Summary
Every morning, migrant laborers from rural Nepal go to work in carpet factories and brick kilns (seasonally) in the Kathmandu Valley. Many represent the latest generation of their families to make this migration journey. Many are children, earning money to support their families, who are back home or working alongside them. Agriculture is a primary source of livelihood in their home communities, which have suffered the effects of climate change, such as drought, pest infestations, flooding (including devastating floods in 2024), landslides, prolonged heat waves, and other severe climate impacts. The degree to which climate change has directly or indirectly contributed to the migrant workers’ decisions to work in these two high-risk sectors for child and forced labor has not been formally studied. This study aims to begin addressing that gap by investigating potential links between changing climate patterns and child labor and forced labor risk in Nepal’s carpet and brick sectors. It tells the stories of how these adult workers, children, and other vulnerable groups in their communities experience, cope with and adapt to climate change and the hardships that accompany it. Participants in this study come from eight rural districts: Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchok, Makwanpur, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Sarlahi, Rautahat, and Bara. These districts were purposively selected for this study as origin communities for child laborers and adult workers in Nepal’s carpet and brick industries which are concentrated in the Kathmandu Valley, and for their high exposure to climate change.