This study analyzes the factors influencing the
adoption of various adaptation practices by a hig... more This study analyzes the factors influencing the adoption of various adaptation practices by a highly marginalized indigenous community in the remote rural Mid- Hills of Nepal. The analysis is based on a household survey conducted among 221 Chepang households selected randomly. A multivariate probit model was used to analyze five categories of adaptation choices against a set of socio-economic, institutional, infrastructural, and perception variables. Perception of rainfall changes, size of landholding, status of land tenure, distance to motor road, access to productive credit, information, extension services, and skill development trainings are all influential to enable households to deviate away from traditional coping strategies and adopt suitable practices to adapt to climate vagaries. Policies and development activities should be geared to address these determinants in order to facilitate adaptation.
Nepal has a negligible share of global Green House Gases (GHGs) emission. However, amidst sluggis... more Nepal has a negligible share of global Green House Gases (GHGs) emission. However, amidst sluggish economic growth rate, the emission is increasing at significantly higher rate compared to its fast growing neighboring economies like China, India and Bangladesh. This higher growth rate of emission is mainly due to the constantly increasing use of fossil fuels, emission from livestock, and use of nitrogen fertilizer. Sector-wise emission shows that agriculture and forestry are two most important sectors contributing almost ninety percent of the total emissions. Hence, any mitigation effort in Nepal should consider these two sectors, which are also the most important sectors for poor people. Consequently, intervention in these sectors will help to build rural community's resilience to Climate Change (CC). Increase in temperature and variable rainfall pattern have a negative direct influence on water resources at the highest level followed by agriculture, forest, and health sectors of the country. Increased risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and higher variability in runoff will adversely affect livelihood assets. Crop loss due to flooding, inundation, landslide, and drought is a common phenomenon in Nepal causing reduced production of major crops. Nepal is experiencing depletion of forest land due to landslides, floods, water erosion, and forest fires. The spread of vector-borne disease in the new regions as a consequence of CC is the major challenge in the health sector. Being signatories of major international legislations related to CC, Nepal has a prospect to generate revenue through mitigation effort, which could be used to deal with adverse impact caused by CC. Alternative energy promotion, forest management, and agricultural practice are potential areas, which can generate revenue from carbon trading. All these prospective areas have multiple functions of mitigation, adaptation as well as economic empowerment of the vulnerable section of the population. Therefore, a proactive role of Nepal in international forum with adequate research and development to incorporate these aspects in international negotiations and capacity development of its own in the field is very crucial to deal with the adverse impacts of CC and meet its overarching goal of poverty reduction as well. In addition, further research on the impact of climate variables on agriculture based on the historical evidence as well as livelihood of rural poor based on the household level data is recommended.
Agriculture, being sector largely dependent on climate variables, will be adversely affected by c... more Agriculture, being sector largely dependent on climate variables, will be adversely affected by climate change. Therefore, this paper intends to assess how the recent trends of climate variables are affecting yields of major food crops in two hilly districts of Nepal namely, Makwanpur and Ilam based on district level data from 1978-2008. Trends of climate variables show that maximum and minimum temperature in summer as well as winter temperatures are increasing in Makwanpur, but in Ilam minimum temperature in both season shows declining trend. In case of rainfall, it is in increasing trend only during summer in Makwanpur. In all cases inter-annual variation of rainfall is very high. In contrast, crop yield shows some steady trends but in both directions; increase as well as decrease. For instance, except the yield of paddy and maize in Makwanpur, and maize and millet in Ilam all other food crops are in increasing trend. Among these food crops potato shows the highest rate of yield increase. Relating the trends of climate variables with yield of food crops shows that the current trend of minimum temperature has adversely affected yield of maize and paddy in Makwanpur, whereas in Ilam decreasing trend of rainfall has affected yield of paddy adversely. Despite the suppression of yield of these food crops by current trend of climate variables, most of these food crops overcame such suppression leading to the increase in overall yield. However, paddy, maize and millet are not able to overcome such suppression leading to decline in overall yield, thus requires special attention in order to cope with adverse effect of climate change in days to come.
