Vulnerabilities Amidst Climate Change: An Intersectional Analysis of Climate Impacts Across Elevation Zones in Rural Nepal

Vulnerabilities Amidst Climate Change: An Intersectional Analysis of Climate Impacts Across Elevation Zones in Rural Nepal | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Vulnerabilities Amidst Climate Change: An Intersectional Analysis of Climate Impacts Across Elevation Zones in Rural Nepal SONY K.C., Ankur Koirala, Simran Silpakar, Sarah Redicker This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9552537/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper develops an elevation-zone intersectional framework to show how place-based variation shapes climate vulnerability in rural Nepal. Although vulnerability arises from intersecting identities, studies rarely examine how local differences mediate these dynamics. Using 15 life histories, five focus group discussions, and community mapping across mountainous, hill, and plain zones in Indrawati Rural Municipality, we show that the same intersections of gender, caste, and migration status generate distinct vulnerability patterns. Three mechanisms emerge. First, climate stressors take different socio-ecological forms: water scarcity intersects with Tamang cultural norms in the mountains; soil degradation combines with high male out-migration in the hills; and flooding amplifies Dalit exclusion in the plains. Second, demographic transitions fragment knowledge systems differently across zones, creating elevation-specific patterns of gendered exclusion from technical information, while women’s embodied climate expertise remains undervalued. Third, institutional exclusion operates through varied mechanisms, including legal barriers in the mountains, political capture in the hills, and information gaps in the plains, which require differentiated policy responses. The findings challenge adaptation approaches that use uniform interventions across diverse contexts. By showing how topographic variation shapes intersectional vulnerability, the framework underscores the need for place-based climate policy and provides a transferable approach for other mountain regions. climate vulnerability elevation zones migration intersectionality Nepal Figures Figure 1 Introduction Intersectional climate scholarship demonstrates that environmental risks emerge from interactions of gender, caste, class, age, and other social positions rather than single identities (Resurrección et al. 2019 ; Goodrich et al. 2022 ). Thus, scholarship has moved beyond additive models of vulnerability to examine how overlapping systems of oppression create distinct patterns of climate risk (Sultana, 2022 ). However, most research remains place-specific, rarely considering how geographic variation systematically mediates intersectional processes. Where acknowledged, geographic differences typically function as contextual background rather than constitutive elements fundamentally shaping how intersecting identities translate into climate vulnerability. This gap matters because climate risk is inherently geographic. In South Asia, climate hazards coincide with rapid socioeconomic change, persistent poverty, and dependence on natural resources, creating highly uneven climate vulnerabilities (Wester et al. 2019 ; Goodrich et al. 2017 ; Mall et al. 2019 ). Beyond biophysical impacts, climate change exacerbates social inequalities and disproportionately affects marginalised groups (Goodrich et al. 2022 ; Resurrección et al. 2019 ; Goodrich et al. 2019b ; Pross et al. 2020 ). Mountain contexts exemplify why intersectional analyses must grapple with geography. In rural Nepal, dramatic topographic variation produces distinct socio-ecological niches. Mountainous, hill, and plain zones experience different climate shocks that interact with different livelihood systems, settlement patterns, and social hierarchies. Women’s climate vulnerabilities, therefore, vary not only by caste, ethnicity, and class but by whether they manage water scarcity in high-altitude settlements, navigate soil degradation in mid-hills, or cope with flooding in river plains. These elevation-mediated differences suggest that intersectional analysis requires systematic attention to the geographic settings through which social identities are activated and experienced. This paper develops an elevation-zone intersectional framework theorising how topographic variation shapes mechanisms through which intersecting identities produce climate vulnerability. The framework positions elevation zones as distinct socio-ecological contexts where similar intersections of gender, caste, age, and migration status generate different vulnerability patterns. Drawing on fieldwork across mountainous, hill, and plain zones in Indrawati Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchowk, we demonstrate how this approach reveals differentiated vulnerabilities that place-neutral intersectional analyses overlook. Our central question is how topographic variation mediates the relationship between intersecting social identities and climate vulnerability in rural Nepal? Through comparison across elevation zones, we identify three mechanisms shaping intersectional vulnerability: (1) topographic mediation of climate risk; (2) migration-driven restructuring of labour and knowledge systems; and (3) institutional filtering of access and exclusion. This framework advances intersectional climate scholarship by offering systematic approaches for analysing how geographic variation mediates intersectional processes, moving beyond site-specific accounts toward comparative insights. For Nepal, it shows how climate policies aggregating “rural women” or “mountain communities” overlook elevation-mediated differences in vulnerability and adaptive capacity. More broadly, it offers transferable analytical approaches for understanding how environmental gradients and social hierarchies interact to shape climate risk in mountain contexts globally. Literature Review Intersectionality Theory in Climate Research Climate vulnerability emerges from overlapping systems of oppression rather than single identity categories. Intersectionality, theorised by Crenshaw ( 1989 ), demonstrates how gender, race, class, and other social positions interact to create distinct experiences. Applied to climate research, this perspective reveals how vulnerability arises from specific ways intersecting social hierarchies shape exposure, adaptive capacity, and institutional access (Sultana, 2022 ; Collins, 2019 ). Feminist climate scholarship documents extensive evidence of gendered impacts, with women facing heightened risks through systematic inequalities (Goodrich, 2022). Intersectional analysis reveals how gender interacts with class, ethnicity, and age to create compound vulnerabilities requiring analysis of overlapping oppression systems (Resurrección et al., 2019 ; Kaijser & Kronsell, 2014 ). Geographic Mediation of Intersectional Processes Although intersectional climate research highlights overlapping social identities, it rarely examines how place shapes these dynamics. Yet, evidence from geographic vulnerability research shows that climate risks are fundamentally shaped by spatial variation in exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity (Raj et al. 2025 ; O'Brien & Leichenko, 2000). Topographic variation creates distinct patterns of environmental risk and social organisation within small geographic areas. Elevation gradients shape differential exposure to climate hazards, livelihood systems, and access to adaptation resources (Mishra et al., 2019 ; Gioli et.al., 2019 ; Krishnan et al., 2019 ; Gentle & Maraseni, 2012 ). Yet this work often treats communities as homogeneous, overlooking how elevation contexts interact with social hierarchies to create differentiated vulnerabilities. The gap becomes apparent when comparing how existing studies handle the relationship between place and intersectional identity. Place-based intersectional research offers rich contextual detail about how social hierarchies but provides limited insights into how different environmental settings systematically alter intersectional processes (Nightingale, 2011 ; Elmhirst, 2011 ). Conversely, comparative vulnerability assessments examine variation across environmental gradients but tend to aggregate social categories, neglecting how environmental differences might activate intersectional identities in different ways (Turner et al., 2003 ; Eakin & Luers, 2006 ). This analytical separation limits both theoretical development and policy relevance. Practically, it produces adaptation interventions that either apply uniform approaches across diverse environmental settings or develop highly localised responses. Methodology Study Context and Sites Nepal ranks fourth in the Global Climate Risk Index (Eckstein et al., 2019 ), with livelihoods highly susceptible to climate shocks due to reliance on subsistence agriculture. Flooding, crop losses, and destruction of productive assets, compounded by persistent poverty, weak infrastructure, and reliance on rain-fed farming, heighten vulnerability (Amadio et al., 2023 ). Within Nepal, Indrawati Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchowk District is one of Nepal’s most hazard-prone areas, shaped by sharp topographic gradients ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 metres. These gradients create distinct socio-ecological and demographic configurations: Mountainous zone (wards 1–3): High-altitude areas with acute water scarcity, terraced agriculture, and predominantly Tamang communities. Hilly zone (wards 4–9): Mixed agricultural zones with high migration rates and diverse caste/ethnic composition. Many Brahmin and Chhetri families live in these areas. Plains zone (wards 10–12): Flood-prone riverine areas with significant Dalit settlements practicing riverbank farming. These zones correlate with distinct settlement histories, livelihood systems, and ethnic distributions, shaping patterns of migration, resource access, and institutional engagement. A thematic map of Indrawati (Fig. 1 ) illustrates the twelve administrative wards as the primary spatial units of analysis. For elevation-zone comparison, wards were grouped into mountainous (1–3), hill (4–9), and plains (10–12) zones. Climate impacts unfold through deeply gendered and caste-structured social systems. Brahmin–Chhetri groups hold disproportionate political and economic power, Janajati groups such as Tamang maintain distinct cultural practices, and Dalit communities face long-standing exclusion from land, services, and local governance (Khadka et al., 2022 ). Male out-migration is one of the most significant demographic transformations shaping rural Nepal. Driven by low agricultural productivity, labour precarity, and climate-related livelihood decline, young men migrate to domestic urban centres, India, the Gulf states, East Asia, the US, Europe, and beyond (Maharjan et al., 2020 ; Valenta, 2022 ). Remittances now constitute 33 percent of national GDP (World Bank, 2025 ) and have improved access to education, health services, agricultural inputs, and mechanisation (Kapri & Ghimire, 2020; Paudel et al., 2025 ; Tuladhar et al., 2014 ). Yet households without migrants face acute labour shortages and reduced adaptive capacity (Sunam et al., 2015). Migration has also intensified the feminisation of agriculture, with women assuming primary responsibility for climate-sensitive agricultural work while continuing to face barriers in land rights, credit, markets, and local governance (Tamang et al., 2024 ; KC et al., 2016 ; Pradhan et al., 2021 ). These constraints particularly affect minority women, who experience compound exclusion tied to gender, caste, ethnicity, and geographic marginalisation (Adhikari & Hobley, 2015 ). While women’s increased responsibilities can enhance their contributions to household decision-making, institutional practices and policies often fail to reflect these changes (ADPC, 2023; Goodrich et al., 2019a ). Limited citizenship documentation, language barriers, and persistent discrimination restrict many women’s access to government services and adaptation programmes (Nonoguchi, 2012 ). Data Collection A qualitative research design was employed to explore the lived experiences, perceptions, and coping strategies of immobile populations in the context of climate change, capturing the complexity and contextual depth of climate vulnerability and adaptation, shaped by social identities and structural inequalities. Data collection followed a three-step process. First, a scoping exercise was conducted in April 2024, involving stakeholders in participatory community and hazard mapping in each ward. This helped identify vulnerable areas, locally perceived risks, and existing adaptation practices, while building rapport with residents (Davis et al., 2009 ). In June 2024, eight semi-structured interviews were carried out with local leaders, elderly residents, and key informants, such as schoolteachers and health workers. These interviews offered key insights into environmental changes, social dynamics, and institutional responses, guiding life history design, interviews, and informing the main data collection phase. Finally, 15 life histories conducted in December 2024 examined individual pathways of climate impact, adaptation, and migration. Life histories allowed participants to link past experiences with present decisions, offering a temporal perspective on vulnerability and coping (Sharma and Barron, 2021 ). Participants were purposively sampled from migrant-sending households, differentiated by gender, ethnicity, and geographic location. To validate and contextualise findings, focus group discussions were held with a range of stakeholders and key informants. All participation was voluntary, with informed consent obtained and confidentiality assured. The study was conducted with cultural sensitivity and respecting participants' lived narratives. Data Analysis Our analysis draws on life histories, key informant interviews, and community discussions across all 12 wards, with narratives spanning 1950–2025. Using the life trajectory of a resident born in 1950 as a reference point, we traced how climatic, ecological, and socio-political changes have transformed livelihoods in Indrawati. These life histories provided rich, contextualised accounts of climate vulnerability across elevation zones. We conducted a rapid qualitative analysis (RQA) using MAXQDA software, efficiently synthesising qualitative data while preserving participant perspectives (Prevention Research Centre, 2024). Field notes and transcripts from interviews, life histories, and focus groups were coded in MAXQDA to generate themes, grouped by frequency, salience, and relevance to the research questions. Key themes included climate risk perception, livelihood changes, gendered labour redistribution, social support, and institutional trust, all analysed through an intersectional lens. Our elevation-zone framework required systematic cross-zone comparison. Each emergent themes were compared across mountainous, hill, and plains contexts, asking: How does this process differ by elevation? What mechanisms explain variation? How do intersecting identities activate differently in each zone? This comparative approach revealed patterns invisible in single-site analysis. Focus group discussions, community maps, and hazard maps triangulated life history findings, strengthening place-based insights. Through iterative comparison across data types and participant-traced patterns of vulnerability, agency, and adaptation. Data collection and analysis occurred in parallel, with early findings informing subsequent inquiry (Kekeya 2016 ). Our elevation-zone framework risked predetermining findings. We addressed this through reflexive analysis: coding began without elevation-based categories, allowing themes to emerge. Only after identifying vulnerability patterns, we systematically compare across zones, discovering that similar processes operated through different mechanisms in different elevations. We remained alert to within-zone variation and cases contradicting our framework, though none emerged strongly enough to challenge core patterns. While the life history method produced rich and detailed narratives, the study has certain limitations. The analysis is based on a small, non-representative sample of 15 life histories, supported by eight in-depth interviews and observations across all wards, and therefore