Matches, mismatches and priorities of pathways from a climate-resilient development perspective in the mountains of Nepal

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is a documented climate change hotspot. The region is also known for its ongoing development challenges including those arising from reconstruction in the aftermath of natural disasters. Incepting the idea of climate-resilience in development planning has, therefore, become a necessity in this poverty-ridden region. To identify the strategies that have been envisaged by the stakeholders in terms of climate-resilient development, this paper singled out the stakeholders who are responsible for local-level development in the mid-hill region of Nuwakot which lies in central Nepal. Data was collected through the visioning and back-casting method and included interviews with community members, NGO experts and regional representatives. The study identified the activities and priorities of stakeholders based on different time horizons illustrating climate-resilient development pathways. The study found that community pathways address mostly current needs and climate variability and that future challenges do not play a central role in the selection of adaptation measures. Although a majority of the actors recognized climate-resilient development as a priority, it tends to be planned in silos without cooperation and coordination among themselves. The results reveal that the risks and vulnerabilities encountered by community members, who are at the receiving end of climate change, have not been incorporated into the development plans of the policymakers. The study concludes that development priorities should be formulated based on the identification of a need and proposes that future cooperation mechanisms for stakeholders should be brought under one umbrella and include a discussion of climate-resilient development pathways that incorporates more community engagement so as not to lose the connection between country aspirations and community voices.