The dramatic spread of COVID-19 has threatened human lives, disrupted livelihoods, and affected trade, economy and businesses across the globe. The global economy has begun to show major disruptions and is heading toward a severe recession with an unprecedented economic crisis. As the global economy is highly integrated and interdependent through the global supply chains, it has been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although all countries have faced difficulties due to Covid-19, South Asian countries in particular have had to deal with a more challenging situation due to their large population, weak health facilities, high poverty rates, low socio-economic conditions, poor social protection systems, limited access to water and sanitation, and inadequate living space, necessary to maintain physical distancing and take other required measures to contain this pandemic. To contain the spread of the virus, South Asian countries have imposed stringent lockdowns, which have consequently affected the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the region, where a third of world’s poor live. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the existing and prospective impacts, risks and challenges of Covid-19 on key social and economic sectors including migration, tourism, informal sector, agriculture and rural livelihoods. The analysis revealed that COVID-19 is likely to affect economic growth, increase fiscal deficit and monetary burden, increase the risks of macroeconomic instability, decrease migration and remittance, reduce income from travel and tourism, and result in dwindling micro-small and medium industries and informal businesses. This is likely to deepen poverty and increase unemployment and the risks of hunger and food insecurity. If not addressed properly, this may reinforce existing inequalities, break social harmony, and increase tension and turbulence. The economic and social costs of the COVID-19 outbreak are therefore likely to be significant and long-lasting in South Asia.

This article examines the impact of male out-migration on the workload and status of the women left behind in rural Nepal. The study uses primary data collected through household surveys from two districts in the mid-hills of Nepal to analyze aspects of women’s roles and responsibilities that are expected to change in the absence of male household heads. Specifically, the study focuses on the change in women’s workload, the expansion of their roles, their ownership and access to productive resources, and the part they play in household decision making. The results suggest that women have broadened and deepened their involvement in rural society as a result of male out-migration, which could lead to either the empowerment or disempowerment of women. The nature and extent of this impact was conditional on the migration pattern and the remittances received by the households. Larger remittances generally helped to reduce the physical work burden and to increase decision-making roles, thus empowering the women left behind. But low remittances had the opposite impact, and saddled them with greater physical workload.

Although international migration is playing an increasingly important role in Nepal, at both the macro and household levels, and in particular for the poverty reduction of rural families, empirical work focusing on this phenomenon has been largely absent. With a special view on the rural poor, in this paper we investigate the impact of international labour migration on subsistence agricultural production in the Western Mid Hills of Nepal, based on a survey conducted among smallholders with migrating family members. The results demonstrate that international migration leads to negligence of cereals – paddy, wheat, maize and millet, in particular, being the major subsistence crops. While bearing a negative impact on family labour input, its impact on hired farm labour is positive. Yet it does not affect material inputs such as fertilizer, and although it helps to ease households’ liquidity and capital constraints, it does not contribute to moving subsistence farming towards more profitable commercial farming. Therefore, although migration reduces poverty in the short run and also allows for higher daily consumption, its negative impact on cereal production requires attention by policymakers.

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Purpose of Review South Asia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, owing to the high dependency on climatesensitive livelihoods and recurrent extreme events. Consequently, an increasing number of households are adopting labour migration as a livelihood strategy to diversify incomes, spread risks, and meet aspirations. Under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) initiative, four research consortia have investigated migration patterns and their inherent linkages to adaptation to climate change in climate hotspots. This article synthesizes key findings in regional context of South Asia. Recent Findings The synthesis suggests that in climate-sensitive hotspots, migration is an important livelihood diversification strategy and a response to various risks, including climate change. Typically, one or more household members, often young men, migrated internally or internationally to work in predominantly informal sectors. Remittances helped spatially diversify household income, spread risks, and insure against external stressors. The outcomes of migration are often influenced by who moves, where to, and what capacities they possess. Summary Migration was found to help improve household adaptive capacity, albeit in a limited capacity. Migration was mainly used as a response to risk and uncertainty, but with potential to have positive adaptation co-benefits.

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