In order to formulate any coping or adaptation strategies, first of all the communities facing cl... more In order to formulate any coping or adaptation strategies, first of all the communities facing climate change should perceive that the changes are indeed taking place. This paper analyzes how the Chepangs, one of the highly marginalized indigenous nationalities living in the remote Mid-Hills of Nepal, perceive climate change. The study is based on household survey conducted among randomly selected 221 Chepang households. The community responses are compared with the actual trends of temperature and rainfall recorded in the meteorological stations located near the study sites. A probit model is used to analyze the characteristics that differentiate the respondents who perceive the changes in line with the recorded data from those who do not. Nearly one-third of the respondents are able to perceive the changes in line with the recorded data, meanwhile there are still many respondents who do not perceive any changes at all. Access to information, and extension services (as indicated by ownership of radio and membership in groups) are the most important factors facilitating perceptions of both temperature and rainfall changes. Cultivation of cash crops also facilitates perceptions of rainfall significantly. On the other hand, formal education and engagement in non-farm income sources reduce the ability to perceive the climatic changes. It is worth noting that, in case of temperature, farming experience is not sufficient to perceive the ongoing changes. Priority must be placed on the dissemination of relevant information at the community level and updating the educational curriculum to include the issues related to climate change.
Climate change infl uences crop yield vis-à -vis crop production to a greater extent in countries ... more Climate change infl uences crop yield vis-à -vis crop production to a greater extent in countries like Nepal where agriculture depends largely on natural circumstances. Plausible scenarios of climate change like higher temperatures and changes in precipitation will directly affect crop yields. Therefore, this study assesses the effect of observed climate variables on yield of major food-crops in Nepal, namely rice, wheat, maize, millet, barley and potato based on regression model for historical (1978-2008) climatic data and yield data for the food-crops. The yield growth rate of all the food-crops is positive. However, the growth rate for all crops, except potato and wheat, is below population growth rate during the period. Climate variables like temperature and precipitation are the important determinants of crop yields. Trend of precipitation is neither increasing nor decreasing signifi cantly during this period. However, temperature is increasing by 0.7 °C during the period. Climate variables show some influences on the yield of these major food-crops in Nepal. Increase in summer rain and maximum temperature has contributed positively to rice yield. Also, increase in summer rain and minimum temperature has positive impact on potato yield. However, increase in summer rain and maximum temperature adversely affected the yield of maize and millet. Increase in wheat and barley yield is contributed by current trend of winter rain and temperature. Consideration of spatial variation in similar type of study in Nepal that will be helpful in identifying the region more vulnerable to climate change in terms of crop yield is highly recommended.
Rice is the most important staple food crop grown in Nepal. This study tries to analyze the produ... more Rice is the most important staple food crop grown in Nepal. This study tries to analyze the production situation and production efficiency of rice in different development regions of Nepal. In this study 480 farmers were selected randomly from 12 districts representing entire five development regions and surveyed using semi-structured questionnaire. This information was supplemented by the information obtained from group discussions, observations and other secondary sources. With average landholding of 1.6 ha/household, 64.6% of the respondents were growing rice under 1 ha of land on an average. Western Development Region dominated all other development regions in terms of average production, marketed amount and yield. The benefit-cost ratio of rice production was the highest in Central Development Region indicating the most efficient production practice in the country. This is mainly due to easy availability and judicious use of production inputs. The overall net profit was Rs 16,147 per ha. The most prominent production problems as perceived by the farmers are lack of technical know-how, lack of irrigation, lack of organized credit facilities, and lack of quality inputs at the time of need. These problems need to be addressed to improve the production situation and efficiency of rice production in the country.
The study reveals that 10.2% of the
sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic
food insecuri... more The study reveals that 10.2% of the sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic food insecurity, i.e., neither are they able to produce sufficient food from their farms nor earn the food security threshold income for deficit months. With the highest and the lowest exponential value of coefficient obtained from binary logistic regression model, it is concluded that any program targeting occupational caste and small landholding farm category or landless will contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. The provision of employment opportunities for economically active age group, thus, reducing dependency ratio from 1.2 (economically active population) to 0.7 (economically active age group) can also contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. Significant positive coefficient of family size squared shows the increase in the probability of being foodinsecure with the increase in family size. In addition, an increase in irrigation availability can contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. A significant proportion of male-headed households and households residing in Tarai are food-secure. This justifies the need to target female-headed households and households residing in Mountain and Hill in any program aimed at resolving food insecurity. A negative and significant association of household’s participation in community organizations and food insecurity fortifies the need for inclusion of vulnerable groups such as occupational caste, female-headed households, households with illiterate heads, small landholding farm category or landless, and households residing in Mountain and Hill (including some target communities in Tarai) in community organizations. Furthermore, making these communities a target of food security programs can help significantly to reduce the incidence of food insecurity.
