Manohara Khadka

• BSc MSc PhD
• Country Representative-Nepal at International Water Management Institute

This position paper advocates for the integration of the water, energy, food and ecosystem (WEFE) nexus approach into Nepal’s policy and planning processes. By doing so, it aspires to foster a development trajectory that is sustainable, inclusive, equitable and responsive to the needs of all citizens, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized gr...

In recent years, use of solar-powered irrigation pumps (SIPs) has increased significantly in the agricultural plains (terai) of Nepal. Federal and local governments there have subsidized the pumps in an effort to expand irrigated agriculture using renewable energy. We use data from a cross-sectional survey of 656 farming households in the terai to...

Agriculture plays a critical role in ensuring food and nutrition security, livelihood, and rural employment in Nepal. Despite substantial investments and institutional reforms, irrigation projects have faced consistently low performance. While existing studies have shed light on technical aspects of irrigation performance, they often focus on speci...

Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) are emerging as a popular technology to address water, energy, and climate change challenges in South Asia while enhancing livelihoods and food security. SIPs are deemed to be a women-friendly renewable energy technology (RET) due to their design, operating system, and safety. While the gender dimensions of natural res...

Agricultural technologies are often promoted as a medium for women’s economic empowerment, which can transform unequal gender relations in rural agrarian societies. This paper investigates three solar irrigation pump (SIP) schemes implemented by state and non-state actors and examines their impacts on women and marginal farmers. We utilize a theory...

The enactment of a new Constitution in 2015 in Nepal marked a shift to a representative system of federal governance. Earlier in 2002, the country's Tenth Five Year Plan had committed to a core focus on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in national policies and governance. How do these two strategic shifts in policy align in the case of W...

Climate variability and insufficient irrigation are primary constraints to stable and higher agricultural productivity and food security in Nepal. Agriculture is the largest global freshwater user, and integration of surface-and groundwater use is frequently presented as an strategy for increasing efficiency as well as climate change adaptation. Ho...

This report assesses the current state of Nepal’s irrigation sector and presents a sustainable and inclusive farmer-led irrigation development framework, that was co-created with key stakeholders to ensure that recommendations are in line with local development priorities. In brief, the report suggests that a re-orientation in the irrigation sect...

The Constitution of Nepal 2015 enshrines everyone’s right of access to clean water for drinking and the right to food. The common operationalization of the right to water for drinking is providing access to infrastructure that brings water for drinking and other basic domestic uses near and at homesteads. Challenges to achieving this goal in rural...

The overall objective of this research is to assess opportunities for and systemic barriers to sustainable and inclusive irrigation development that can increase resilience and generate income for smallholder farmers in districts in the FtF ZoI in Nepal affected by Covid-19.

The COVID‐19 pandemic has impacted social, economic, and environmental systems worldwide, slowing down and reversing the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs belong to the 2030 Agenda to transform our world by tackling humankind's challenges to ensure well‐being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection...

This file consists of the processed data of the paper Pradhan et al. 2021 published in the Earth's Future (https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF001996). We processed impact scores and mechanisms provided by experts during online survey, workshops, and review and validation processes. This processed data, i.e., impact scores and mechanisms, are used for id...

This study assesses the potential impacts of Payment for Ecosystems Services (PES) of mountain agricultural landscapes, with a specific focus on the implications for Nepalese farming women, who have triple roles (managers, workers, and users) with ecosystems goods and services (ESs). It utilizes data of mixed sources: direct observations in the fie...

This supporting information consists of two figures and one tables. Figure S1. Experts with various professional backgrounds from academia, civil society organizations, governments, grassroots initiatives, national and international organizations, and the private sector have participated in our survey (left) and workshops (right). Figure S2. Impa...

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected humankind worldwide, slowing down and even reversing the progress made in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has negatively impacted most SDGs but with positive impacts on a few. We discuss some initial impacts observed and explores potential impacts on the achievement of SDGs for Nepal. The study...

Nepal has abundant water resources, but over 60% of irrigable lands owned by smallholder farmers don’t have irrigation access. Many smallholder farmers and women farmers lack water for agriculture, drinking, sanitation, and other domestic uses. Nepal’s Tarai region is considered an area with huge potential for surface and groundwater-based irrigati...

This study has the goal of assessing prospects for planned CU and potential strategies for to realize it in the FtF-ZoI districts (Terai only) located in the Western Nepal. Three specific objectives to achieve the goal are – i) To assess current and future water availability, ii) To evaluate current and future water demands, and iii) To assess pro...

Preface As the 'Future of Work' is being discussed around the world, women continue to be the most under-utilised and potentially game-changing factor for fair and prosperous economic growth. Recent research shows that a reduction in the gap in participation rates between men and women by 25 per cent has the potential to increase the GDP in Asia Pa...

Preface As the 'Future of Work' is being discussed around the world, women continue to be the most under-utilised and potentially game-changing factor for fair and prosperous economic growth. Recent research shows that a reduction in the gap in participation rates between men and women by 25 per cent has the potential to increase the GDP in Asia Pa...

The impact of climate change is disproportionately higher on women, the poor, and socially disadvantaged groups. Yet, existing adaptation approaches and perspectives pay little attention to the special needs of these groups. Based on primary and secondary information collected from Nepal’s Koshi Basin, this paper looks at differences in levels of m...

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is extremely vulnerable and prone to various types of disasters that cause widespread damage to the life and properties. Past experience indicates that women and children are the most vulnerable to disasters mainly due to deeply rooted traditional social norms, gender roles, and gender differential access to an...

sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecologi...

1. Why do you think mountain communities are most at risk to climate change impacts? Mountain communities are most at risk to impacts of climate change because of social, economical, environmental and political reasons. The mountain communities live in landscapes which are difficult terrains, ecologically fragile and sensitive to climate change. Mo...

While Nepal's forestry sector's policies recognize the importance of gender and social inclusion perspectives for sustainable forest management and conservation, a number of literature from Nepal highlight the problems of gender exclusion, especially women's exclusion from participation in decision making, benefit sharing, and their silent voice in...

While Nepal's forestry sector's policies recognize the importance of gender and social inclusion perspectives for sustainable forest management and conservation, a number of literature from Nepal highlight the problems of gender exclusion, especially women's exclusion from participation in decision making, benefit sharing, and their silent voice in...

This publication reflects the findings and learning from a programme of participatory action research (PAR) carried out between 2010 and 2012 in two geographically and climatically different mountain watersheds in the districts of Mustang and Jumla in Nepal. The study was conducted under the High Mountain Agribusiness and Livelihood Improvement (HI...

www.icimod.org/resource/8868 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Sq-UVTKG8

On the grounds that existing development programmes are often guided by a production and resource centered perspective, this paper presents the need for the integration of a gender and social equity perspective in agriculture interventions. Based on the analysis of a Swiss-funded agriculture programme of the Government of Nepal, the paper reveals t...

For many women around the world, the benefits of an increasingly globalised world are elusive and seem to be out of reach. Women in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (HKH) feel exclusion from globalisation, global environmental governance, and other global forces especially acutely, even if these forces have the potential to improve women's socio-economic a...

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ii SUMMARY The main aim of this research project was to investigate the implications of protected area policy, especially the buffer zone management of Nepal on the livelihood of excluded groups. The objectives of the study were to review the existing conservation policies from social exclusion/inclusion perspectives, to analyze the resource access...

Traditional male dominance in the realm of forestry limits the degree to which forest departments around the developing world are motivated and capable of initiating and implementing gender equality agendas. The experience of one project in Nepal demonstrates a successful strategy for changing the attitudes of forestry professionals while simultane...