Dr Narayan Gyawali: Distinguished Expert on M&E and Research on Flood Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Smart Agriculture

Dr. Narayan Gyawali, a highly accomplished scholar and resilience expert, holds a PhD degree from Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Rampur, Chitwan Nepal. His doctoral research delved into the intricacies of flood resilience measurement and community actions in the Narayani river basin, Nepal. He further enriched his academic background with a master’s degree in Development Evaluation and Management from Antwerp University, Belgium, and another master’s degree in Sociology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Additionally, he holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Tribhuvan University.

Dr. Gyawali’s expertise lies in flood resilience measurement, social capital, and local governance. His contributions to these fields have been instrumental in enhancing resilience-building strategies and empowering communities to better withstand and adapt to flood-related challenges.

Currently serving as the Nepal Program Director at Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Dr. Gyawali plays a pivotal role in ensuring the quality and effectiveness of all projects and programs under the country office in Nepal. He also spearheads LWR’s flagship regional project, the India-Nepal Transboundary Resilience (TBR) Program, funded by the Global Resilience Partnership’s Water Window Challenge and USAID.

Dr. Gyawali’s contributions extend beyond project management and research. He has developed the ‘Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (DMEL) framework for LWR’, a comprehensive approach to project implementation and evaluation. In collaboration with partners on the TBR program, he has successfully applied the Food Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC) tool to measure resilience across communities.

The TBR program, under Dr. Gyawali’s leadership, has empowered communities along the Nepal-India border to enhance their resilience to annual floods. The program also strengthens the capacity to document and influence policy at the national and regional level through collaborations with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). By adapting the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, the program seeks to identify the essential elements that communities require to effectively withstand floods.

With over 20 years of experience in participatory project design, implementation, monitoring assessment, and adaptive learning, Dr. Gyawali has established himself as a leading expert in resilience and resilience measurement, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), and agricultural entrepreneurship. Previously, he served as LWR’s Regional Technical Advisor for Monitoring & Evaluation for Asia and Middle East, providing M&E capacity-building support for LWR and partner staff. He has also held the position of executive director of a local social services organization and has managed close to 100 staff while coordinating projects with a wide range of public and private sector partners.