This study was conducted with the objective of analysing the role of forest plant resources in th... more This study was conducted with the objective of analysing the role of forest plant resources in the food security of Chepangs, a highly marginalized indigenous nationality in Nepal. Shaktikhor Village Development Committee (VDC) in Chitwan district and Handikhola VDC in Makawanpur district were purposively selected as the study sites. A total of 120 households, 60 from each VDC were randomly selected for the purpose of household survey conducted using semi-structured interview structure. Relevant information was also collected through key informants' interview and group discussions. It was found that the average food self-sufficiency of the study community is 7.3 months, while 37.5% of the households are not able to meet the minimum daily calorie requirement of 2,344 cal/AE/day prescribed for the hills. Collection of forest products for consumption and sale forms an important coping strategy to overcome food self-insufficiency for 71.2% of the households. Wild tubers form the staple food of the Chepangs during the period of food shortages, and they play an important role in bridging the hunger gap when the stored food grains are depleted and new harvests are not yet available. Forests play an important role not only in the food security of the Chepang community, but also in the fulfilment of their food diversity and nutritional requirements. There is, thus, a need to exploit the potential of these wild foods so as to complement the staple food crops so that the food security situation of
This paper analyses the livelihood strategies adopted by the Chepangs, a highly marginalized indi... more This paper analyses the livelihood strategies adopted by the Chepangs, a highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal. Household survey was conducted in Shaktikhor Village Development Committee (VDC) in Chitwan district and Handikhola VDC in Makawanpur district among 120 randomly selected households. Additional information was collected through participatory techniques. Six major livelihood sources were identified viz., farming, wage laboring, forest, handicrafts, skilled non-farm jobs, and remittance. Farming forms the mainstay of livelihood for majority of the households. Skilled non-farm jobs and remittances are comparatively more remunerative livelihood sources, however it forms primary livelihood source for only a few households due to lack of education, assets possession, investment capital and skills. Diversification is adopted as the livelihood strategy by entire households. Combination of farming, wage laboring, and forest is the most dominant strategy although it derives lower income. This implies that the households are constrained from adopting the more remunerative livelihood options. Policies and development efforts should be aimed at improving farming, access to forest resources, and promoting non-farm opportunities for sustainable livelihoods of the Chepangs.
Chepangs are highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal, who live nearby the forests t... more Chepangs are highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal, who live nearby the forests that are rich in Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) of commercial importance. These NTFPs can be a potential source of income for Chepangs. This study describes the role of Chepangs in the marketing channel of those NTFPs and analyses the household socioeconomic characteristics that influence the collection and marketing of NTFPs by Chepangs in Shaktikhor VDC of Chitwan district using backward multiple regression method. Empirical evidences show that collection and marketing of NTFPs is not an attractive source of income especially for those relatively better-off Chepang households who possess higher landholdings, food self-sufficiency, and income from other alternative sources. This is because the current price offered for the NTFPs collected by the community is very nominal, that do not even cover the labour costs involved. Praja Cooperative Limited (PCL), a Chepang community based institution in Shaktikhor, is struggling to provide better prices for Chepangs. However, it is facing challenges due to limited institutional management capacity of Chepangs. Further empowerment of PCL can contribute to improve the bargaining power of Chepang community in NTFP trade.
Nepal being the poorest country in the world, poverty remains one of the crucial development agen... more Nepal being the poorest country in the world, poverty remains one of the crucial development agenda in Nepal since it started its development effort in 1956. Therefore, this review paper analyzes the poverty and food insecurity in Nepal. Macro economic indicators of the country i.e., Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate and inflation rate shows that the country is historically a low growth country with inflation rate always higher than the GDP growth rate. Therefore, macroeconomic indicators are not in favorable condition to tackle the overarching problem of poverty incidence in the country. Since 1976/77, poverty incidence is in increasing trend in Nepal. It was only in 2003/04, some progress in reducing poverty was reported, which was mainly due to the signifi cantly higher infl ow of remittance compared to earlier years, rapid urbanization, and an increase in non-farm incomes. This resulted not only in the decline in proportion of population suffering from poverty but also decline in the absolute number of population suffering from poverty. However, such decline in incidence of poverty was achieved at the cost of increased inequality. The gini coeffi cient increased from 0.24 in the year 1984/85 to 0.41 in 2003/04. Imbalanced growth in rural and urban areas could be the reason for increase in gini coeffi cient. Reduction of poverty in urban areas remains always high
Involvement of higher proportion of economically active population in agriculture and laboring am... more Involvement of higher proportion of economically active population in agriculture and laboring among the Occupational caste resulted into higher incidence of poverty, which is also severe and deeper. This resulted into as high as 71% incidence of poverty in Banjhkateri, a purely remote village. The incidence, depth and severity of poverty are the highest among large family size households, illiterate households, and small land and livestock holding households. Share of income from agriculture, remittance, and salaried job is the most significant one, contributing 46.1%, 23.3% and 19.0% of total income, respectively. However, income from salaried job and remittance has income disequalizing effect and also has higher factor inequality weight acting as the source of income inequality. Agriculture and laboring, upon which huge proportion of economically active population is engaged and entry is also not restricted, however has income equalizing effect. This suggests the need for the promotion of labor-intensive agriculture as a better rural development policy in rural Nepalese context. In the context of lack of well-defined working hours as well as minimum wage rate, such rural development policies should be supplemented by formulation and effective enforcement of labor policy.