cannot be generalised nationally. The findings, however, remain highly relevant to the Sindhupalchowk context. Findings Climate Vulnerability over Time and Elevation Zones Life histories reveal environmental and socio-political change. In the 1950s–60s, agriculture relied on fertile soils and reliable rainfall. By the 1980s, soil degradation, pests, and invasive species had begun to undermine yields, triggering migration to Kathmandu and overseas. Political transition in the 1990s and the civil conflict further disrupted markets and mobility, while the 2015 earthquake damaged water sources and accelerated out-migration. Erratic rainfall, landslides, and rising human–wildlife conflict have deepened agricultural decline. Households have adapted through intercropping, small enterprises, and women-led crafts, yet degraded soils and recurrent drought persist. These pressures vary across Indrawati’s elevation zones, where mountains, hills, and plains each face distinct shocks shaped by local livelihoods and social structures. Mountainous Zone (Wards 1–3): High-Altitude Climate Disruption Water scarcity is a defining challenge in the mountainous zone, where depleting springs, disrupted ecosystems, and biodiversity loss threaten livelihoods. Although the 2015 earthquake accelerated the drying out of natural springs, residents stress that water shortages predate it. As one respondent reflected, “in many places … we witnessed dry spells years and years before the earthquake.” Shifts in temperature and precipitation are rapidly transforming high-altitude ecosystems. Snowfall patterns have changed dramatically, with snow arriving later, disappearing within days, reducing seasonal water recharge. A Ward 3 resident explained, “ Since 2036 BS, we saw winters without snow. Now snowfall is rare, and whatever comes melts within 2–3 days, whereas it once covered the hills for two months .” Water scarcity cascades into agriculture and household labour, particularly for women with major water collection responsibilities. As source dry up, they walk increasingly long distances to fetch water from dwindling sources and seasonal shift intensify the burden. In winter, residents can only collect water during limited hours, yet freezing temperatures make even this window difficult. “ We have to access water between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., but everything is frozen during that time. The temperature even drops below freezing ,” one woman explained. Institutional support for adapting to these changes remains limited. A farmer from Ward 2 captured both the frustration and the centrality of water access: “ If we get proper irrigation, that would be ideal. Without proper irrigation, it is hard to say what farming will be like. ” Residents consistently frame irrigation as central to agricultural viability. Climatic shifts have also disrupted local ecosystems. People described the disappearance of species once common in the area: “There used to be a creature called gohoro (a type of lizard), but it’s no longer found… another creature that looked like a tortoise also lived in the river, and now it’s gone.” Traditional crop varieties and pasture grasses have similarly declined: “The grasses that used to grow back then no longer grow—neither the useful ones nor the dry grass. Nowadays, only unwanted grass grows.” These testimonies illustrate visible climate disruption in the mountainous zone. Water scarcity, declining snowfall, biodiversity loss, and shrinking agricultural options are deeply interconnected reshaping both the ecosystems and social life. Hill Zone (Wards 4–9): Water Stress and Agricultural Transformation The hill zone experiences a complex combination of climate stressors. Water scarcity again emerges as the defining constraint, with near-total dependence on increasingly erratic seasonal precipitation. As one resident recalled, “ Around 5–7 years ago, we used to have proper rain during the seasons, like the Maghe Jhari, but now it does not rain anymore .” Another farmer said: “ The water we get from the Kalangsha dries up in just one day; there’s barely any water, and now there’s no proper basic water source here.” Farmers repeatedly stressed that soil fertility alone cannot offset water shortages. “ We make plenty of manure […], but without water, nothing grows ,” one farmer explained, contrasting their situation with wards that still receive reliable flows. Rising temperatures have further altered soil structure, leaving once-productive plots hardened and unresponsive. As a Ward 8 resident described, “ The soil is red here. Without water… everything has dried up. […] the soil has started to take the shape of a ball .” Others noted that the soil has become “sticky and heavy… beans and lentils barely grow anymore. Is it the soil that has changed, or the weather? We are not able to understand ,” expressing uncertainty about whether these changes reflect soil degradation or shifting weather patterns. These pressures have forced farmers to adapt their cropping calendars to match altered rainfall patterns. As one respondent explained, “Earlier, maize had to be planted in Baisakh, but now it is planted in Jestha. Fields used to be sown in Ashar, but now it’s done in Shrawan.” Such adjustments highlight both the flexibility and the limits of local adaptation, as households struggle under increasingly unpredictable conditions. Overall, declining precipitation, degraded soils, and disrupted cropping cycles undermine agricultural viability and deepen inequalities, disproportionately for households with fewer assets in sustaining production and securing water. Plains Zone (Wards 10–12): Flood Risk and River Dynamics The plains face a dual burden distinct from the hills and mountains: monsoon flooding and water scarcity in the dry season. Farmers described how rising waters disrupt agricultural cycles: “ During the monsoon, it gets worse, …. It starts around Chaitra–Baisakh (spring), just when we plant maize. Yes, Asar and Shrawan are the worst.” River dynamics have become increasingly unpredictable, with significant land loss due to shifting river courses. As one farmer explained, “There are about 4 to 5 households here now, and we cannot produce as we used to… the river has taken much of our land.” Post-earthquake changes and other hazards have compounded vulnerabilities. Seismic shifts have dried traditional water sources, leaving households with no tap water: “ There is a tap in every house, but there is no water. After the earthquake, the water sources have dried up .” Landslides repeatedly destroy crops, “ Landslides often destroy what we plant after so much hard work ” while extreme rainfall events devastate both homes and harvests: “ During the huge rain that continued for 72 hours, it destroyed the products… it made our houses muddy .” These dynamics illustrate how the plains zone is caught between too much and too little water, creating precarious livelihood highly sensitive to seasonal extremes and sudden shocks. Migration-Driven Labour Transitions and Gendered Vulnerability Widespread male out-migration has reshaped household adaptation across all elevation zones, intensifying women’s labour and disrupting traditional knowledge transmission. This has led to feminisation of agricultural and environmental work, though the extent and form of this shift vary by elevation. In the hill zone, where migration rates are highest and climate stress most severe, women have assumed nearly all agricultural and environmental responsibilities. As one woman whose husband migrated explained: “When I was left alone, I had to do all the work myself. I took care of the livestock and looked after the children too.” Another woman reflected on the multiple pressures of managing both farming and care work: “When he left …, everything was on me: fields, children, elderly parents[...]. Somehow, I have managed but it is not easy like before […].” Water scarcity has expanded women’s labour beyond cultivation to new forms of environmental management, including household water rationing systems: “We have to turn off the water at night. […] it is reopened around 6 to 7 a.m. the next morning. [..], and then everyone takes turns to collect water.” Women now manage collection, allocation and conservation, often walking long distances to dwindling sources. In the plains, women face episodic but intense adaptation demands as flooding destroys crops and damages homes. “ During the huge rain that continued for 72 hours, it destroyed the products… it made our houses muddy ,” one woman said. Their routines reflect a dual burden of care work and climate response: “ I wake up at 7 a.m., look after the animals, cook, and send my children to school.” Across zones, women have initiated livelihood diversification strategies. In the water-stressed hills, some supplement incomes through handicrafts: "I also make woven bamboo baskets[..] we make it for them and sell them." Others have joined collective resource management systems, such as the medicinal herbs group that " provided a buffalo worth 1,20,000 rupees" with rotational management among members. Yet these diversification efforts remain constrained by the same climate stressors driving migration. Crop failures force reliance on agricultural inputs that were previously unnecessary: "We have to use pesticides, too. Without them, what can we eat?" The result is often intensified labour without proportional increases in security or authority. In the mountainous zone, adaptation unfolds within both ecological constraints and socio-cultural contexts. Tamang households, predominant in these areas, often display relatively flexible gender roles allowing collective labour mobilisation. As one respondent explained, “When my husband is at home, he does most of it. We don’t have strict work divisions; whoever can, does it.” Another respondent from Ward 2 reflected, “We work collectively.” This flexibility provides an adaptive advantage during water shortages, allowing men and women alike to share tasks such as water collection and adjusting agricultural routines. Knowledge System Fragmentation and Gendered Expertise With many working-age men departing for Kathmandu, India, or the Gulf, traditional agricultural and environmental practices once transmitted between men in village communities have been fractured. One focus group participant summarised the demographic reality starkly: “It is just women and old people here now, trying to survive the weather”. This exodus reflects both economic necessity and climate-related livelihood decline: “If they stay in the village, there’s hardly any income at all. … if they don’t earn anything, how can they support themselves and their families?” The result is not only a loss of labour but also the disruption of intergenerational systems of knowledge transfer. Agricultural techniques, water management practices and collective coping strategies that were once passed between men are now fractured as younger generations migrate. As one farmer noted, “ The younger generation has all moved [..] there’s no one to manage it here .” Women have taken on primary agricultural and environmental responsibilities yet often lack the technical training and institutional support that men previously accessed. This gap is most evident in Brahmin and Chhetri hill communities, where women perform the labour but are seldom recognised as decision makers. In contrast, more flexible gender norms among Tamang households allow knowledge to be shared more collectively. These uneven knowledge pathways leave many women uncertain about key tasks, such as pest management, reflected in comments like, “ Here we do grow potatoes, but it gets insects easily, … How do we use the pesticides, are we supposed to spray in the plant or in the soil? We are not knowledgeable about these things.” Also, women are developing new climate knowledge through daily adaptation, closely tracking water availability, soil conditions, and crop timing. Yet this embodied expertise remains unrecognised because extension services and training continue to be oriented primarily toward men. As one Dalit woman explained, “ Only men from the tole go to trainings. They do not think women can do farming better .” Others described being excluded through inaccessible language: “ They called us for a meeting but talked in difficult words. I did not understand, so I just signed and came back ”. The result is a gendered knowledge divide shaped not by capacity but by structural exclusion. Our findings show clear differences in how men and women interpret environmental change, shaped not by awareness gaps but by unequal access to information. Men often describe climate impacts technically, linking rainfall variability, soil degradation, and crop diseases to broader climate processes. Their participation in community meetings and exposure to extension programs reinforces this vocabulary. As one man noted, “ The environment we had when I was in my teens is not the environment today. It is called climate change. […] They (farmers) need to opt for other cropping that is congruent to the changes. ” In contrast, women, often excluded from formal knowledge spaces, draw instead on embodied, experiential or spiritual interpretations. Their accounts emphasise observed shifts in soil, water and seasons, sometimes framed through cultural or religious reasoning. One woman explained, “ We have been taking the Gods for granted. We are the main perpetrators. We keep asking for more. […] This is happening because the Gods are angry with us. ”. A few elderly men expressed similar views, suggesting that generational position also shapes interpretive frameworks. These contrasts do not indicate weaker understanding among women. Rather, reflects how structural exclusion channels men and women into different knowledge systems. Men’s technical framings are validated in institutional spaces, while women’s lived expertise in daily engagement with water, soil, and crops remains unrecognised. The reinforces gendered knowledge divide produced by unequal access to information, not by differences in capability, systematically devaluing women’s perspectives in adaptation planning. Remittances and Household Resilience Male outmigration is most pronounced in the hill zone, although it occurs across all elevations. These movements are strongly shaped by caste and ethnic positionality, which influence both migration destinations and the stability of earnings. Brahmin and Chhetri households more often migrate to the United States, the United Kingdom, or Europe, while Tamang migrants often target countries like Japan or Korea. The most marginalised groups, including many Dalit and land-poor households, tend to migrate to the Gulf states under more precarious conditions. These differentiated destinations contribute to unequal remittance flows, with long-term implications for household resilience. Migration removes labour, knowledge, and social capital from areas already stressed by climate change. As one respondent noted, “ If they stay in the village there is hardly any income at all… if they don’t earn anything, how can they support themselves and their families?” At the same time, remittances provide essential financial support for coping with agricultural decline. As a woman explained, “ Even if you rely solely on agriculture, famine will still occur nowadays… but now, since people have gone abroad and send money, we are able to buy food. ” These transfers help households purchase water during droughts, invest in alternative livelihoods and recover from losses, although reduced local labour continues to weaken longer-term adaptive capacity. However, remittances cannot substitute for local labour and knowledge systems. Women managing households independently face immediate challenges that money cannot resolve: "He sends money, yes. But when the roof leaks or the buffalo gets sick, I have to fix it all by myself. There is no one else." The combination of financial resources with absent labour creates new forms of household vulnerability that the people who stay behind must navigate. The evidence demonstrates that demographic transition and climate change reshape household adaptation in zone-specific ways. While remittances provide financial support for adaptation, the feminisation of environmental management occurs without corresponding increases in women's authority, recognition, or institutional support. This mismatch between responsibility and empowerment is a key dimension of climate