Livelihood Vulnerability Approach to Assess Climate Change Impacts to the Smallholder Farmers around the Gandaki River Basin of Nepal Himalaya

The climate of the Himalayan region is changing rapidly. Decreasing glacier and snow cover are the visible evidences of the change in temperature and precipitation pattern in the Himalayan region. Nepal is considered the fourth most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change (Maplecroft, 2007), partly due to the reliance of most of the population on cropping and livestock raising for their livelihood (IPCC, 2007). There are few studies on how vulnerable mixed agro-livestock smallholders are and how their vulnerability differs across different ecological regions. It is essential to understand different factors and their impacts on livelihoods for developing adaptation strategies