POLICY BRIEF
Disseminating Climate
Adaptation change Knowledge in the
in Practice Nepal Tarai: Radio Dramas
Background
Climate change, with all its attendant possible adverse impacts on the
environment, human health, food security, economic activity, natural
resources, and physical infrastructures, is one of the most serious threats
to sustainable development that exist today. Of course the global climate
varies naturally, but scientists agree that it is the rising concentrations of
greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere caused by human activities
that have lead to unprecedented changes in both macro- and micro-
climates. In recent years, climate change has become a key concern of
both scientific and policy-making communities, so much so, in fact, that a
special multilateral climate change forum, the United Nation Framework
Convention in Climate Change (UNFCCC), was established in 1992 to
address it.There is consensus among almost all scientists and
governments that climate change will directly alter the patterns of risk
which populations face around the world.
Despite these increasing risks, availability of scientific information about
changes in the climate are very hard to get for communities that are likely to
be the most impacted by them in the developing world. ISET-Nepal
partnered with Sisnoo Pani Nepal, a radio production house, to produce radio
dramas to be broadcast all over the country.While literacy levels in the
country remain low, radio penetration is very high in most parts of the country
and it is an effective medium to reach a mass Nepali audience. A seven-
episode radio drama in Nepali language, called Jal Bayu Purana (Climate
Recitation), was developed under ISET’s technical guidance, produced by
SisnooPani Nepal and broadcast over several regional FM stations.
Climate Change in Nepal
Because of its complex and varied natural geography, climate change
poses a critical challenge for Nepal.The nation’s relative lack of
development (ranked 142 in the Human Development Index for
2008), the great disparities between the rich and poor (the top 20
percent hold 80 percent of the wealth), and an unstable political context
exacerbate the threat. Most studies by ICIMOD has focused on the
accelerated rate of glacial melt, the resultant expansion of glacial lakes,
and possibilities of Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs). Scientists
however suggest that impacts of climate change in Nepal will be more
broad, as global climate change makes the country’s climate more
unpredictable, and as the frequency and intensity of extreme events
Ajaya Dixit and Kanchan Mani Dixit
ISET-Nepal and Nepal Water Conservation Foundation
increase. In its 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (2007) claims that within the next two to
three decades, the rates of glacier melt will likely increase.This scenario
will alter the region’s hydrological systems and the stock and flow of
rivers. Glacial melt will also trigger rock avalanches on the fragile slopes
of the high Himalayas.The problem is far more complex than a simple
decrease in the size and number of glaciers.
According to CBS (2001), more than 90% of Nepal’s population lives in
the mid hills andTarai, and will not be directly affected by glacial melt.
They will nonetheless be severely impacted as the resulting glacial melt
will change both the long term and short term hydrological systems.
Because climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of
extreme events, in this case the monsoon rains, Nepalis can expect to
witness more mass movements and landslides and, thus an increase in
sediment flows, inundations and river bank cuts. Sediment eroded from
the upper stages of rivers is transported to their lower reaches, where it
is deposited on riverbeds, thereby raising river levels and increasing the
risks of the overflowing and breaching of protective embankments.The
deposition of the debris of floodwaters, including large boulders, can
permanently destroy land fertility. In addition, bank-cutting and lateral
shifts will consume land and crops, and threaten people’s livelihoods.To
reduce the triple threats of inundation, erosion and sand deposition in the
Tarai, the nation’s most vulnerable region, we must find out more about
the nature of climate impacts and people’s responses to them.
In particular, we need answers to questions like “How do local
communities living in Nepal’s three main ecological regions whose
livelihoods are most likely to be affected by the climatic changes
perceive the associated risks? Do local-level understandings of such risk
match global understandings of the risks of increased global
temperatures and climatic changes?” Answering these questions will
require not only an intensive and iterative inquiry into scientific and
physical knowledge about global climate change but also on the
relevance and accessibility of this knowledge to populations in diverse
localities. Such an inquiry will have to take stock of the possible impacts
of climate change on different populations and identify the various risks
they face. We will need to identify specific measures that various
populations can take in order to adapt to changing conditions.This is a
difficult task but can be sought, in part, by listening carefully to local
experiences and providing communities with emerging scientific
knowledge in formats they can understand and internalize. Using all the
channels of communication at our disposal is key.
