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Climate Change and New Markets: Multi-Factorial Drivers of Recent Land-Use Change in The Semi-Arid Trans-Himalaya, Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Wolfgang Jens-Henrik Meier

    (Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany)

  • Perdita Pohle

    (Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany)

  • Jussi Grießinger

    (Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany)

Abstract

The Nepalese Mustang District is subject to profound environmental change. In recent decades, rising temperatures have been apparent, accompanied by increasing precipitation variability and a reduction in glacier extent. In a semi-arid climate, this reduces water availability and threatens irrigation-based subsidence agriculture. In addition, the region is experiencing rapid socio-economic change due to a new road connecting the former periphery to new markets downstream. This enables a higher market orientation for agricultural products and improved accessibility for tourists. In recent decades, these changes have triggered severe transformations in the local land-use systems and settlements, which are investigated in this study. Detailed on-site re-mappings of the settlements of Marpha and Kagbeni were performed based on historical maps from the early 1990s. Additionally, land-use patterns and functionality of buildings in the district capital of Jomsom and in the settlement Ranipauwa/Muktinath were mapped. For all settlements, a profound increase in cash crop (apple) cultivation can be observed since the 1990s. Recently, new cultivation practices such as intercropping have been extensively introduced as an adaptation strategy to climate extremes. Demand for different crops from the new markets downstream is causing a significant decline in local, well-established cultivation of traditional crops such as buckwheat. This corroborates with an increasing demand for freshwater for the enhanced vegetable cultivation used for inter-cropping. Simultaneously, the freshwater demands from the tourism sector are steadily increasing. In a region where water quality is deteriorating and springs are already drying up due to climate change, this will probably lead to further challenges regarding the allocation of water in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolfgang Jens-Henrik Meier & Perdita Pohle & Jussi Grießinger, 2022. "Climate Change and New Markets: Multi-Factorial Drivers of Recent Land-Use Change in The Semi-Arid Trans-Himalaya, Nepal," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-26, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:9:p:1567-:d:914794
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nina Holmelin & Tor Halfdan Aase, 2013. "Flexibility of Scope, Type and Temporality in Mustang, Nepal. Opportunities for Adaptation in a Farming System Facing Climatic and Market Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-19, March.
    2. P. D. A. Kraaijenbrink & M. F. P. Bierkens & A. F. Lutz & W. W. Immerzeel, 2017. "Impact of a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius on Asia’s glaciers," Nature, Nature, vol. 549(7671), pages 257-260, September.
    3. Suman Aryal & Geoff Cockfield & Tek Maraseni, 2014. "Vulnerability of Himalayan transhumant communities to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 193-208, July.
    4. Matthias Huss & Regine Hock, 2018. "Global-scale hydrological response to future glacier mass loss," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 135-140, February.
    5. Keshav Paudel & Peter Andersen, 2013. "Response of rangeland vegetation to snow cover dynamics in Nepal Trans Himalaya," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 149-162, March.
    6. Koirala, Ananta & Shrestha, K.B., 2017. "Effects of Climate Change on the Livestock Population in Mustang District, Nepal," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 14(1), June.
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