Realizing the importance of food self-sufficiency in achieving the household food security, this ... more Realizing the importance of food self-sufficiency in achieving the household food security, this paper tried to assess the food self-sufficiency situation in village areas of Nepal. Agriculture was the main source of livelihood and Bahun/Chhetri was the dominant ethnic group. Involvement of households in agriculture was found declining with the attainment of higher level of education resulting into higher concentration of illiterate and just literate manpower in this sector. The major resource determining food self-sufficiency of households, land holding and coverage of irrigation was higher among Bahun/Chhetri ethnic group and in Tarai ecological region. The better irrigation coverage together with relatively high access to production resources led to the higher crop yield among Bahun/Chhetri ethnic group and in Tarai. Thus, Tarai was experiencing surplus food crops production, which was merely enough to fulfill the deficit of Hills and Mountain regions. Food self-sufficiency was achieved among 72% of households in Tarai region while the figure of Mountain region was only 11%. Similarly, the highest proportion (53%) of Bahun/Chhetri households achieved food self-sufficiency compared to mere 10% of Occupational caste households. Together with small land holding and low productivity, production shift from food crops to cash crops were also the major factors responsible for food self-insufficiency. Purchasing was the most dominant means to fulfill the deficit food. About 20% of food self-insufficient households were unable to meet minimum level of food security threshold income for deficit months. This constituted 10.2% of sample households, who were in chronic food insecurity situation. The incidence of chronic food insecurity as well as poverty gap was the highest in female-headed households, Mountain region, Occupational caste, daily wage laborers and small landholders. Education received the highest priority for the cash income expenditure followed by food items and agriculture promotion. This expenditure patterns show the positive indication to move towards food self-sufficiency and ultimately to food security if provided with better off farm employment opportunities and better market for both farm produces and essential inputs.
This study analyzes the factors influencing the
adoption of various adaptation practices by a hig... more This study analyzes the factors influencing the adoption of various adaptation practices by a highly marginalized indigenous community in the remote rural Mid- Hills of Nepal. The analysis is based on a household survey conducted among 221 Chepang households selected randomly. A multivariate probit model was used to analyze five categories of adaptation choices against a set of socio-economic, institutional, infrastructural, and perception variables. Perception of rainfall changes, size of landholding, status of land tenure, distance to motor road, access to productive credit, information, extension services, and skill development trainings are all influential to enable households to deviate away from traditional coping strategies and adopt suitable practices to adapt to climate vagaries. Policies and development activities should be geared to address these determinants in order to facilitate adaptation.
Nepal has a negligible share of global Green House Gases (GHGs) emission. However, amidst sluggis... more Nepal has a negligible share of global Green House Gases (GHGs) emission. However, amidst sluggish economic growth rate, the emission is increasing at significantly higher rate compared to its fast growing neighboring economies like China, India and Bangladesh. This higher growth rate of emission is mainly due to the constantly increasing use of fossil fuels, emission from livestock, and use of nitrogen fertilizer. Sector-wise emission shows that agriculture and forestry are two most important sectors contributing almost ninety percent of the total emissions. Hence, any mitigation effort in Nepal should consider these two sectors, which are also the most important sectors for poor people. Consequently, intervention in these sectors will help to build rural community's resilience to Climate Change (CC). Increase in temperature and variable rainfall pattern have a negative direct influence on water resources at the highest level followed by agriculture, forest, and health sectors of the country. Increased risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and higher variability in runoff will adversely affect livelihood assets. Crop loss due to flooding, inundation, landslide, and drought is a common phenomenon in Nepal causing reduced production of major crops. Nepal is experiencing depletion of forest land due to landslides, floods, water erosion, and forest fires. The spread of vector-borne disease in the new regions as a consequence of CC is the major challenge in the health sector. Being signatories of major international legislations related to CC, Nepal has a prospect to generate revenue through mitigation effort, which could be used to deal with adverse impact caused by CC. Alternative energy promotion, forest management, and agricultural practice are potential areas, which can generate revenue from carbon trading. All these prospective areas have multiple functions of mitigation, adaptation as well as economic empowerment of the vulnerable section of the population. Therefore, a proactive role of Nepal in international forum with adequate research and development to incorporate these aspects in international negotiations and capacity development of its own in the field is very crucial to deal with the adverse impacts of CC and meet its overarching goal of poverty reduction as well. In addition, further research on the impact of climate variables on agriculture based on the historical evidence as well as livelihood of rural poor based on the household level data is recommended.
