A Synopsis of Farmland Abandonment and Its Driving Factors in Nepal

Abstract

Farmland abandonment is considered as an important phenomenon for changing eco-environmental and sociocultural landscapes of mountainous rural landscape. Many studies have analyzed farmland abandonment, its driving factors, geophysical processes and consequences at landscape: however, very few have focused on mountainous developing countries such as in Nepal, which is a rapidly urbanizing country suffering from serious farmland abandonment. Therefore, our study was an attempt to (i) assess the spatiotemporal extent of farmland abandonment in Nepal, (ii) explore driving factors of farmland abandonment, and (iii) discuss on the eco-environmental and sociocultural consequences in Nepal. We reviewed various literature, documents, and national reports to obtain a dataset pertaining to the overall status of farmland use and changes along with political and socioeconomic changes, economic development processes, and policy and governance in Nepal. Our results showed that farmland abandonment is widespread; however, it is more prevalent in the hilly and mountainous regions of Nepal. A total of 9,706,000 ha, accounting for 23.9% of the total cultivated farmland in Nepal, was abandoned during the period of 2001 to 2010. The driving factors included population growth, scattered distribution of settlements, urbanization, socio-economic development, poor access to physical services, and poor implementation of agriculture development policies. Furthermore, the increasing extent of natural disasters, malaria eradication, land reform and resettlement programs, the complex system of land ownership, land fragmentation, political instabilities, and the intensification of trading in agricultural products also acted as drivers of farmland abandonment in Nepal. Farmland abandonment generates negative effects on rural societies eco-environmentally and sociologically. Abandoned plots were subjected to different forms of geomorphic damage (e.g. landslide, debris flows, gully formation, sinkhole development etc.). Farmland landscape fragmented into a group of smaller interspersed patches. Such patches were opened for grassland. Furthermore, farmland abandonment also has effects on the local population and the whole society in terms of the production of goods (e.g., foods, feed, fiber), as well as services provided by the multi-functionality (e.g. sociocultural practices, values and norms) of the agricultural landscape. Therefore, this study plays an important role in planning and implementing eco-environmental management and social development processes in Nepal.

Multiple trajectories of grassland fragmentation, degradation, and recovery in Russia's steppes

“…Such findings align with neighbouring Kazakhstan, suggesting declining human pressure while leaving behind the decaying infrastructure (Baumann et al, 2020;Dara et al, 2020). Despite ongoing urbanization, rural hollowing is also globally widespread, for instance, in Europe (Gonz alez Ioffe et al, 2004;Quaranta et al, 2020;Westhoek et al, 2006); Northern, Central, and Southern Asia (Chaudhary et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2010;Minaei et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2016); and in the United States (Holcomb et al, 2020;USDA ERS, 2017). The abandonment of croplands can be preceded by or go hand-in-hand with the decay of rural infrastructure (Holcomb et al, 2020).…”

Adoption of a multiple use water system (MUWS) to ensure water security for Nepalese hill farmers

“…During key informant interviews, respondents were worried about the fallow land due to a shortage of labour and a reduction in interest for the agriculture profession. In the Nepalese context, this view is also supported by Chaudhary et al (2020) and Shrestha et al (2019), who indicated that the majority of youth migrate within and outside the country, for employment in areas other than agriculture resulting in arable lands being left fallow. To mitigate the loss of farm labor due to migration, adequate water for irrigation should be a high priority to keep as much land as possible in vegetable production.…”

“…In the Nepalese context, farmers are smallholders and land is utilized in parcels for various purposes such as cereal production, vegetable production, agroforestry and small private forest. Due to the country's current situation of youth migration in relation to employment, lands are left fallow due to labour shortage (Chaudhary et al, 2020). It is imperative to assess factors that determine the extent of area under vegetable production.…”

Spatial Transformation of a New City in 2006–2020: Perspectives on the Spatial Dynamics, Environmental Quality Degradation, and Socio—Economic Sustainability of Local Communities in Makassar City, Indonesia

“…Thus, the closer the service centers are, the higher the land value will be, and vice versa. Land and people are the foundations of every nation, while in urban areas, rapid economic and social development is exerting sustained pressure on land demands, and land development is essential for economic growth and the advancement of urbanization [89,90]. This condition illustrates that the existence of local communities that inhabit new urban areas will make it very difficult to engage in economic business competition, including competition for the ownership of production facilities.…”

“…Urbanization is usually accompanied by complex challenges, including ongoing demands for housing, transportation networks, basic services, and employment [89]. These challenges seem to emphasize the economic and political dimensions of housing far more than the social and cultural dimensions [90].…”