Agroforestry for Climate Resilience in Indian Subcontinent: Evidences from Nepal

Climate change is a reality in the twenty first century. Nepal, a Himalayan country is among the most climate vulnerable countries largely due to its geography, poor infrastructure and low levels of socio-economic development. The changing climate is severely affecting the agriculture sector in the country. Owing to the limitations of the Nepal’s agriculture, in the climate change context coupled with low productivity, and high poverty among the rural communities-has urged the government as well as stakeholders for the development of agroforestry policy. People in Nepal and other regions of Indian Subcontinent have been cultivating trees since antiquity for obtaining several ecosystem goods and services. Agroforestry is a traditional land use system in Nepal that plays a crucial role in livelihood, climate resilience, and biodiversity conservation. In 2019, Nepal became second country (first: India) in the world that adopted agroforestry policy. This article explored the climate resilience potential of agroforestry in Nepal. More specifically, it tries to present the post-policy impact on the agroforestry research and development in comparison with pre-existing condition, specifically from research frontier. Furthermore, policy imperatives of agroforestry have also been highlighted here. This analysis would be significant for further research and development of agroforestry in Nepal through implementing useful polices and projects aiming to expand trees outside forests, livelihood generation and sustainable development.