Developing an understanding of the nature of climate change impacts and
risks, and devising appropriate responses will require a synthesis of the
expertise of both natural and social sciences.The solutions to climate
problems need to involve mitigation, adaptation and development; it is not
simply about controlling of greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation and
development are important because those facing risks must have access to
choices for switching strategies in response to threats of climate change.
Programme details
In order to develop an effective radio docu-drama, we first reviewed the
literature on climate science as it relates to Nepal, looked at impacts
identified so far, analysed government policies and interviewed experts
on various climate change issues. We also held discussions with the
media to determine how they view climate change and to ascertain how
they think climate change information could be disseminated.
This initial scoping exercise identified six key themes on climate change:
1) Fossil fuel-based energy as a cause of global warming
2) The greenhouse effect
3) The impacts of global warming on precipitation, and on glacial melt,
4) Floods
5) Droughts
6) Watershed management.
In terms of the first theme, we noted the importance of promoting
carbon-neutral vehicles like Nepal’s electric “safa tempos” (three-
wheeled public transport vehicles which run on hydroelectricity, a clean,
renewable source) and carbon-displacing bio-gas plants at the local level.
In terms of global issues related to the same theme, clean development
mechanisms (CDMs) and the Kyoto Protocol received our attention.We
also recognized the role different government agencies can play in
climate-related issues. Summaries of our findings were prepared in
English and then translated in Nepali in a format that could be
communicated to the general audiences via FM radio. Radio dramas can
stimulate the curiosity of listeners if the issues are presented well.
The radio dramas were called Jal Bayu Purana (Climate Recitation),
following the traditional practice of reciting purana (religious stories) in
the country. Preparing the script was a challenge because the six
climate-related topics identified above had to be elucidated in a manner
that did not rely on technical jargon and was accessible even to the
literate. Finding equivalent Nepali terms for scientific facts was difficult.
It took us almost six months of intense work to prepare a script the
actors, all members of a local drama production house Sisnoo Pani Nepal
felt comfortable presenting.
Each actor represented one of the three climatic regions of Nepal—the
Himalaya, the middle hills and the Tarai—and elements of local language
were used in recognition of the contemporary political discourse on social
inclusion.The drama was broadcast over Lumbini FM from Butwal,
Rupandehi District and from Parsa FM in Birjung, Parsa District to reach
the populations of Nawalparasi and Rauthaut districts who have settled
Rohini River Basin and over Nepal FM to reach the Kathmandu Valley.
These three stations were selected on the basis of a survey which
determined their coverage, their popularity and their willingness to
broadcast the drama. Later, Clean Energy Nepal, a national-level NGO
dedicated to promoting clean energy in Nepal, broadcast the seven
episodes via seven other FM stations .
Subsequent to the broadcasts of each episode by Lumbini, Parsa and
Nepal FM, feedback was solicited from 50 randomly chosen listeners.
Those questioned said that they found the program useful and that its
content helped them to appreciate the problem of climate change and its
impacts. At the same time however, listeners also said that climate
change was a remote phenomenon for them, something akin to former
US Vice President Al Gore’s receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and
important only at the global level. Problems like access to reliable basic
services such a drinking water, sanitation, health and education as well as
the ongoing violence in the Tarai were more serious causes of concern for
these respondents. Even so, they were able to identify some local-level
changes such as the early flowering of plants that they attributed to
climate change.They suggested that such programs that assimilate global
knowledge also be broadcast in other local languages.
This seven-episode radio drama was an innovative way of
communicating the nature of the climate change problem to people who
are likely to be profoundly impacted. Climate change adds a new
dimension of stress to Nepal’s already drastically changing social
systems. Addressing the challenges posed by climate change requires the
participation of many different stakeholders and cannot be addressed
alone by using predictive and control measures. Along with ascertaining
the likely effects of climate change and working to reduce carbon
emissions, we need to promote adaptive strategies and climate-sensitive
development initiatives. Our approach cannot be strictly global; it must
capture the nuances of rapidly-changing local contexts too.