vulnerability consistently disadvantaging women across elevations. Institutional Exclusion and Intersectional Marginality Zone-specific Exclusion Mechanisms Institutional access to climate resources varies sharply across Indrawati’s elevation zones, with women and marginalised groups facing systematic barriers shaped by structural inequalities and localised practices of exclusion. While the forms of exclusion differ across the mountains, hills, and plains, they converge in reinforcing the marginalisation of those most exposed to climate risks. In the mountainous zone, institutional barriers linked to citizenship and legal identity are major concerns. Women who migrate after marriage often lack citizenship or household registration in their new ward, which prevents their enrolment in government programmes or accessing training that requires local registration. As one respondent from Ward 3 asked, “, If a woman moves from one place to another, […] How many years does she have to survive without citizenship while giving birth to children?” . Exclusion persists within local governance spaces: “Even if we attend meetings, our words do not count. Decisions are already made.” . In addition, remote settlements receive limited attention from ward offices and NGOs, while transportation costs make accessing markets and services prohibitively expensive. In the hill zone, exclusion stems from more politicised resource allocation rather than documentation issues. Respondents described entire communities being marginalised when government support was distributed through party networks, with benefits channelled to political affiliates rather than to those most in need. One woman explained, “They don’t provide anything. […] they only provide benefits to their own people.” Another added, “The political parties just work for their own people” The plains zone highlights yet another form of exclusion, rooted in information access. Adaptation programs' official announcements are frequently posted on Facebook, inaccessible to many households. As one respondent noted, “They do issue notices, but they post them on Facebook. Not everyone has access to it, so only those who are informed end up participating.” Others rely on informal word-of-mouth networks that fail to reach everyone: “We get to know about it through people who share the information […]. However, not everyone receives this information.” The result is a highly uneven uptake of resources, with better-connected households benefiting disproportionately. Institutional barriers differ by zone yet are united in their effects: women and marginalised groups remain structurally excluded from adaptation resources. Whether through lack of legal recognition in the mountains, political capture in the hills, or information gaps in the plains, access is mediated not only by geography but also by gender, caste, and social position. Intersecting Marginalities and Compound Exclusion The intersection of social identities creates layered exclusions that heighten climate vulnerability. In the plains, flooding exposure combines with long-standing social and economic marginalisation to produce acute risk. Danuwar and Majhi households in Wards 11 and 12 farm and fish along riverbanks, directly exposed to the monsoon floods with limited resources to protect land or recover from losses. As one Majhi woman noted, “ The biggest loss was during the earthquake. Recently it hasn’t been that bad, except for farmland losses… That is why we moved down here .” Dalit families, often landless in the most flood-prone areas, face even greater exposure, lacking savings, insurance, or social networks to recover. Caste-based exclusion reinforces vulnerabilities by limiting access to adaptation programs. Respondents described how benefits meant for marginalised groups were often diverted to more powerful households. One Danuwar woman explained, “Other organisations have also brought job opportunities prioritising the Danuwar community, but some other caste people got it.” Dalit women face steep barriers, with few programs targeting their needs: “This was the only program for Danuwar and Majhi community to control child marriage. I am not aware about other programs specifically targeting us.” The intersection of caste and gender leaves these women marginalised, bearing the brunt of climate impacts while being systematically excluded from institutional support. Economic barriers cut across all these categories, amplifying the effects of caste, gender, and age-based exclusions. Loan systems are often exploitative, as one respondent from Ward 11 noted: “they shouldn’t charge more than 7 percent interest in agriculture. But they take advantage and charge four times more.” Households without migrant members are particularly disadvantaged, lacking remittance income to buffer local earnings. Without capital or access to affordable credit, they cannot invest in livestock or diversify livelihoods: “people don’t have money. If they did, they could raise livestock. But everything needs investment—raising buffalo, pigs, everything requires money.” This financial exclusion locks the poorest households into cycles where climate shocks deepen poverty, which in turn reduces adaptive capacity. Climate vulnerability in the plains is not just geographic; it is the intersection of caste-based exclusion, gendered responsibilities, aging demographics, and financial precarity, producing layers of marginalisation. For Dalit and riverbank communities, vulnerability stems from the absence of secure land, resources, and institutional recognition needed to recover and adapt. Discussion: Mechanisms of Differentiated Climate Vulnerability Our elevation-zone intersectional analysis shows that climate vulnerability arises not from environmental exposure alone but from the interaction between topography and intersecting social hierarchies. The three mechanisms identified – topographic mediation of climate risk, migration-driven labour transitions, and institutional exclusion – explain why universal adaptation measures routinely fail to address differentiated vulnerability. Together, they highlight how elevation shapes the specific pathways through which gender, caste and migration status translate into climate risk. Topographic Mediation of Intersectional Climate Vulnerability Climate stressors manifest differently across elevation zones because topography structures distinct livelihood systems and social relations, meaning that the same intersecting identities produce different vulnerability pathways. In the mountains, water scarcity interacts with flexible gender norms and geographic isolation, resulting in collective household responses but limited institutional recognition for women’s increased responsibilities. In the hills, water shortages combine with soil degradation, erratic rainfall and Brahmin/Chhetri gender norms, producing a sharp mismatch between women’s full agricultural responsibility and their restricted access to authority and technical support. In the plains, flooding risk intersects with caste-based exclusion, with Dalit and marginalised households facing vulnerability shaped less by exposure alone than by systematic isolation from resources and viable alternatives. This topographic mediation challenges existing intersectional climate research that tends to treat place as contextual background (Kaijser & Kronsell, 2014 ; Resurrección et al., 2019 ). Our framework demonstrates that elevation zones function as distinct socio-ecological contexts that fundamentally structure how intersecting identities are activated and experienced. The policy implication is significant: climate interventions must move beyond demographic targeting (“rural women,” “mountain communities”) toward understanding how specific topographic contexts create distinct intersectional vulnerability patterns (Rao et al. 2019 ). Knowledge Systems Fragmentation under Demographic Transition Male out-migration has created a critical disjuncture between climate knowledge systems and climate management responsibilities that varies systematically across elevation zones. This fragmentation extends feminist climate scholarship (Sultana, 2022 ; Arora-Jonsson, 2011 ) by demonstrating how demographic transitions interact with topographic contexts to restructure knowledge systems in zone-specific ways that compound gendered exclusion. In the hill zone, high migration and intensifying environmental stress have fractured traditional knowledge transfer, leaving women responsible for most agricultural decisions without the technical training or institutional support. This creates a persistent gap between responsibility and authority that limits effective adaptation. Although women across all zones have developed practice-based climate knowledge through their daily management of soil, water and crops, this expertise remains undervalued because formal institutions privilege technical and male-mediated information channels. This mismatch reflects a broader pattern in which women’s experiential knowledge is systematically excluded from climate decision-making (Redicker et al. 2025 ; Rao et al. 2019 ). In the mountainous zone, Tamang households’ flexible gender norms enable women to share agricultural decision-making, yet geographic isolation limits both men’s and women’s access to external technical knowledge. Here, knowledge fragmentation stems less from gendered exclusion and more from institutional neglect of remote communities. This analysis reveals how demographic transitions interact with existing gender hierarchies and topographic contexts to create zone-specific knowledge gaps. The insight that women's environmental knowledge is systematically devalued must be extended to understand how migration and elevation mediate these devaluation across space. Climate adaptation interventions that fail to recognise and integrate women's embodied knowledge while providing them with technical support perpetuate maladaptive institutional responses (Khadka et al., 2022 ). Institutional Maladaptation Through Intersectional Exclusion Climate institutions across elevation zones systematically exclude those most responsible for managing climate risks, but exclusion mechanisms vary in ways that reflect how topographic contexts interact with intersecting social hierarchies. This finding contributes to climate justice literature (Sultana, 2022 ; Mikulewicz et al., 2023 ) by demonstrating how geographic contexts shape intersectional exclusion in climate governance. Across elevation zones, exclusion operates through different mechanisms, showing that climate adaptation institutions are poorly aligned with local social and geographic realities. In the mountains, legal-bureaucratic barriers and geographic isolation reveal that adaptation programmes assume stable residency and easy administrative access, leaving mobile or marginalised households structurally invisible. In the hills, political capture and outdated assumptions about male household heads expose how adaptation support is filtered through party networks and demographic blind spots rather than actual risk or responsibility. In the plains, caste-based discrimination and information gaps show that even when programmes exist, unequal access to information and resources reproduces vulnerability. These zone-specific exclusion mechanisms reveal a critical insight: intersectional exclusion in climate governance is not uniform but operates through different institutional pathways that reflect local social hierarchies and environmental contexts. Women in the mountains face different barriers than women in the hills or plains, requiring distinct institutional innovations rather than universal inclusion strategies. The broader implication challenges current climate adaptation programming that assumes uniform institutional solutions can address intersectional vulnerability (Rao et al., 2019 ). Instead, our analysis suggests that effective climate governance must be designed around understanding how specific combinations of environmental contexts and social hierarchies create distinct exclusion patterns that require differentiated institutional responses. Conclusion This study develops an elevation-zone intersectional framework that demonstrates how topography shapes the relationship between social identities and climate vulnerability. Comparative analysis across Nepal’s mountainous, hill and plain zones shows that vulnerability emerges not from exposure or marginalisation alone, but from how environmental conditions interact with gender, caste, migration and institutional access. Our findings make three key contributions. First, we show that geography is not a passive backdrop but a constitutive force that alters how intersecting identities translate into risk. The same social positions generate different vulnerabilities across elevation zones because they operate through distinct environmental mechanisms of water scarcity, soil degradation or flooding. Second, demographic transitions, particularly male out-migration, disrupt knowledge transmission in zone-specific ways, creating gaps between women’s expanding responsibilities and their access to information or support. Third, institutional exclusion also varies by elevation, with legal barriers in the mountains, political capture in the hills, and caste- and information-based exclusion in the plains, underscoring the need for differentiated rather than uniform adaptation responses. These findings challenge approaches that aggregate social categories without considering how environmental gradients activate exclusion differently. Current interventions often fail because they apply generic frameworks that overlook how place shapes the operation of social hierarchies. The framework also has broader relevance for contexts where sharp ecological variation produces distinct socio-environmental niches within small geographic areas. Beyond Nepal, the framework provides a transferable method for analysing how environmental gradients mediate intersectional processes in other contexts with strong ecological variation. Future research should explore how different gradients, such as coastal-inland or urban-rural divides, shape vulnerability, and how these patterns evolve over time. More broadly, the study underscores that climate resilience requires understanding how environmental and social systems interact. Vulnerability is neither uniform nor fixed but produced through specific configurations of environmental contexts and social hierarchies. Making these interactions visible is essential for more equitable and effective climate adaptation. Declarations Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). Ethics approval Ethical approval from the University of Exeter Geography Ethics Committee (Reference: 3570732). Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection, ensuring voluntary participation, confidentiality, and the right to withdraw at any time. The research was conducted in accordance with established ethical guidelines for studies involving human participants. Funding This work was supported by the Successful Intervention Pathways for Migration as Adaptation (SUCCESS) project (Project no. 110007-003), as part of Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) research programme, funded by UK aid from the UK government and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Author Contribution CRediT: Sony K.C.