Agriculture, being sector largely dependent on climate variables, will be adversely affected by c... more Agriculture, being sector largely dependent on climate variables, will be adversely affected by climate change. Therefore, this paper intends to assess how the recent trends of climate variables are affecting yields of major food crops in two hilly districts of Nepal namely, Makwanpur and Ilam based on district level data from 1978-2008. Trends of climate variables show that maximum and minimum temperature in summer as well as winter temperatures are increasing in Makwanpur, but in Ilam minimum temperature in both season shows declining trend. In case of rainfall, it is in increasing trend only during summer in Makwanpur. In all cases inter-annual variation of rainfall is very high. In contrast, crop yield shows some steady trends but in both directions; increase as well as decrease. For instance, except the yield of paddy and maize in Makwanpur, and maize and millet in Ilam all other food crops are in increasing trend. Among these food crops potato shows the highest rate of yield increase. Relating the trends of climate variables with yield of food crops shows that the current trend of minimum temperature has adversely affected yield of maize and paddy in Makwanpur, whereas in Ilam decreasing trend of rainfall has affected yield of paddy adversely. Despite the suppression of yield of these food crops by current trend of climate variables, most of these food crops overcame such suppression leading to the increase in overall yield. However, paddy, maize and millet are not able to overcome such suppression leading to decline in overall yield, thus requires special attention in order to cope with adverse effect of climate change in days to come.
In order to formulate any coping or adaptation strategies, first of all the communities facing cl... more In order to formulate any coping or adaptation strategies, first of all the communities facing climate change should perceive that the changes are indeed taking place. This paper analyzes how the Chepangs, one of the highly marginalized indigenous nationalities living in the remote Mid-Hills of Nepal, perceive climate change. The study is based on household survey conducted among randomly selected 221 Chepang households. The community responses are compared with the actual trends of temperature and rainfall recorded in the meteorological stations located near the study sites. A probit model is used to analyze the characteristics that differentiate the respondents who perceive the changes in line with the recorded data from those who do not. Nearly one-third of the respondents are able to perceive the changes in line with the recorded data, meanwhile there are still many respondents who do not perceive any changes at all. Access to information, and extension services (as indicated by ownership of radio and membership in groups) are the most important factors facilitating perceptions of both temperature and rainfall changes. Cultivation of cash crops also facilitates perceptions of rainfall significantly. On the other hand, formal education and engagement in non-farm income sources reduce the ability to perceive the climatic changes. It is worth noting that, in case of temperature, farming experience is not sufficient to perceive the ongoing changes. Priority must be placed on the dissemination of relevant information at the community level and updating the educational curriculum to include the issues related to climate change.
Climate change infl uences crop yield vis-à -vis crop production to a greater extent in countries ... more Climate change infl uences crop yield vis-à -vis crop production to a greater extent in countries like Nepal where agriculture depends largely on natural circumstances. Plausible scenarios of climate change like higher temperatures and changes in precipitation will directly affect crop yields. Therefore, this study assesses the effect of observed climate variables on yield of major food-crops in Nepal, namely rice, wheat, maize, millet, barley and potato based on regression model for historical (1978-2008) climatic data and yield data for the food-crops. The yield growth rate of all the food-crops is positive. However, the growth rate for all crops, except potato and wheat, is below population growth rate during the period. Climate variables like temperature and precipitation are the important determinants of crop yields. Trend of precipitation is neither increasing nor decreasing signifi cantly during this period. However, temperature is increasing by 0.7 °C during the period. Climate variables show some influences on the yield of these major food-crops in Nepal. Increase in summer rain and maximum temperature has contributed positively to rice yield. Also, increase in summer rain and minimum temperature has positive impact on potato yield. However, increase in summer rain and maximum temperature adversely affected the yield of maize and millet. Increase in wheat and barley yield is contributed by current trend of winter rain and temperature. Consideration of spatial variation in similar type of study in Nepal that will be helpful in identifying the region more vulnerable to climate change in terms of crop yield is highly recommended.
