Capacity Development
Capacity building of graduates and earlier career researchers in the environmental field is one of the priorities of areas of SEN. We organize different workshops, seminars, and training targeting university graduates and researchers to equip them with the necessary tools and skills in the research field. In addition, we organize national and international conferences to bring together scientists, researchers, policymakers, and students to share knowledge and learn from each other. Such platforms have not only enhanced the knowledge and skills of researchers but also have bridged scientists and graduates/researchers.
Some of the capacity-building projects we have been carrying out in Nepal and the Himalayan regions are as below:
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Landslide Environmental Virtual Observatories (L-EVO)
Nepal is a mountainous country, where almost 70% of the land is hills and mountains. Karnali region of Western Nepal is one of the most vulnerable regions in Nepal, due to increasing occurrences of hydrometeorological hazards such as landslides and floods, and most of them are characterized both by severity and impacts. Thousands of people are affected by climate and water-induced hazards, as specified.
This project builds up on the L-EVO project, to make the collected hydro-meteorological data usable. The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) is continuing data collection from existing hydro-met stations and will be organizing several awareness-raising and capacity-building events, and popularize the outcomes of the project both in digital and print media.
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Waste to Energy Program for Indigenous People in Karnali Province
The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) in collaboration with K. P. Byawasayik Sewa Pvt. Ltd. (KPBS), is implementing the project ‘Waste-to-Energy Program for Indigenous Communities in Karnali Province’ in the Barahtaal Rural Municipality (RM) located in Surkhet District. Based on the concept of Waste-to-Energy, the project addresses the issues of waste management, GHG emissions, and energy recovery through the installation of biogas plants that utilize household kitchen waste, toilet wastes, and livestock dung as a substrate. Dr. Anusuya Joshi, an adjunct researcher at SEN is leading the project.
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Promoting Menstrual Health and Hygiene Practices and Management among the Adolescent Girls of a Community School in Lalitpur
Girl students in community schools face the largest barriers to menstrual hygiene management (MHM), as they do not have the necessary facilities, knowledge, and understanding to appropriately support girls during menstruation. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges related to MHM. Apart from that, there still exist societal taboos and stigma related to menstruation which have been hindering in achieving good menstrual health hygiene and management among adolescent girls. Access to affordable and sustainable menstrual products is the key to improving menstrual health and hygiene. involvement of men and boys in MHM initiatives is essential to avoid them from being the cause of harassment and shame for adolescent girls.
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Promoting Adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture practices among Female Smallholders farmers of Kageshwori Manohara Municipality
Nepal is one of the developing countries of South Asia is expected to be hardest hit by climate change with a decrease in agricultural productivity between 15-35 percent according to IPCC 2007. Likewise, it also exhibits high vulnerability to weather shocks (IPCC 2007). In Nepal, more than 65 percent of its population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and almost 80 percent of the households are involved in agriculture, which generates one-third of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (CBS 2013). Therefore, strengthening agricultural production systems is a fundamental means of improving income and reducing poverty in Nepal. Likewise, the increasing pattern of outmigration of the male population from the village and semi-urban areas to urban or abroad for better opportunities is increasingly feminizing the agricultural sector of Nepal. Nepali women are faced with the burden of both farming and looking after the household. As a result, they are increasingly adapting to less intensive farming practices as well as abandoning their agricultural land. Hence, this project aims at addressing these both problems in Nepal by supporting women farmers from Kageshwori Manohara Municipality-6, Mulpani by making them familiar with Climate Smart Agriculture.
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Implementation of efficient-water-use systems to improve livelihood of Jayanagar community in Kapilvastu district, Mid-western Nepal
Small farm holders of Kapilvastu District own small pieces of land and lack diversified income sources often limiting the availability of food throughout the year exacerbated by drought. The majority of the population of the Jayanagar Community belongs to a marginalized community. The farmers of the community are very enthusiastic about drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is water-efficient (70%), cost-effective, less time-consuming, convenient to use with surplus yield, and is a gender-friendly strategy. Large irrigation may not be economical for small farm holders.
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Climate change is severely impacting the socio-economic conditions of the small watershed in south Asia thus leading to increasing poverty and food insecurity. The existing traditional practices are not capable of coping with the rapidly emerging climate change risks in these climate change risk vulnerable areas. Sustainable watershed management practices may enhance the resilience of natural resources to climate change risks (floods/droughts) but lack of knowledge, training, resources, and awareness are the main impediments to changing the local community’s attitude and behavior towards a positive change. Nevertheless, significant funding has been allocated by international donors for climate research involving simulation modelling for forecasting and assessments of climate risks and impacts but promoting climate risk reduction/mitigation through adaptation practices on the farm was largely overlooked. Therefore, stimulated adoption of climate risk resilient practices are urgently required to cope with the emerging climate risks. Addressing these issues, this project is aimed to pursue sustainable management practices on climate risk vulnerable watersheds of South Asia through capacity building of key stakeholders (professionals, farmers, and service providers) and sharing of regional knowledge, innovative practices, and strengthening linkages for promoting sustainable management of climate change vulnerable watersheds in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
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Graduates’ Course on Surface Water and Groundwater Interaction in Kathmandu
The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) hosted a ‘Graduate’s Course on Surface Water – Ground Water Interaction: From Watershed Processes to Hyporheic Exchange’ that was organized in Kathmandu from 13 to 19 November 2016. SEN partnered in this capacity-building effort together with the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, University of Calgary, Canada, and the United States Geological Survey, USA. The course was targeted at 90 graduate students, young researchers, and planers to learn about the basic ideas of surface water, groundwater, and their interactions. Twenty-seven participants representing academic institutions, research organizations, government agencies, and recent graduates attended the course.
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