session 5.6 transforming land & livelihoods: agriculture land abandonment in the mid hills of...
TRANSCRIPT
Transforming land & livelihoods: Agriculture land abandonment in the mid hills of Nepal
Krishna P. Paudel, Forestaction, Nepal Sujata Tamang, Forestaction Nepal
Krishna K. Shrestha, UNSW, AustraliaRacchya Shah, IUCN Nepal
World Congress on Agroforesrty10 – 13 Feb, 2014, New Delhi, India
Trees for Life: Accelerating the impact of Agroforestry
Outline …
• Context
• Aims & methods
• Key findings
• Some preliminary
Insights
Context …
NEPAL IS EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED CHANGES …
• Economic globalisation & market enforcement - socio-economics changes
• Society – more urbanised, monitised & commercialised
• ‘Green revolution’ based agriculture- inappropriate in mountain terrain
• Farm labour - male out-migration, increased responsibility for women in agriculture
• Changing agro-based living
Land under-utilisation & abandonment in Nepal
Aims
• To identify the state and status of abandoned or underutilized agricultural land in the middle hills region of Nepal
• To analyze the causes and consequences of land under-utilisation
• To generate some insights to improve policy & practice
Methods
• Using qualitative & quantitative methods of inquiry – Case study of 5 mid-hill districts
– Literature review
– Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA),
– Interviews
– Small group interactions
– Household survey
Key findings …
17.928.3
36.8
18.8
22.7
26.8
33.3
14.3
Kabhre (Chaubas,Daraune
pokhari)
Lamjung (Nalma) Parbat (Aarthar) Pyuthan (Khalanga and Maranthana)
Abandoned agriculture land and migration
abanded land Migration trends
• Increasing trends of land abandonment and under-utilisation
• Proportional relationship between land abandonment and out-migration
• Serious shortage of productive labour and feminization leading to under-utilisation of mostly productive land
Trends & extent of land abandonment
0
10
20
30
40
50
1992 2002 2007 2012
Per
cen
tage
Trends
low land33%
Mid land23%
Up land44%
Alarming trends–reaching up to 40%
All ecological belts of Nepalese mid-hills
Land abandonment by wealth category
Wealth category %
Rich 17.7
Middle 16
Poor 49
Very poor 17.03
Poor: mainly share cropper abandoning the agriculture land: The issue is why so?
CAUSES of land
abandonment
Socio-economic - Out-migration (urban and aboard mainly Male)- Decreased household income from agriculture
Technology - Low return of investment - Low productivity - Inappropriate agriculture technology
Culture- Changing food habit- Agriculture perceived as low profession
Bio-physical Distant/ scattered , inaccessible marginal land wildlife damage
SERIOUS SOCIAL & ENVIONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES …
SOCIAL: Loss of agro-based livelihoods: food,
income, employment etc.
Loss of social connection to land
Loss of community cohesion through out-migration
Reduced local food production
Increased food insecurity and malnutrition in rural areas, etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL:• Disruption in the active management of
mountain ecosystem, leading to increased environmental vulnerability
• Reduced agro-biodiversity etc.
Some key insights …
• We have ‘a paradox’ for scholars, policy makers and practitioners as to why productive land is left unutilised/ underutilised in a country that has rampant poverty
• Of course it’s a major problem, but it offers some opportunities: – Loss of productivity of mountain agriculture system, but this can be seen as an
opportunity to transform subsistence based practices to entrepreneurial agriculture in the rural hills which has strong potential to contribute to poverty alleviation outcomes
– Fresh opportunity for re-imagining a land tenurial system that can lead to a more equitable land distribution mechanisms that have real impacts on food security
• It’s a NEW problem - a key challenge is how to develop a credible science that can have impacts on land use planning & policies of Nepal that is undergoing a rapid and complex socio-political transition
Thank you