Rice is the most important staple food crop grown in Nepal. This study tries to analyze the produ... more Rice is the most important staple food crop grown in Nepal. This study tries to analyze the production situation and production efficiency of rice in different development regions of Nepal. In this study 480 farmers were selected randomly from 12 districts representing entire five development regions and surveyed using semi-structured questionnaire. This information was supplemented by the information obtained from group discussions, observations and other secondary sources. With average landholding of 1.6 ha/household, 64.6% of the respondents were growing rice under 1 ha of land on an average. Western Development Region dominated all other development regions in terms of average production, marketed amount and yield. The benefit-cost ratio of rice production was the highest in Central Development Region indicating the most efficient production practice in the country. This is mainly due to easy availability and judicious use of production inputs. The overall net profit was Rs 16,147 per ha. The most prominent production problems as perceived by the farmers are lack of technical know-how, lack of irrigation, lack of organized credit facilities, and lack of quality inputs at the time of need. These problems need to be addressed to improve the production situation and efficiency of rice production in the country.
The study reveals that 10.2% of the
sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic
food insecuri... more The study reveals that 10.2% of the sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic food insecurity, i.e., neither are they able to produce sufficient food from their farms nor earn the food security threshold income for deficit months. With the highest and the lowest exponential value of coefficient obtained from binary logistic regression model, it is concluded that any program targeting occupational caste and small landholding farm category or landless will contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. The provision of employment opportunities for economically active age group, thus, reducing dependency ratio from 1.2 (economically active population) to 0.7 (economically active age group) can also contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. Significant positive coefficient of family size squared shows the increase in the probability of being foodinsecure with the increase in family size. In addition, an increase in irrigation availability can contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity. A significant proportion of male-headed households and households residing in Tarai are food-secure. This justifies the need to target female-headed households and households residing in Mountain and Hill in any program aimed at resolving food insecurity. A negative and significant association of household’s participation in community organizations and food insecurity fortifies the need for inclusion of vulnerable groups such as occupational caste, female-headed households, households with illiterate heads, small landholding farm category or landless, and households residing in Mountain and Hill (including some target communities in Tarai) in community organizations. Furthermore, making these communities a target of food security programs can help significantly to reduce the incidence of food insecurity.
This study was conducted with the objective of analysing the role of forest plant resources in th... more This study was conducted with the objective of analysing the role of forest plant resources in the food security of Chepangs, a highly marginalized indigenous nationality in Nepal. Shaktikhor Village Development Committee (VDC) in Chitwan district and Handikhola VDC in Makawanpur district were purposively selected as the study sites. A total of 120 households, 60 from each VDC were randomly selected for the purpose of household survey conducted using semi-structured interview structure. Relevant information was also collected through key informants' interview and group discussions. It was found that the average food self-sufficiency of the study community is 7.3 months, while 37.5% of the households are not able to meet the minimum daily calorie requirement of 2,344 cal/AE/day prescribed for the hills. Collection of forest products for consumption and sale forms an important coping strategy to overcome food self-insufficiency for 71.2% of the households. Wild tubers form the staple food of the Chepangs during the period of food shortages, and they play an important role in bridging the hunger gap when the stored food grains are depleted and new harvests are not yet available. Forests play an important role not only in the food security of the Chepang community, but also in the fulfilment of their food diversity and nutritional requirements. There is, thus, a need to exploit the potential of these wild foods so as to complement the staple food crops so that the food security situation of
This paper analyses the livelihood strategies adopted by the Chepangs, a highly marginalized indi... more This paper analyses the livelihood strategies adopted by the Chepangs, a highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal. Household survey was conducted in Shaktikhor Village Development Committee (VDC) in Chitwan district and Handikhola VDC in Makawanpur district among 120 randomly selected households. Additional information was collected through participatory techniques. Six major livelihood sources were identified viz., farming, wage laboring, forest, handicrafts, skilled non-farm jobs, and remittance. Farming forms the mainstay of livelihood for majority of the households. Skilled non-farm jobs and remittances are comparatively more remunerative livelihood sources, however it forms primary livelihood source for only a few households due to lack of education, assets possession, investment capital and skills. Diversification is adopted as the livelihood strategy by entire households. Combination of farming, wage laboring, and forest is the most dominant strategy although it derives lower income. This implies that the households are constrained from adopting the more remunerative livelihood options. Policies and development efforts should be aimed at improving farming, access to forest resources, and promoting non-farm opportunities for sustainable livelihoods of the Chepangs.
