Political and social scientists have documented that the effects of global climate change will be
felt most severely by the poor and marginalized populations of the world, who have a lesser
ability to cope to a changing climate. With climate change impacts having the potential to
devastate the livelihoods of vulnerable populations there is a need to determine factors that
influence adaptive capacity. Since limited resources are available to vulnerable populations,
there is a need to identify particular factors that facilitate institutional restructuring, rather than
funding short-term projects. By doing this, one can ensure the cost effective use of resources by
streamlining operations and cutting redundancies.
This research project argues that communities with access to and integration with markets
together with strong institutional strength and connectivity can have significant positive impacts
on a population’s ability to adapt. This paper examines this argument through three case studies
of communities in the Middle Hills of Nepal- by measuring market access, institutional strength
and connectivity, and the amount and quality of adaptation practices.
The analysis shows that market accessibility has a positive relationship to a number and strength
of institutions. Due to the small sample size, the research was unable conclude that a significant
relationship exists between market access and the number of adaptation practices. Furthermore,
market access was not found to have a positive relationship with the quality of adaptation
practices. Finally, the research identified focal institutions, which under different circumstances
play different roles by either indirectly or directly facilitating adaptation practices.
In light of these conclusions, this research concludes with recommendations directed at the
local/community level- for facilitating community and organization- and at the regional/national
level- for assessing environmental vulnerability and to bring attention to the need for increasing
national resilience for Nepal.