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing- original draft; Ankur Koirala: Investigation, Methodology, Data curation, Writing- review and editing; Simran Silpakar: Writing- review and editing; Sarah Redicker: Writing- review and editing. References Adhikari J, Hobley M (2015) Everyone is leaving. Who will sow our fields? The livelihood effects on women of male migration from Khotang and Udaypur districts, Nepal, to the Gulf countries and Malaysia. Himalaya 35(1):7–19 Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) (2023) Gender inclusive climate resilient agriculture in Nepal: A review of policies and practices. ADPC Amadio M, Behrer AP, Bosch L, Kaila HK, Krishnan N, Molinario G (2023) Climate risks, exposure, vulnerability and resilience in Nepal. World Bank Arora-Jonsson S (2011) Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate change. Glob Environ Change 21(2):744–751 Collins PH (2019) Intersectionality as critical social theory. Duke University Press Crenshaw K (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex. Univ Chic Legal Forum 1(8):139–167 Davis K, Drey N, Gould D (2009) What are scoping studies? A review of the nursing literature. Int J Nurs Stud 46(7):1386–1400 Eakin H, Luers AL (2006) Assessing the vulnerability of social–environmental systems. Annu Rev Environ Resour 31:365–394 Eckstein D, Hutfils M-L, Winges M (2019) Global climate risk index 2019. Germanwatch Elmhirst R (2011) Introducing new feminist political ecologies. Geoforum 42(2):129–132 Gentle P, Maraseni TN (2012) Climate change, poverty and livelihoods: Adaptation practices by rural mountain communities in Nepal. Environ Sci Policy 21:24–34 Gioli G, Thapa G, Khan F, Dasgupta P, Nathan D, Chhetri N, Adhikari L, Mohanty SK, Aurino E, Scott M, L (2019) Understanding and tackling poverty and vulnerability in mountain livelihoods in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. In: Wester P, Mishra A, Mukherji A, Shrestha AB (eds) The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment. Springer, pp 421–455 Goodrich CG, Mehta M, Bisht S (2017) Status of gender, vulnerabilities and adaptation to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Impacts and implications for livelihoods, and sustainable mountain development (Working Paper 2017/3) Goodrich CG, Prakash A, Udas PB (2019a) Gendered vulnerability and adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Research insights. Environ Dev 31:1–8 Goodrich CG, Udas PB, Prakash A (2019b) Conceptualising gendered vulnerability to climate change: Contextual conditions and drivers of change. Environ Dev 31:9–18 Goodrich CG, Hussain A, Pasakhala B, Bano K, Bhuchar S, Chitale VS, Bisht S, Bastola A, Silpakar S (2022) State of gender equality and climate change in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya. ICIMOD Krishnan R, Shrestha AB, Ren G, Rajbhandari R, Saeed S, Sanjay J, Ren Y (2019) Unravelling climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: rapid warming in the mountains and increasing extremes. The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains, climate change, sustainability and people. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 57–97 Kaijser A, Kronsell A (2014) Climate change through the lens of intersectionality. Environ Politics 23(3):417–433 KC S, Upreti BR, Subedi BP (2016) We know the taste of sugar because of cardamom production: Links among commercial cardamom farming, women’s involvement in production and the feminisation of poverty. J Int Women’s Stud 18(2):181–207 Kekeya J (2016) Analysing qualitative data using an iterative process. Contemp PNG Stud 24:86–94 Khadka C, Upadhyaya A, Edwards-Jonášová M, Dhungana N, Baral S (2022) Differential impact analysis for climate change adaptation: A case study from Nepal. Sustainability, 14 (16), Article 9825. Maharjan A, Kochhar I, Chitale VS, Hussain A, Gioli G (2020) Understanding rural outmigration and agricultural land use change in the Gandaki Basin, Nepal. Appl Geogr 124:102278 Mall RK, Srivastava RK, Banerjee T, Mishra OP, Bhatt D, Sonkar G (2019) Disaster risk reduction including climate change adaptation over South Asia: Challenges and ways forward. Int J Disaster Risk Sci 10(1):14–27 Mikulewicz M, Caretta MA, Sultana F, Crawford JWN (2023) Intersectionality and climate justice: A call for synergy in climate change scholarship. Environ Politics 32(7):1275–1286 Mishra A, Appadurai AN, Choudhury D, Regmi BR, Kelkar U, Alam M, Sharma U (2019) Adaptation to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Stronger action urgently needed. The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains, climate change, sustainability and people. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 457–490 Nightingale AJ (2011) Bounding difference: Intersectionality and the material production of gender, caste, class and environment in Nepal. Geoforum 42(2):153–162 Nonoguchi A (2012) Gender and climate change in Nepal (Doctoral dissertation). Pennsylvania State University Paudel GP, Nguyen TT, Grote U (2025) Trade-offs between labour migration and agricultural productivity: Evidence from smallholder wheat systems in Nepal. J Int Dev 37(1):202–229 Pradhan MS, Rai-Paudyal B, Rai A, Bai Y, Hengsuwan P, Bun P, Yongzom D (2021) Exploring the role of gender equality in addressing climate change, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and food security. In: Thapa B, Fu C, Zhang L (eds) Gender equality and sustainable development in the mountain areas of Asia. LI-BIRD Pross C, Han JYC, Kim D, Vigil S (2020) Climate change, gender equality and human rights in Asia: Regional review and promising practices. UN Women Raj R, Ravula PCM, Bhanjdeo A, Sogani R, Rao N (2025) Male migration and the transformation of gendered agricultural work: A comparative exploration of heterogeneity across selected Indian states. Gend Place Cult, 1–27 Rao N, Lawson ET, Raditloaneng WN, Solomon D, Angula MN (2019) Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change: Insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Climate Dev 11(1):14–26 Redicker S, Gavonel MF, Adger WN, De Campos RS, Abu M, Boly S, Owuor J (2025) Gender dimensions of adaptive capacity and adaptation responses to climate shocks in rural households: Ghana, Mali, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Environ Res Lett 20(9):094017 Resurrección BP, Goodrich CG, Song Y, Bastola A, Prakash A, Joshi D, Shah SA (2019) In the shadows of the Himalayan mountains: Persistent gender and social exclusion in development. In: Wester P, Mishra A, Mukherji A, Shrestha AB (eds) The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment. Springer, pp 491–516 Sharma D, Barron A (2021) Life histories. In: Barron A, Browne AL, Ehgartner U, Hall SM, Pottinger L, Ritson J (eds) Methods for change: Impactful social science methodologies for 21st century problems. University of Manchester Sultana F (2022) Critical climate justice. Geographical J 188(1):118–124 Sunam RK, McCarthy JF (2015) Reconsidering the links between poverty, international labour migration and agrarian change: Critical insights from Nepal. J Peasant Stud 43(1):39–63 Tamang S, Paudel KP, Shrestha KK (2024) Feminisation of agriculture and its implications for food security in rural Nepal. Journal of Forest and Livelihood, 12 (1), Article 13 Tuladhar R, Sapkota C, Adhikari N (2014) Effects of migration and remittance income on Nepal’s agriculture yield. Asian Development Bank Turner BL, Kasperson RE, Matson PA, McCarthy JJ, Corell RW, Christensen L et al (2003) A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100 (14), 8074–8079 Valenta M (2022) The drivers and trajectories of Nepalese multiple migrations to the Arab Gulf. South Asian Diaspora 14(1):21–37 Wester P, Mishra A, Mukherji A, Shrestha AB (eds) (2019) The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains, climate change, sustainability and people. Springer Nature World Bank (2025) Personal remittances received (% of GDP) . https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9552537","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":638184338,"identity":"c386fb8f-9f36-43d0-9eab-4c59b03ee3d3","order_by":0,"name":"SONY K.C.","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACxgYgwQ9iJRSQokUSRCQYkKLF4ACISYwW+fbeY5Izag7LG59fnfjhgQGDPL/YAfxaDM6cS5PccOyw4bYbbzdLAB1mOHN2AgEtEjlmkg/YDieY3Ti7AaQlweA2AS3yM0Ba/h1OMJ5xdvMPorQw3ABq2dh2OMGAv3cbcbYYnDljbDmzL91wxg3ebRYJBhKE/SLf3mN4s+ebtTx//9nNN39U2MjzSxNyGAMDiwQDQzMDgwRYpQRB5SDA/IGBoQ6YYg4QpXoUjIJRMApGIAAAdHlHr91gnagAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"SONY","middleName":"","lastName":"K.C.","suffix":""},{"id":638184339,"identity":"bba05eee-7d17-4565-990a-0d1583d85973","order_by":1,"name":"Ankur Koirala","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ankur","middleName":"","lastName":"Koirala","suffix":""},{"id":638184340,"identity":"61571c5e-fae5-4c44-9ce9-17eeec812328","order_by":2,"name":"Simran Silpakar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Simran","middleName":"","lastName":"Silpakar","suffix":""},{"id":638184341,"identity":"17f751be-aa44-4005-b8c4-fb6f19ba9413","order_by":3,"name":"Sarah Redicker","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Exeter","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sarah","middleName":"","lastName":"Redicker","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-28 10:24:50","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9552537/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9552537/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109265517,"identity":"fac03e52-dd44-42c4-b635-f32ea0d67546","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-14 12:30:14","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":379115,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStudy site map of Indrawati Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchok District, Nepal. Elevation is analytically grouped into three zones: Mountain Zone (Wards 1–3), Hill Zone (Wards 4–9), and Plains Zone (Wards 10–12). The map was produced using Esri ArcGIS Pro by Gauri Dangol, ICIMOD.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9552537/v1/53e900d1d8b07b9215daf33a.png"},{"id":109296492,"identity":"32957673-ec48-44f7-993a-698c8208f968","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-15 08:47:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":607994,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9552537/v1/ba0ea78d-1c75-44af-af2c-880b8c09b69c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Vulnerabilities Amidst Climate Change: An Intersectional Analysis of Climate Impacts Across Elevation Zones in Rural Nepal","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eIntersectional climate scholarship demonstrates that environmental risks emerge from interactions of gender, caste, class, age, and other social positions rather than single identities (Resurrecci\u0026oacute;n et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Goodrich et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Thus, scholarship has moved beyond additive models of vulnerability to examine how overlapping systems of oppression create distinct patterns of climate risk (Sultana, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). However, most research remains place-specific, rarely considering how geographic variation systematically mediates intersectional processes. Where acknowledged, geographic differences typically function as contextual background rather than constitutive elements fundamentally shaping how intersecting identities translate into climate vulnerability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis gap matters because climate risk is inherently geographic. In South Asia, climate hazards coincide with rapid socioeconomic change, persistent poverty, and dependence on natural resources, creating highly uneven climate vulnerabilities (Wester et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Goodrich et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Mall et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Beyond biophysical impacts, climate change exacerbates social inequalities and disproportionately affects marginalised groups (Goodrich et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Resurrecci\u0026oacute;n et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Goodrich et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019b\u003c/span\u003e; Pross et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMountain contexts exemplify why intersectional analyses must grapple with geography. In rural Nepal, dramatic topographic variation produces distinct socio-ecological niches. Mountainous, hill, and plain zones experience different climate shocks that interact with different livelihood systems, settlement patterns, and social hierarchies. Women\u0026rsquo;s climate vulnerabilities, therefore, vary not only by caste, ethnicity, and class but by whether they manage water scarcity in high-altitude settlements, navigate soil degradation in mid-hills, or cope with flooding in river plains. These elevation-mediated differences suggest that intersectional analysis requires systematic attention to the geographic settings through which social identities are activated and experienced.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper develops an elevation-zone intersectional framework theorising how topographic variation shapes mechanisms through which intersecting identities produce climate vulnerability. The framework positions elevation zones as distinct socio-ecological contexts where similar intersections of gender, caste, age, and migration status generate different vulnerability patterns. Drawing on fieldwork across mountainous, hill, and plain zones in Indrawati Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchowk, we demonstrate how this approach reveals differentiated vulnerabilities that place-neutral intersectional analyses overlook.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur central question is how topographic variation mediates the relationship between intersecting social identities and climate vulnerability in rural Nepal? Through comparison across elevation zones, we identify three mechanisms shaping intersectional vulnerability: (1) topographic mediation of climate risk; (2) migration-driven restructuring of labour and knowledge systems; and (3) institutional filtering of access and exclusion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis framework advances intersectional climate scholarship by offering systematic approaches for analysing how geographic variation mediates intersectional processes, moving beyond site-specific accounts toward comparative insights. For Nepal, it shows how climate policies aggregating \u0026ldquo;rural women\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;mountain communities\u0026rdquo; overlook elevation-mediated differences in vulnerability and adaptive capacity. More broadly, it offers transferable analytical approaches for understanding how environmental gradients and social hierarchies interact to shape climate risk in mountain contexts globally.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Literature Review","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eIntersectionality Theory in Climate Research\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eClimate vulnerability emerges from overlapping systems of oppression rather than single identity categories. Intersectionality, theorised by Crenshaw (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e), demonstrates how gender, race, class, and other social positions interact to create distinct experiences. Applied to climate research, this perspective reveals how vulnerability arises from specific ways intersecting social hierarchies shape exposure, adaptive capacity, and institutional access (Sultana, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Collins, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFeminist climate scholarship documents extensive evidence of gendered impacts, with women facing heightened risks through systematic inequalities (Goodrich, 2022). Intersectional analysis reveals how gender interacts with class, ethnicity, and age to create compound vulnerabilities requiring analysis of overlapping oppression systems (Resurrecci\u0026oacute;n et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Kaijser \u0026amp; Kronsell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGeographic Mediation of Intersectional Processes\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough intersectional climate research highlights overlapping social identities, it rarely examines how place shapes these dynamics. Yet, evidence from geographic vulnerability research shows that climate risks are fundamentally shaped by spatial variation in exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity (Raj et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e; O'Brien \u0026amp; Leichenko, 2000).