Chepangs are highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal, who live nearby the forests t... more Chepangs are highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal, who live nearby the forests that are rich in Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) of commercial importance. These NTFPs can be a potential source of income for Chepangs. This study describes the role of Chepangs in the marketing channel of those NTFPs and analyses the household socioeconomic characteristics that influence the collection and marketing of NTFPs by Chepangs in Shaktikhor VDC of Chitwan district using backward multiple regression method. Empirical evidences show that collection and marketing of NTFPs is not an attractive source of income especially for those relatively better-off Chepang households who possess higher landholdings, food self-sufficiency, and income from other alternative sources. This is because the current price offered for the NTFPs collected by the community is very nominal, that do not even cover the labour costs involved. Praja Cooperative Limited (PCL), a Chepang community based institution in Shaktikhor, is struggling to provide better prices for Chepangs. However, it is facing challenges due to limited institutional management capacity of Chepangs. Further empowerment of PCL can contribute to improve the bargaining power of Chepang community in NTFP trade.
Nepal being the poorest country in the world, poverty remains one of the crucial development agen... more Nepal being the poorest country in the world, poverty remains one of the crucial development agenda in Nepal since it started its development effort in 1956. Therefore, this review paper analyzes the poverty and food insecurity in Nepal. Macro economic indicators of the country i.e., Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate and inflation rate shows that the country is historically a low growth country with inflation rate always higher than the GDP growth rate. Therefore, macroeconomic indicators are not in favorable condition to tackle the overarching problem of poverty incidence in the country. Since 1976/77, poverty incidence is in increasing trend in Nepal. It was only in 2003/04, some progress in reducing poverty was reported, which was mainly due to the signifi cantly higher infl ow of remittance compared to earlier years, rapid urbanization, and an increase in non-farm incomes. This resulted not only in the decline in proportion of population suffering from poverty but also decline in the absolute number of population suffering from poverty. However, such decline in incidence of poverty was achieved at the cost of increased inequality. The gini coeffi cient increased from 0.24 in the year 1984/85 to 0.41 in 2003/04. Imbalanced growth in rural and urban areas could be the reason for increase in gini coeffi cient. Reduction of poverty in urban areas remains always high
Involvement of higher proportion of economically active population in agriculture and laboring am... more Involvement of higher proportion of economically active population in agriculture and laboring among the Occupational caste resulted into higher incidence of poverty, which is also severe and deeper. This resulted into as high as 71% incidence of poverty in Banjhkateri, a purely remote village. The incidence, depth and severity of poverty are the highest among large family size households, illiterate households, and small land and livestock holding households. Share of income from agriculture, remittance, and salaried job is the most significant one, contributing 46.1%, 23.3% and 19.0% of total income, respectively. However, income from salaried job and remittance has income disequalizing effect and also has higher factor inequality weight acting as the source of income inequality. Agriculture and laboring, upon which huge proportion of economically active population is engaged and entry is also not restricted, however has income equalizing effect. This suggests the need for the promotion of labor-intensive agriculture as a better rural development policy in rural Nepalese context. In the context of lack of well-defined working hours as well as minimum wage rate, such rural development policies should be supplemented by formulation and effective enforcement of labor policy.
Realizing the importance of food self-sufficiency in achieving the household food security, this ... more Realizing the importance of food self-sufficiency in achieving the household food security, this paper tried to assess the food self-sufficiency situation in village areas of Nepal. Agriculture was the main source of livelihood and Bahun/Chhetri was the dominant ethnic group. Involvement of households in agriculture was found declining with the attainment of higher level of education resulting into higher concentration of illiterate and just literate manpower in this sector. The major resource determining food self-sufficiency of households, land holding and coverage of irrigation was higher among Bahun/Chhetri ethnic group and in Tarai ecological region. The better irrigation coverage together with relatively high access to production resources led to the higher crop yield among Bahun/Chhetri ethnic group and in Tarai. Thus, Tarai was experiencing surplus food crops production, which was merely enough to fulfill the deficit of Hills and Mountain regions. Food self-sufficiency was achieved among 72% of households in Tarai region while the figure of Mountain region was only 11%. Similarly, the highest proportion (53%) of Bahun/Chhetri households achieved food self-sufficiency compared to mere 10% of Occupational caste households. Together with small land holding and low productivity, production shift from food crops to cash crops were also the major factors responsible for food self-insufficiency. Purchasing was the most dominant means to fulfill the deficit food. About 20% of food self-insufficient households were unable to meet minimum level of food security threshold income for deficit months. This constituted 10.2% of sample households, who were in chronic food insecurity situation. The incidence of chronic food insecurity as well as poverty gap was the highest in female-headed households, Mountain region, Occupational caste, daily wage laborers and small landholders. Education received the highest priority for the cash income expenditure followed by food items and agriculture promotion. This expenditure patterns show the positive indication to move towards food self-sufficiency and ultimately to food security if provided with better off farm employment opportunities and better market for both farm produces and essential inputs.
