Labor migration triggered by COVID-19 and its impact on climate change adaptation of producers in Sunsari district, Nepal

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many temporary labor workers who were employed in foreign countries lost their jobs and had to return to their homeland. These skilled laborers are involved in daily household tasks and farming decision-making processes. This study investigates the role of labor migrants who returned to their households due to COVID-19 on the climate change adaptation of farmers. The migrant laborers are relatively better educated, willing to adopt modern technology, and receive training. An ordered logistic regression was used to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on household’s access to institutional factors (Extension services, subsidies, and internet) as well as other relevant explanatory variables on the farmer’s adoption of climate change adaptation practices. 443 smallholder farmers were selected from Sunsari district based on convenience, Nepal for a face-to-face interview. The results indicated migrant labor’s return to households had an effect on the climate change adaptation of farmers. With the impact of COVID on labor migration being temporary, the migrant laborers are expected to return to their jobs overseas, it is expected that it may result in a potential negative impact on the local climate change adaptation of farmers. Since institutional factors (Extension, subsidy, and internet) have a positive impact on adaptation it could be used to complement the gap created by returning migrant laborers. An increase in an additional unit of access to Extension and subsidy decreased the likelihood of low-intensity climate change adaptation strategies (i.e., one or two practices adopted) whereas access increased the likelihood of adopting high intensity climate change adaptation strategies (i.e., three, four or five practices adopted). Specifically, increasing access to Extensions and subsidies should be greatly beneficial for rice producers in the Sunsari district. Among the three institutional factors, access to Extension should be prioritized over access to subsidy because of its greater impact on the adoption of climate change adaptation practices.