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTopographic variation creates distinct patterns of environmental risk and social organisation within small geographic areas. Elevation gradients shape differential exposure to climate hazards, livelihood systems, and access to adaptation resources (Mishra et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Gioli et.al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Krishnan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Gentle \u0026amp; Maraseni, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Yet this work often treats communities as homogeneous, overlooking how elevation contexts interact with social hierarchies to create differentiated vulnerabilities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe gap becomes apparent when comparing how existing studies handle the relationship between place and intersectional identity. Place-based intersectional research offers rich contextual detail about how social hierarchies but provides limited insights into how different environmental settings systematically alter intersectional processes (Nightingale, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Elmhirst, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Conversely, comparative vulnerability assessments examine variation across environmental gradients but tend to aggregate social categories, neglecting how environmental differences might activate intersectional identities in different ways (Turner et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e; Eakin \u0026amp; Luers, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis analytical separation limits both theoretical development and policy relevance. Practically, it produces adaptation interventions that either apply uniform approaches across diverse environmental settings or develop highly localised responses.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methodology","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStudy Context and Sites\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eNepal ranks fourth in the Global Climate Risk Index (Eckstein et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), with livelihoods highly susceptible to climate shocks due to reliance on subsistence agriculture. Flooding, crop losses, and destruction of productive assets, compounded by persistent poverty, weak infrastructure, and reliance on rain-fed farming, heighten vulnerability (Amadio et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWithin Nepal, Indrawati Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchowk District is one of Nepal\u0026rsquo;s most hazard-prone areas, shaped by sharp topographic gradients ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 metres. These gradients create distinct socio-ecological and demographic configurations:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003col\u003e \u003cspan\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cp\u003eMountainous zone (wards 1\u0026ndash;3): High-altitude areas with acute water scarcity, terraced agriculture, and predominantly Tamang communities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/li\u003e \u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cp\u003eHilly zone (wards 4\u0026ndash;9): Mixed agricultural zones with high migration rates and diverse caste/ethnic composition. Many Brahmin and Chhetri families live in these areas.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/li\u003e \u003c/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e \u003cli\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlains zone (wards 10\u0026ndash;12): Flood-prone riverine areas with significant Dalit settlements practicing riverbank farming.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/li\u003e \u003c/span\u003e \u003c/ol\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese zones correlate with distinct settlement histories, livelihood systems, and ethnic distributions, shaping patterns of migration, resource access, and institutional engagement. A thematic map of Indrawati (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e) illustrates the twelve administrative wards as the primary spatial units of analysis. For elevation-zone comparison, wards were grouped into mountainous (1\u0026ndash;3), hill (4\u0026ndash;9), and plains (10\u0026ndash;12) zones.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eClimate impacts unfold through deeply gendered and caste-structured social systems. Brahmin\u0026ndash;Chhetri groups hold disproportionate political and economic power, Janajati groups such as Tamang maintain distinct cultural practices, and Dalit communities face long-standing exclusion from land, services, and local governance (Khadka et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMale out-migration is one of the most significant demographic transformations shaping rural Nepal. Driven by low agricultural productivity, labour precarity, and climate-related livelihood decline, young men migrate to domestic urban centres, India, the Gulf states, East Asia, the US, Europe, and beyond (Maharjan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Valenta, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Remittances now constitute 33 percent of national GDP (World Bank, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e) and have improved access to education, health services, agricultural inputs, and mechanisation (Kapri \u0026amp; Ghimire, 2020; Paudel et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e; Tuladhar et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). Yet households without migrants face acute labour shortages and reduced adaptive capacity (Sunam et al., 2015).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMigration has also intensified the feminisation of agriculture, with women assuming primary responsibility for climate-sensitive agricultural work while continuing to face barriers in land rights, credit, markets, and local governance (Tamang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; KC et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Pradhan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). These constraints particularly affect minority women, who experience compound exclusion tied to gender, caste, ethnicity, and geographic marginalisation (Adhikari \u0026amp; Hobley, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). While women\u0026rsquo;s increased responsibilities can enhance their contributions to household decision-making, institutional practices and policies often fail to reflect these changes (ADPC, 2023; Goodrich et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019a\u003c/span\u003e). Limited citizenship documentation, language barriers, and persistent discrimination restrict many women\u0026rsquo;s access to government services and adaptation programmes (Nonoguchi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eData Collection\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA qualitative research design was employed to explore the lived experiences, perceptions, and coping strategies of immobile populations in the context of climate change, capturing the complexity and contextual depth of climate vulnerability and adaptation, shaped by social identities and structural inequalities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eData collection followed a three-step process. First, a scoping exercise was conducted in April 2024, involving stakeholders in participatory community and hazard mapping in each ward. This helped identify vulnerable areas, locally perceived risks, and existing adaptation practices, while building rapport with residents (Davis et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). In June 2024, eight semi-structured interviews were carried out with local leaders, elderly residents, and key informants, such as schoolteachers and health workers. These interviews offered key insights into environmental changes, social dynamics, and institutional responses, guiding life history design, interviews, and informing the main data collection phase. Finally, 15 life histories conducted in December 2024 examined individual pathways of climate impact, adaptation, and migration. Life histories allowed participants to link past experiences with present decisions, offering a temporal perspective on vulnerability and coping (Sharma and Barron, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eParticipants were purposively sampled from migrant-sending households, differentiated by gender, ethnicity, and geographic location. To validate and contextualise findings, focus group discussions were held with a range of stakeholders and key informants. All participation was voluntary, with informed consent obtained and confidentiality assured. The study was conducted with cultural sensitivity and respecting participants' lived narratives.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eData Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur analysis draws on life histories, key informant interviews, and community discussions across all 12 wards, with narratives spanning 1950\u0026ndash;2025. Using the life trajectory of a resident born in 1950 as a reference point, we traced how climatic, ecological, and socio-political changes have transformed livelihoods in Indrawati. These life histories provided rich, contextualised accounts of climate vulnerability across elevation zones.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e We conducted a rapid qualitative analysis (RQA) using MAXQDA software, efficiently synthesising qualitative data while preserving participant perspectives (Prevention Research Centre, 2024). Field notes and transcripts from interviews, life histories, and focus groups were coded in MAXQDA to generate themes, grouped by frequency, salience, and relevance to the research questions. Key themes included climate risk perception, livelihood changes, gendered labour redistribution, social support, and institutional trust, all analysed through an intersectional lens.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur elevation-zone framework required systematic cross-zone comparison. Each emergent themes were compared across mountainous, hill, and plains contexts, asking: How does this process differ by elevation? What mechanisms explain variation? How do intersecting identities activate differently in each zone? This comparative approach revealed patterns invisible in single-site analysis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFocus group discussions, community maps, and hazard maps triangulated life history findings, strengthening place-based insights. Through iterative comparison across data types and participant-traced patterns of vulnerability, agency, and adaptation. Data collection and analysis occurred in parallel, with early findings informing subsequent inquiry (Kekeya \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur elevation-zone framework risked predetermining findings. We addressed this through reflexive analysis: coding began without elevation-based categories, allowing themes to emerge. Only after identifying vulnerability patterns, we systematically compare across zones, discovering that similar processes operated through different mechanisms in different elevations. We remained alert to within-zone variation and cases contradicting our framework, though none emerged strongly enough to challenge core patterns.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile the life history method produced rich and detailed narratives, the study has certain limitations. The analysis is based on a small, non-representative sample of 15 life histories, supported by eight in-depth interviews and observations across all wards, and therefore cannot be generalised nationally. The findings, however, remain highly relevant to the Sindhupalchowk context.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Findings","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eClimate Vulnerability over Time and Elevation Zones\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLife histories reveal environmental and socio-political change. In the 1950s\u0026ndash;60s, agriculture relied on fertile soils and reliable rainfall. By the 1980s, soil degradation, pests, and invasive species had begun to undermine yields, triggering migration to Kathmandu and overseas. Political transition in the 1990s and the civil conflict further disrupted markets and mobility, while the 2015 earthquake damaged water sources and accelerated out-migration. Erratic rainfall, landslides, and rising human\u0026ndash;wildlife conflict have deepened agricultural decline. Households have adapted through intercropping, small enterprises, and women-led crafts, yet degraded soils and recurrent drought persist. These pressures vary across Indrawati\u0026rsquo;s elevation zones, where mountains, hills, and plains each face distinct shocks shaped by local livelihoods and social structures.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eMountainous Zone (Wards 1\u0026ndash;3): High-Altitude Climate Disruption\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWater scarcity is a defining challenge in the mountainous zone, where depleting springs, disrupted ecosystems, and biodiversity loss threaten livelihoods. Although the 2015 earthquake accelerated the drying out of natural springs, residents stress that water shortages predate it. As one respondent reflected, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;in many places \u0026hellip; we witnessed dry spells years and years before the earthquake.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eShifts in temperature and precipitation are rapidly transforming high-altitude ecosystems. Snowfall patterns have changed dramatically, with snow arriving later, disappearing within days, reducing seasonal water recharge. A Ward 3 resident explained, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eSince 2036 BS, we saw winters without snow. Now snowfall is rare, and whatever comes melts within 2\u0026ndash;3 days, whereas it once covered the hills for two months\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWater scarcity cascades into agriculture and household labour, particularly for women with major water collection responsibilities. As source dry up, they walk increasingly long distances to fetch water from dwindling sources and seasonal shift intensify the burden. In winter, residents can only collect water during limited hours, yet freezing temperatures make even this window difficult. \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eWe have to access water between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., but everything is frozen during that time. The temperature even drops below freezing\u003c/em\u003e,\u0026rdquo; one woman explained.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInstitutional support for adapting to these changes remains limited. A farmer from Ward 2 captured both the frustration and the centrality of water access: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eIf we get proper irrigation, that would be ideal. Without proper irrigation, it is hard to say what farming will be like.\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo; Residents consistently frame irrigation as central to agricultural viability.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eClimatic shifts have also disrupted local ecosystems. People described the disappearance of species once common in the area: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;There used to be a creature called gohoro (a type of lizard), but it\u0026rsquo;s no longer found\u0026hellip; another creature that looked like a tortoise also lived in the river, and now it\u0026rsquo;s gone.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Traditional crop varieties and pasture grasses have similarly declined: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;The grasses that used to grow back then no longer grow\u0026mdash;neither the useful ones nor the dry grass. Nowadays, only unwanted grass grows.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThese testimonies illustrate visible climate disruption in the mountainous zone. Water scarcity, declining snowfall, biodiversity loss, and shrinking agricultural options are deeply interconnected reshaping both the ecosystems and social life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eHill Zone (Wards 4\u0026ndash;9): Water Stress and Agricultural Transformation\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe hill zone experiences a complex combination of climate stressors. Water scarcity again emerges as the defining constraint, with near-total dependence on increasingly erratic seasonal precipitation. As one resident recalled, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eAround 5\u0026ndash;7 years ago, we used to have proper rain during the seasons, like the Maghe Jhari, but now it does not rain anymore\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo; Another farmer said: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThe water we get from the Kalangsha dries up in just one day; there\u0026rsquo;s barely any water, and now there\u0026rsquo;s no proper basic water source here.