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Papers by Niraj P Joshi
adoption of various adaptation practices by a highly marginalized
indigenous community in the remote rural Mid-
Hills of Nepal. The analysis is based on a household survey
conducted among 221 Chepang households selected randomly.
A multivariate probit model was used to analyze five
categories of adaptation choices against a set of socio-economic,
institutional, infrastructural, and perception variables.
Perception of rainfall changes, size of landholding, status of
land tenure, distance to motor road, access to productive
credit, information, extension services, and skill development
trainings are all influential to enable households to deviate
away from traditional coping strategies and adopt suitable
practices to adapt to climate vagaries. Policies and development
activities should be geared to address these determinants
in order to facilitate adaptation.
sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic
food insecurity, i.e., neither are they able to produce
sufficient food from their farms nor earn the food
security threshold income for deficit months. With the
highest and the lowest exponential value of coefficient
obtained from binary logistic regression model, it is
concluded that any program targeting occupational
caste and small landholding farm category or landless
will contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity.
The provision of employment opportunities for
economically active age group, thus, reducing
dependency ratio from 1.2 (economically active
population) to 0.7 (economically active age group) can
also contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity.
Significant positive coefficient of family size squared
shows the increase in the probability of being foodinsecure
with the increase in family size. In addition,
an increase in irrigation availability can contribute
significantly to reduce food insecurity. A significant
proportion of male-headed households and
households residing in Tarai are food-secure. This
justifies the need to target female-headed households
and households residing in Mountain and Hill in any
program aimed at resolving food insecurity. A
negative and significant association of household’s
participation in community organizations and food
insecurity fortifies the need for inclusion of vulnerable groups such as occupational caste, female-headed
households, households with illiterate heads, small
landholding farm category or landless, and
households residing in Mountain and Hill (including
some target communities in Tarai) in community
organizations. Furthermore, making these
communities a target of food security programs can
help significantly to reduce the incidence of food
insecurity.
adoption of various adaptation practices by a highly marginalized
indigenous community in the remote rural Mid-
Hills of Nepal. The analysis is based on a household survey
conducted among 221 Chepang households selected randomly.
A multivariate probit model was used to analyze five
categories of adaptation choices against a set of socio-economic,
institutional, infrastructural, and perception variables.
Perception of rainfall changes, size of landholding, status of
land tenure, distance to motor road, access to productive
credit, information, extension services, and skill development
trainings are all influential to enable households to deviate
away from traditional coping strategies and adopt suitable
practices to adapt to climate vagaries. Policies and development
activities should be geared to address these determinants
in order to facilitate adaptation.
sampled households in Nepal suffer from chronic
food insecurity, i.e., neither are they able to produce
sufficient food from their farms nor earn the food
security threshold income for deficit months. With the
highest and the lowest exponential value of coefficient
obtained from binary logistic regression model, it is
concluded that any program targeting occupational
caste and small landholding farm category or landless
will contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity.
The provision of employment opportunities for
economically active age group, thus, reducing
dependency ratio from 1.2 (economically active
population) to 0.7 (economically active age group) can
also contribute significantly to reduce food insecurity.
Significant positive coefficient of family size squared
shows the increase in the probability of being foodinsecure
with the increase in family size. In addition,
an increase in irrigation availability can contribute
significantly to reduce food insecurity. A significant
proportion of male-headed households and
households residing in Tarai are food-secure. This
justifies the need to target female-headed households
and households residing in Mountain and Hill in any
program aimed at resolving food insecurity. A
negative and significant association of household’s
participation in community organizations and food
insecurity fortifies the need for inclusion of vulnerable groups such as occupational caste, female-headed
households, households with illiterate heads, small
landholding farm category or landless, and
households residing in Mountain and Hill (including
some target communities in Tarai) in community
organizations. Furthermore, making these
communities a target of food security programs can
help significantly to reduce the incidence of food
insecurity.