Session 5.6 Transforming land & livelihoods: Agriculture land abandonment in the mid hills of Nepal

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