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFarmers repeatedly stressed that soil fertility alone cannot offset water shortages. \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eWe make plenty of manure [\u0026hellip;], but without water, nothing grows\u003c/em\u003e,\u0026rdquo; one farmer explained, contrasting their situation with wards that still receive reliable flows. Rising temperatures have further altered soil structure, leaving once-productive plots hardened and unresponsive. As a Ward 8 resident described, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThe soil is red here. Without water\u0026hellip; everything has dried up. [\u0026hellip;] the soil has started to take the shape of a ball\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo; Others noted that the soil has become \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;sticky and heavy\u0026hellip; beans and lentils barely grow anymore. Is it the soil that has changed, or the weather? We are not able to understand\u003c/em\u003e,\u0026rdquo; expressing uncertainty about whether these changes reflect soil degradation or shifting weather patterns.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThese pressures have forced farmers to adapt their cropping calendars to match altered rainfall patterns. As one respondent explained, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;Earlier, maize had to be planted in Baisakh, but now it is planted in Jestha. Fields used to be sown in Ashar, but now it\u0026rsquo;s done in Shrawan.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Such adjustments highlight both the flexibility and the limits of local adaptation, as households struggle under increasingly unpredictable conditions.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOverall, declining precipitation, degraded soils, and disrupted cropping cycles undermine agricultural viability and deepen inequalities, disproportionately for households with fewer assets in sustaining production and securing water.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003ePlains Zone (Wards 10\u0026ndash;12): Flood Risk and River Dynamics\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe plains face a dual burden distinct from the hills and mountains: monsoon flooding and water scarcity in the dry season. Farmers described how rising waters disrupt agricultural cycles: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eDuring the monsoon, it gets worse, \u0026hellip;. It starts around Chaitra\u0026ndash;Baisakh (spring), just when we plant maize. Yes, Asar and Shrawan are the worst.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e River dynamics have become increasingly unpredictable, with significant land loss due to shifting river courses. As one farmer explained, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;There are about 4 to 5 households here now, and we cannot produce as we used to\u0026hellip; the river has taken much of our land.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePost-earthquake changes and other hazards have compounded vulnerabilities. Seismic shifts have dried traditional water sources, leaving households with no tap water: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThere is a tap in every house, but there is no water. After the earthquake, the water sources have dried up\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo; Landslides repeatedly destroy crops, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eLandslides often destroy what we plant after so much hard work\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo; while extreme rainfall events devastate both homes and harvests: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eDuring the huge rain that continued for 72 hours, it destroyed the products\u0026hellip; it made our houses muddy\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThese dynamics illustrate how the plains zone is caught between too much and too little water, creating precarious livelihood highly sensitive to seasonal extremes and sudden shocks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eMigration-Driven Labour Transitions and Gendered Vulnerability\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWidespread male out-migration has reshaped household adaptation across all elevation zones, intensifying women\u0026rsquo;s labour and disrupting traditional knowledge transmission. This has led to feminisation of agricultural and environmental work, though the extent and form of this shift vary by elevation.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the hill zone, where migration rates are highest and climate stress most severe, women have assumed nearly all agricultural and environmental responsibilities. As one woman whose husband migrated explained: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;When I was left alone, I had to do all the work myself. I took care of the livestock and looked after the children too.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Another woman reflected on the multiple pressures of managing both farming and care work: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;When he left \u0026hellip;, everything was on me: fields, children, elderly parents[...]. Somehow, I have managed but it is not easy like before [\u0026hellip;].\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWater scarcity has expanded women\u0026rsquo;s labour beyond cultivation to new forms of environmental management, including household water rationing systems: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;We have to turn off the water at night. [\u0026hellip;] it is reopened around 6 to 7 a.m. the next morning. [..], and then everyone takes turns to collect water.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Women now manage collection, allocation and conservation, often walking long distances to dwindling sources.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the plains, women face episodic but intense adaptation demands as flooding destroys crops and damages homes. \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eDuring the huge rain that continued for 72 hours, it destroyed the products\u0026hellip; it made our houses muddy\u003c/em\u003e,\u0026rdquo; one woman said. Their routines reflect a dual burden of care work and climate response: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eI wake up at 7 a.m., look after the animals, cook, and send my children to school.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAcross zones, women have initiated livelihood diversification strategies. In the water-stressed hills, some supplement incomes through handicrafts: \u003cem\u003e\u0026quot;I also make woven bamboo baskets[..] we make it for them and sell them.\u0026quot;\u003c/em\u003e Others have joined collective resource management systems, such as the medicinal herbs group that \u0026quot;\u003cem\u003eprovided a buffalo worth 1,20,000 rupees\u0026quot;\u003c/em\u003e with rotational management among members.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYet these diversification efforts remain constrained by the same climate stressors driving migration. Crop failures force reliance on agricultural inputs that were previously unnecessary: \u003cem\u003e\u0026quot;We have to use pesticides, too. Without them, what can we eat?\u0026quot;\u003c/em\u003e The result is often intensified labour without proportional increases in security or authority.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the mountainous zone, adaptation unfolds within both ecological constraints and socio-cultural contexts. Tamang households, predominant in these areas, often display relatively flexible gender roles allowing collective labour mobilisation. As one respondent explained, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;When my husband is at home, he does most of it. We don\u0026rsquo;t have strict work divisions; whoever can, does it.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Another respondent from Ward 2 reflected, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;We work collectively.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e This flexibility provides an adaptive advantage during water shortages, allowing men and women alike to share tasks such as water collection and adjusting agricultural routines.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eKnowledge System Fragmentation and Gendered Expertise\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWith many working-age men departing for Kathmandu, India, or the Gulf, traditional agricultural and environmental practices once transmitted between men in village communities have been fractured. One focus group participant summarised the demographic reality starkly: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;It is just women and old people here now, trying to survive the weather\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/em\u003e This exodus reflects both economic necessity and climate-related livelihood decline: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;If they stay in the village, there\u0026rsquo;s hardly any income at all. \u0026hellip; if they don\u0026rsquo;t earn anything, how can they support themselves and their families?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe result is not only a loss of labour but also the disruption of intergenerational systems of knowledge transfer. Agricultural techniques, water management practices and collective coping strategies that were once passed between men are now fractured as younger generations migrate. As one farmer noted, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThe younger generation has all moved [..] there\u0026rsquo;s no one to manage it here\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWomen have taken on primary agricultural and environmental responsibilities yet often lack the technical training and institutional support that men previously accessed. This gap is most evident in Brahmin and Chhetri hill communities, where women perform the labour but are seldom recognised as decision makers. In contrast, more flexible gender norms among Tamang households allow knowledge to be shared more collectively. These uneven knowledge pathways leave many women uncertain about key tasks, such as pest management, reflected in comments like, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eHere we do grow potatoes, but it gets insects easily, \u0026hellip; How do we use the pesticides, are we supposed to spray in the plant or in the soil? We are not knowledgeable about these things.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAlso, women are developing new climate knowledge through daily adaptation, closely tracking water availability, soil conditions, and crop timing. Yet this embodied expertise remains unrecognised because extension services and training continue to be oriented primarily toward men. As one Dalit woman explained, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eOnly men from the tole go to trainings. They do not think women can do farming better\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo; Others described being excluded through inaccessible language: \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThey called us for a meeting but talked in difficult words. I did not understand, so I just signed and came back\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo;. The result is a gendered knowledge divide shaped not by capacity but by structural exclusion.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOur findings show clear differences in how men and women interpret environmental change, shaped not by awareness gaps but by unequal access to information. Men often describe climate impacts technically, linking rainfall variability, soil degradation, and crop diseases to broader climate processes. Their participation in community meetings and exposure to extension programs reinforces this vocabulary. As one man noted, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThe environment we had when I was in my teens is not the environment today. It is called climate change. [\u0026hellip;] They (farmers) need to opt for other cropping that is congruent to the changes.\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn contrast, women, often excluded from formal knowledge spaces, draw instead on embodied, experiential or spiritual interpretations. Their accounts emphasise observed shifts in soil, water and seasons, sometimes framed through cultural or religious reasoning. One woman explained, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eWe have been taking the Gods for granted. We are the main perpetrators. We keep asking for more. [\u0026hellip;] This is happening because the Gods are angry with us.\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo;. A few elderly men expressed similar views, suggesting that generational position also shapes interpretive frameworks.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThese contrasts do not indicate weaker understanding among women. Rather, reflects how structural exclusion channels men and women into different knowledge systems. Men\u0026rsquo;s technical framings are validated in institutional spaces, while women\u0026rsquo;s lived expertise in daily engagement with water, soil, and crops remains unrecognised. The reinforces gendered knowledge divide produced by unequal access to information, not by differences in capability, systematically devaluing women\u0026rsquo;s perspectives in adaptation planning.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eRemittances and Household Resilience\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale outmigration is most pronounced in the hill zone, although it occurs across all elevations. These movements are strongly shaped by caste and ethnic positionality, which influence both migration destinations and the stability of earnings. Brahmin and Chhetri households more often migrate to the United States, the United Kingdom, or Europe, while Tamang migrants often target countries like Japan or Korea. The most marginalised groups, including many Dalit and land-poor households, tend to migrate to the Gulf states under more precarious conditions. These differentiated destinations contribute to unequal remittance flows, with long-term implications for household resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMigration removes labour, knowledge, and social capital from areas already stressed by climate change. As one respondent noted, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eIf they stay in the village there is hardly any income at all\u0026hellip; if they don\u0026rsquo;t earn anything, how can they support themselves and their families?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e At the same time, remittances provide essential financial support for coping with agricultural decline. As a woman explained, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eEven if you rely solely on agriculture, famine will still occur nowadays\u0026hellip; but now, since people have gone abroad and send money, we are able to buy food.\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo; These transfers help households purchase water during droughts, invest in alternative livelihoods and recover from losses, although reduced local labour continues to weaken longer-term adaptive capacity. However, remittances cannot substitute for local labour and knowledge systems. Women managing households independently face immediate challenges that money cannot resolve: \u003cem\u003e\u0026quot;He sends money, yes. But when the roof leaks or the buffalo gets sick, I have to fix it all by myself. There is no one else.\u0026quot;\u003c/em\u003e The combination of financial resources with absent labour creates new forms of household vulnerability that the people who stay behind must navigate.