research in Nepal. I also acknowledge the financial support provided by International Water Security Network, a project funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a charitable foundation helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement and the application of research. Additional support was received from the Climate & Society Graduate Fellowship provided by the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) at the University of Arizona. Special thanks to Ram Hari Sharma, Basanta Raj Pariyar, Purushottam Lamichhane, Sanjib Thapaliya, Aman Shrestha, and Ananta Aryal for assisting me with the field data collection and data entry work. I have equally benefitted from informal interactions with Prachanda Pradhan, Ganesh Shivakoti, Robert Yoder, and Netra Chhetri on the topics of farmer-managed irrigation systems and agriculture in Nepal. I owe this dissertation to my mother and father who shaped me to who I am today. The research would not be possible without the support of Pratima K. C. and other family members. There are many known and unknown hands in the U.S. and abroad who have directly and indirectly inspired and guided me in this graduate study and other aspects of my life -- my sincere gratitude to each one of them. 5 DEDICATION To my mother, father, and Sri Sathya Sai Baba 6 TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ 9 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 11 1.1. Research questions ...................................................................................................... 14 1.2. Explanation of the dissertation format ........................................................................ 15 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 15 2.1. Overview of farmer-managed irrigation systems ........................................................ 16 2.2. Climate conditions, their variability and change and potential effects on farmer-managed irrigation systems ............................................................................. 18 2.3. Farmer-managed irrigation systems as social-ecological systems .............................. 20 2.4. Climate change adaptation .......................................................................................... 23 2.5. Human dimensions of global change .......................................................................... 24 2.6. Adaptation typology and assessment of adaptive capacity ......................................... 25 2.7. Common-pool resources and institutional adaptation ................................................. 26 2.8. Contribution of the present study ................................................................................ 28 3. STUDY AREA, SAMPLE DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION .................................. 29 3.1. Sample design .............................................................................................................. 30 3.2. Data collection ............................................................................................................. 31 4. RESULTS ........................................................................................................................... 31 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 35 5.1. Broader implications ................................................................................................... 40 5.2. Future work ................................................................................................................. 42 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 44 APPENDIX A: Towards characterizing the adaptive capacity of farmer-managed irrigation systems: learnings from Nepal .................................................................................. 56 APPENDIX B: Institutional strategies for adaptation to water stress in farmer-managed irrigation systems of Nepal ....................................................................................................... 78 APPENDIX C: Assessing multilevel determinants of smallholder crop choice in irrigated agriculture of Central Nepal .................................................................................................... 115 APPENDIX D: Key characteristics of the farmer-managed irrigation systems ..................... 153 APPENDIX E: List of preliminary surveyed farmer-managed irrigation systems................. 154 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Station-wise trend (1966-2015) of 1-day extreme precipitation ............................... 52 Figure 2: The sub-systems of a social-ecological system for farmer-managed irrigation systems ....................................................................................................... 53 Figure 3: Study sites in the Gandaki River Basin of Nepal ...................................................... 54 APPENDIX A Figure 1: Adaptive capacity continuum .................................................................................... 75 APPENDIX B Figure 1: Study sites in the Gandaki River Basin of Nepal .................................................... 107 Figure 2: Mean monthly discharge of the Kali Gandaki River (1996-2006) .......................... 108 Figure 3: Schematic diagram of irrigation scheduling and river discharge for (a) Trans-Himalaya/Mountain and (b) Hills and Terai farmer-managed irrigation systems. .................................................................................................... 109 Figure 4: Percentage of farmer-managed irrigation systems with different water allocation and stress level ........................................................................................ 110 Figure 5: Mean percentage of different parameters in farmer-managed irrigation systems with (a) time-based, and (b) order-based water allocation rules ................ 111 Figure 6: Average crop intensity for different typologies of adaptation ................................ 112 APPENDIX C Figure 1: Schematic diagram of key factors affecting farmers’ crop choice. ......................... 143 Figure 2: Study area ................................................................................................................ 144 Figure 3: Frequency distribution of non-rice crops. ..............................................................
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