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe evidence demonstrates that demographic transition and climate change reshape household adaptation in zone-specific ways. While remittances provide financial support for adaptation, the feminisation of environmental management occurs without corresponding increases in women\u0026apos;s authority, recognition, or institutional support. This mismatch between responsibility and empowerment is a key dimension of climate vulnerability consistently disadvantaging women across elevations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eInstitutional Exclusion and Intersectional Marginality\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eZone-specific Exclusion Mechanisms\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInstitutional access to climate resources varies sharply across Indrawati\u0026rsquo;s elevation zones, with women and marginalised groups facing systematic barriers shaped by structural inequalities and localised practices of exclusion. While the forms of exclusion differ across the mountains, hills, and plains, they converge in reinforcing the marginalisation of those most exposed to climate risks.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the mountainous zone, institutional barriers linked to citizenship and legal identity are major concerns. Women who migrate after marriage often lack citizenship or household registration in their new ward, which prevents their enrolment in government programmes or accessing training that requires local registration. As one respondent from Ward 3 asked, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;, If a woman moves from one place to another, [\u0026hellip;] How many years does she have to survive without citizenship while giving birth to children?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e. Exclusion persists within local governance spaces: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;Even if we attend meetings, our words do not count. Decisions are already made.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e. In addition, remote settlements receive limited attention from ward offices and NGOs, while transportation costs make accessing markets and services prohibitively expensive.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the hill zone, exclusion stems from more politicised resource allocation rather than documentation issues. Respondents described entire communities being marginalised when government support was distributed through party networks, with benefits channelled to political affiliates rather than to those most in need. One woman explained, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;They don\u0026rsquo;t provide anything. [\u0026hellip;] they only provide benefits to their own people.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Another added, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;The political parties just work for their own people\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe plains zone highlights yet another form of exclusion, rooted in information access. Adaptation programs\u0026apos; official announcements are frequently posted on Facebook, inaccessible to many households. As one respondent noted, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;They do issue notices, but they post them on Facebook. Not everyone has access to it, so only those who are informed end up participating.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Others rely on informal word-of-mouth networks that fail to reach everyone: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;We get to know about it through people who share the information [\u0026hellip;]. However, not everyone receives this information.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e The result is a highly uneven uptake of resources, with better-connected households benefiting disproportionately.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInstitutional barriers differ by zone yet are united in their effects: women and marginalised groups remain structurally excluded from adaptation resources. Whether through lack of legal recognition in the mountains, political capture in the hills, or information gaps in the plains, access is mediated not only by geography but also by gender, caste, and social position.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eIntersecting Marginalities and Compound Exclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe intersection of social identities creates layered exclusions that heighten climate vulnerability. In the plains, flooding exposure combines with long-standing social and economic marginalisation to produce acute risk. Danuwar and Majhi households in Wards 11 and 12 farm and fish along riverbanks, directly exposed to the monsoon floods with limited resources to protect land or recover from losses. As one Majhi woman noted, \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThe biggest loss was during the earthquake. Recently it hasn\u0026rsquo;t been that bad, except for farmland losses\u0026hellip; That is why we moved down here\u003c/em\u003e.\u0026rdquo; Dalit families, often landless in the most flood-prone areas, face even greater exposure, lacking savings, insurance, or social networks to recover.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCaste-based exclusion reinforces vulnerabilities by limiting access to adaptation programs. Respondents described how benefits meant for marginalised groups were often diverted to more powerful households. One Danuwar woman explained, \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;Other organisations have also brought job opportunities prioritising the Danuwar community, but some other caste people got it.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Dalit women face steep barriers, with few programs targeting their needs: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;This was the only program for Danuwar and Majhi community to control child marriage. I am not aware about other programs specifically targeting us.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e The intersection of caste and gender leaves these women marginalised, bearing the brunt of climate impacts while being systematically excluded from institutional support.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEconomic barriers cut across all these categories, amplifying the effects of caste, gender, and age-based exclusions. Loan systems are often exploitative, as one respondent from Ward 11 noted: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;they shouldn\u0026rsquo;t charge more than 7 percent interest in agriculture. But they take advantage and charge four times more.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e Households without migrant members are particularly disadvantaged, lacking remittance income to buffer local earnings. Without capital or access to affordable credit, they cannot invest in livestock or diversify livelihoods: \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;people don\u0026rsquo;t have money. If they did, they could raise livestock. But everything needs investment\u0026mdash;raising buffalo, pigs, everything requires money.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e This financial exclusion locks the poorest households into cycles where climate shocks deepen poverty, which in turn reduces adaptive capacity.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eClimate vulnerability in the plains is not just geographic; it is the intersection of caste-based exclusion, gendered responsibilities, aging demographics, and financial precarity, producing layers of marginalisation. For Dalit and riverbank communities, vulnerability stems from the absence of secure land, resources, and institutional recognition needed to recover and adapt.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion: Mechanisms of Differentiated Climate Vulnerability","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOur elevation-zone intersectional analysis shows that climate vulnerability arises not from environmental exposure alone but from the interaction between topography and intersecting social hierarchies. The three mechanisms identified \u0026ndash; topographic mediation of climate risk, migration-driven labour transitions, and institutional exclusion \u0026ndash; explain why universal adaptation measures routinely fail to address differentiated vulnerability. Together, they highlight how elevation shapes the specific pathways through which gender, caste and migration status translate into climate risk.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eTopographic Mediation of Intersectional Climate Vulnerability\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eClimate stressors manifest differently across elevation zones because topography structures distinct livelihood systems and social relations, meaning that the same intersecting identities produce different vulnerability pathways. In the mountains, water scarcity interacts with flexible gender norms and geographic isolation, resulting in collective household responses but limited institutional recognition for women\u0026rsquo;s increased responsibilities. In the hills, water shortages combine with soil degradation, erratic rainfall and Brahmin/Chhetri gender norms, producing a sharp mismatch between women\u0026rsquo;s full agricultural responsibility and their restricted access to authority and technical support. In the plains, flooding risk intersects with caste-based exclusion, with Dalit and marginalised households facing vulnerability shaped less by exposure alone than by systematic isolation from resources and viable alternatives.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThis topographic mediation challenges existing intersectional climate research that tends to treat place as contextual background (Kaijser \u0026amp; Kronsell, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Resurrecci\u0026oacute;n et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Our framework demonstrates that elevation zones function as distinct socio-ecological contexts that fundamentally structure how intersecting identities are activated and experienced. The policy implication is significant: climate interventions must move beyond demographic targeting (\u0026ldquo;rural women,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;mountain communities\u0026rdquo;) toward understanding how specific topographic contexts create distinct intersectional vulnerability patterns (Rao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eKnowledge Systems Fragmentation under Demographic Transition\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMale out-migration has created a critical disjuncture between climate knowledge systems and climate management responsibilities that varies systematically across elevation zones. This fragmentation extends feminist climate scholarship (Sultana, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Arora-Jonsson, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) by demonstrating how demographic transitions interact with topographic contexts to restructure knowledge systems in zone-specific ways that compound gendered exclusion.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the hill zone, high migration and intensifying environmental stress have fractured traditional knowledge transfer, leaving women responsible for most agricultural decisions without the technical training or institutional support. This creates a persistent gap between responsibility and authority that limits effective adaptation. Although women across all zones have developed practice-based climate knowledge through their daily management of soil, water and crops, this expertise remains undervalued because formal institutions privilege technical and male-mediated information channels. This mismatch reflects a broader pattern in which women\u0026rsquo;s experiential knowledge is systematically excluded from climate decision-making (Redicker et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e; Rao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the mountainous zone, Tamang households\u0026rsquo; flexible gender norms enable women to share agricultural decision-making, yet geographic isolation limits both men\u0026rsquo;s and women\u0026rsquo;s access to external technical knowledge. Here, knowledge fragmentation stems less from gendered exclusion and more from institutional neglect of remote communities. This analysis reveals how demographic transitions interact with existing gender hierarchies and topographic contexts to create zone-specific knowledge gaps. The insight that women\u0026apos;s environmental knowledge is systematically devalued must be extended to understand how migration and elevation mediate these devaluation across space. Climate adaptation interventions that fail to recognise and integrate women\u0026apos;s embodied knowledge while providing them with technical support perpetuate maladaptive institutional responses (Khadka et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eInstitutional Maladaptation Through Intersectional Exclusion\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eClimate institutions across elevation zones systematically exclude those most responsible for managing climate risks, but exclusion mechanisms vary in ways that reflect how topographic contexts interact with intersecting social hierarchies. This finding contributes to climate justice literature (Sultana, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Mikulewicz et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) by demonstrating how geographic contexts shape intersectional exclusion in climate governance.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAcross elevation zones, exclusion operates through different mechanisms, showing that climate adaptation institutions are poorly aligned with local social and geographic realities. In the mountains, legal-bureaucratic barriers and geographic isolation reveal that adaptation programmes assume stable residency and easy administrative access, leaving mobile or marginalised households structurally invisible. In the hills, political capture and outdated assumptions about male household heads expose how adaptation support is filtered through party networks and demographic blind spots rather than actual risk or responsibility. In the plains, caste-based discrimination and information gaps show that even when programmes exist, unequal access to information and resources reproduces vulnerability.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThese zone-specific exclusion mechanisms reveal a critical insight: intersectional exclusion in climate governance is not uniform but operates through different institutional pathways that reflect local social hierarchies and environmental contexts. Women in the mountains face different barriers than women in the hills or plains, requiring distinct institutional innovations rather than universal inclusion strategies.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe broader implication challenges current climate adaptation programming that assumes uniform institutional solutions can address intersectional vulnerability (Rao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Instead, our analysis suggests that effective climate governance must be designed around understanding how specific combinations of environmental contexts and social hierarchies create distinct exclusion patterns that require differentiated institutional responses.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study develops an elevation-zone intersectional framework that demonstrates how topography shapes the relationship between social identities and climate vulnerability. Comparative analysis across Nepal\u0026rsquo;s mountainous, hill and plain zones shows that vulnerability emerges not from exposure or marginalisation alone, but from how environmental conditions interact with gender, caste, migration and institutional access.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur findings make three key contributions. First, we show that geography is not a passive backdrop but a constitutive force that alters how intersecting identities translate into risk. The same social positions generate different vulnerabilities across elevation zones because they operate through distinct environmental mechanisms of water scarcity, soil degradation or flooding. Second, demographic transitions, particularly male out-migration, disrupt knowledge transmission in zone-specific ways, creating gaps between women\u0026rsquo;s expanding responsibilities and their access to information or support. Third, institutional exclusion also varies by elevation, with legal barriers in the mountains, political capture in the hills, and caste- and information-based exclusion in the plains, underscoring the need for differentiated rather than uniform adaptation responses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese findings challenge approaches that aggregate social categories without considering how environmental gradients activate exclusion differently. Current interventions often fail because they apply generic frameworks that overlook how place shapes the operation of social hierarchies. The framework also has broader relevance for contexts where sharp ecological variation produces distinct socio-environmental niches within small geographic areas.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond Nepal, the framework provides a transferable method for analysing how environmental gradients mediate intersectional processes in other contexts with strong ecological variation. Future research should explore how different gradients, such as coastal-inland or urban-rural divides, shape vulnerability, and how these patterns evolve over time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore broadly, the study underscores that climate resilience requires understanding how environmental and social systems interact. Vulnerability is neither uniform nor fixed but produced through specific configurations of environmental contexts and social hierarchies. Making these interactions visible is essential for more equitable and effective climate adaptation.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec25\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eDisclosure statement\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ch2\u003eEthics approval\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e Ethical approval from the University of Exeter Geography Ethics Committee (Reference: 3570732). Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection, ensuring voluntary participation, confidentiality, and the right to withdraw at any time. The research was conducted in accordance with established ethical guidelines for studies involving human participants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis work was supported by the Successful Intervention Pathways for Migration as Adaptation (SUCCESS) project (Project no. 110007-003), as part of Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) research programme, funded by UK aid from the UK government and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eCRediT: Sony K.C.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing- original draft; Ankur Koirala: Investigation, Methodology, Data curation, Writing- review and editing; Simran Silpakar: Writing- review and editing; Sarah Redicker: Writing- review and editing.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAdhikari J, Hobley M (2015) Everyone is leaving. Who will sow our fields? The livelihood effects on women of male migration from Khotang and Udaypur districts, Nepal, to the Gulf countries and Malaysia. Himalaya 35(1):7\u0026ndash;19\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAsian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) (2023) Gender inclusive climate resilient agriculture in Nepal: A review of policies and practices. ADPC\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAmadio M, Behrer AP, Bosch L, Kaila HK, Krishnan N, Molinario G (2023) Climate risks, exposure, vulnerability and resilience in Nepal. World Bank\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArora-Jonsson S (2011) Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate change. Glob Environ Change 21(2):744\u0026ndash;751\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCollins PH (2019) Intersectionality as critical social theory. Duke University Press\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCrenshaw K (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex. Univ Chic Legal Forum 1(8):139\u0026ndash;167\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDavis K, Drey N, Gould D (2009) What are scoping studies? A review of the nursing literature. Int J Nurs Stud 46(7):1386\u0026ndash;1400\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEakin H, Luers AL (2006) Assessing the vulnerability of social\u0026ndash;environmental systems. Annu Rev Environ Resour 31:365\u0026ndash;394\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEckstein D, Hutfils M-L, Winges M (2019) Global climate risk index 2019. Germanwatch\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eElmhirst R (2011) Introducing new feminist political ecologies. Geoforum 42(2):129\u0026ndash;132\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGentle P, Maraseni TN (2012) Climate change, poverty and livelihoods: Adaptation practices by rural mountain communities in Nepal. Environ Sci Policy 21:24\u0026ndash;34\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGioli G, Thapa G, Khan F, Dasgupta P, Nathan D, Chhetri N, Adhikari L, Mohanty SK, Aurino E, Scott M, L (2019) Understanding and tackling poverty and vulnerability in mountain livelihoods in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. In: Wester P, Mishra A, Mukherji A, Shrestha AB (eds) The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment. Springer, pp 421\u0026ndash;455\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodrich CG, Mehta M, Bisht S (2017) \u003cem\u003eStatus of gender, vulnerabilities and adaptation to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Impacts and implications for livelihoods, and sustainable mountain development\u003c/em\u003e (Working Paper 2017/3)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodrich CG, Prakash A, Udas PB (2019a) Gendered vulnerability and adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Research insights. Environ Dev 31:1\u0026ndash;8\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodrich CG, Udas PB, Prakash A (2019b) Conceptualising gendered vulnerability to climate change: Contextual conditions and drivers of change. Environ Dev 31:9\u0026ndash;18\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGoodrich CG, Hussain A, Pasakhala B, Bano K, Bhuchar S, Chitale VS, Bisht S, Bastola A, Silpakar S (2022) State of gender equality and climate change in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya. ICIMOD\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKrishnan R, Shrestha AB, Ren G, Rajbhandari R, Saeed S, Sanjay J, Ren Y (2019) Unravelling climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: rapid warming in the mountains and increasing extremes. The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains, climate change, sustainability and people. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 57\u0026ndash;97\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKaijser A, Kronsell A (2014) Climate change through the lens of intersectionality. Environ Politics 23(3):417\u0026ndash;433\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKC S, Upreti BR, Subedi BP (2016) We know the taste of sugar because of cardamom production: Links among commercial cardamom farming, women\u0026rsquo;s involvement in production and the feminisation of poverty. J Int Women\u0026rsquo;s Stud 18(2):181\u0026ndash;207\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKekeya J (2016) Analysing qualitative data using an iterative process. Contemp PNG Stud 24:86\u0026ndash;94\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKhadka C, Upadhyaya A, Edwards-Jon\u0026aacute;šov\u0026aacute; M, Dhungana N, Baral S (2022) Differential impact analysis for climate change adaptation: A case study from Nepal. Sustainability, \u003cem\u003e14\u003c/em\u003e(16), Article 9825.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMaharjan A, Kochhar I, Chitale VS, Hussain A, Gioli G (2020) Understanding rural outmigration and agricultural land use change in the Gandaki Basin, Nepal. Appl Geogr 124:102278\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMall RK, Srivastava RK, Banerjee T, Mishra OP, Bhatt D, Sonkar G (2019) Disaster risk reduction including climate change adaptation over South Asia: Challenges and ways forward. Int J Disaster Risk Sci 10(1):14\u0026ndash;27\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMikulewicz M, Caretta MA, Sultana F, Crawford JWN (2023) Intersectionality and climate justice: A call for synergy in climate change scholarship. Environ Politics 32(7):1275\u0026ndash;1286\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMishra A, Appadurai AN, Choudhury D, Regmi BR, Kelkar U, Alam M, Sharma U (2019) Adaptation to climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Stronger action urgently needed. The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains, climate change, sustainability and people. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 457\u0026ndash;490\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNightingale AJ (2011) Bounding difference: Intersectionality and the material production of gender, caste, class and environment in Nepal. Geoforum 42(2):153\u0026ndash;162\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNonoguchi A (2012) \u003cem\u003eGender and climate change in Nepal\u003c/em\u003e (Doctoral dissertation). Pennsylvania State University\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaudel GP, Nguyen TT, Grote U (2025) Trade-offs between labour migration and agricultural productivity: Evidence from smallholder wheat systems in Nepal. J Int Dev 37(1):202\u0026ndash;229\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePradhan MS, Rai-Paudyal B, Rai A, Bai Y, Hengsuwan P, Bun P, Yongzom D (2021) Exploring the role of gender equality in addressing climate change, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and food security. In: Thapa B, Fu C, Zhang L (eds) Gender equality and sustainable development in the mountain areas of Asia. LI-BIRD\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePross C, Han JYC, Kim D, Vigil S (2020) Climate change, gender equality and human rights in Asia: Regional review and promising practices. UN Women\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRaj R, Ravula PCM, Bhanjdeo A, Sogani R, Rao N (2025) Male migration and the transformation of gendered agricultural work: A comparative exploration of heterogeneity across selected Indian states. Gend Place Cult, 1\u0026ndash;27\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRao N, Lawson ET, Raditloaneng WN, Solomon D, Angula MN (2019) Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change: Insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Climate Dev 11(1):14\u0026ndash;26\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRedicker S, Gavonel MF, Adger WN, De Campos RS, Abu M, Boly S, Owuor J (2025) Gender dimensions of adaptive capacity and adaptation responses to climate shocks in rural households: Ghana, Mali, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Environ Res Lett 20(9):094017\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eResurrecci\u0026oacute;n BP, Goodrich CG, Song Y, Bastola A, Prakash A, Joshi D, Shah SA (2019) In the shadows of the Himalayan mountains: Persistent gender and social exclusion in development. In: Wester P, Mishra A, Mukherji A, Shrestha AB (eds) The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment. Springer, pp 491\u0026ndash;516\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSharma D, Barron A (2021) Life histories. In: Barron A, Browne AL, Ehgartner U, Hall SM, Pottinger L, Ritson J (eds) Methods for change: Impactful social science methodologies for 21st century problems. University of Manchester\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSultana F (2022) Critical climate justice. Geographical J 188(1):118\u0026ndash;124\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSunam RK, McCarthy JF (2015) Reconsidering the links between poverty, international labour migration and agrarian change: Critical insights from Nepal. J Peasant Stud 43(1):39\u0026ndash;63\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTamang S, Paudel KP, Shrestha KK (2024) Feminisation of agriculture and its implications for food security in rural Nepal. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Forest and Livelihood, 12\u003c/em\u003e(1), Article 13\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTuladhar R, Sapkota C, Adhikari N (2014) Effects of migration and remittance income on Nepal\u0026rsquo;s agriculture yield. Asian Development Bank\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTurner BL, Kasperson RE, Matson PA, McCarthy JJ, Corell RW, Christensen L et al (2003) A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. \u003cem\u003eProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100\u003c/em\u003e(14), 8074\u0026ndash;8079\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eValenta M (2022) The drivers and trajectories of Nepalese multiple migrations to the Arab Gulf. South Asian Diaspora 14(1):21\u0026ndash;37\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWester P, Mishra A, Mukherji A, Shrestha AB (eds) (2019) The Hindu Kush Himalaya assessment: Mountains, climate change, sustainability and people. Springer Nature\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWorld Bank (2025) \u003cem\u003ePersonal remittances received (% of GDP)\u003c/em\u003e. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"climate vulnerability, elevation zones, migration, intersectionality, Nepal","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9552537/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9552537/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper develops an elevation-zone intersectional framework to show how place-based variation shapes climate vulnerability in rural Nepal. Although vulnerability arises from intersecting identities, studies rarely examine how local differences mediate these dynamics. Using 15 life histories, five focus group discussions, and community mapping across mountainous, hill, and plain zones in Indrawati Rural Municipality, we show that the same intersections of gender, caste, and migration status generate distinct vulnerability patterns.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThree mechanisms emerge. First, climate stressors take different socio-ecological forms: water scarcity intersects with Tamang cultural norms in the mountains; soil degradation combines with high male out-migration in the hills; and flooding amplifies Dalit exclusion in the plains. Second, demographic transitions fragment knowledge systems differently across zones, creating elevation-specific patterns of gendered exclusion from technical information, while women\u0026rsquo;s embodied climate expertise remains undervalued. Third, institutional exclusion operates through varied mechanisms, including legal barriers in the mountains, political capture in the hills, and information gaps in the plains, which require differentiated policy responses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe findings challenge adaptation approaches that use uniform interventions across diverse contexts. By showing how topographic variation shapes intersectional vulnerability, the framework underscores the need for place-based climate policy and provides a transferable approach for other mountain regions.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Vulnerabilities Amidst Climate Change: An Intersectional Analysis of Climate Impacts Across Elevation Zones in Rural Nepal","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-14 12:30:10","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9552537/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"332c5df1-1eab-44d7-baf7-bdf68fd4eebe","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 14th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"2968786336034683744095148591166381106","date":"2026-05-11T10:11:30+00:00","index":13,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"6","date":"2026-05-05T22:37:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-05-05T09:06:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-29T16:19:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-14T12:30:10+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-14 12:30:10","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9552537","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9552537","identity":"rs-9552537","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}