Impacts of Outmigration on Land Management in a Nepali Mountain Area

Schwilch, Gudrun; Adhikari, Anu; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Jaquet, Stéphanie; Kaenzig, Raoul; Liniger, Hanspeter; Penna, Ivanna; Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen; Upreti, Bishnu Raj

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-33880-4_11

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The final area of policy review is about mechanized management of fallow land and invasive species control in the hills of Nepal where rural people are migrating to urban areas at an ever greater extent [49,68]. Consistent with the findings of this study, Khanal [68] also reported that 40% of farmers from the Kaski region did not cultivate at least one of their farmlands for more than two successive years.…”

Section: Policy Reviewsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…In other words, Nepal's past public policies on agricultural and rural development ignored mechanization in hillside farming systems because of a fear of labor displacement by the use of machines that could lead to large rural unemployment [47]. In hindsight, this was a clear failure to anticipate growing farm labor shortages, drudgery, and growing rural employment in the service sector, as well as opportunities for agri-food processing, marketing, and the influence of the growing remittance of the economy and labor [38,44,48,49]. [44]; MoAD [45]; Dahal et al [46].…”

Section: History Of Agricultural Innovation and Science Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research participants in this study stated that farmers in the hills are rearing large numbers of goats as these animals are less labor intensive than crop production and obtain a higher market price in a shorter period of time. As most of the terraced lands are fallow, they are used for grazing instead of cropping, and in some places, lands become covered by unwanted wild invasive plant and animal species, which often grow into bushes [48,49]. The following statement is from one of the hillside farmers in a focus group discussion.…”

Section: Policy Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Although both pathways can potentially reduce human and animal drudgery, the body of literature that assesses the sustainability impacts of these mechanization pathways in the local ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and historical contexts of hillside farms is either nonexistent or under-theorized. This paper addresses this missing literature by examining the case of Nepal’s first Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy 2014 (AMPP) using a conceptual framework of what will be defined as “responsible innovation”. The historical context of this assessment involves the incumbent trajectory of mechanization in the country since the late 1960s that neglected smallholder farms located in the hills and mountains and biased mechanization policy for flat areas only. Findings from this study suggest that the AMPP addressed issues for smallholder production, including gender inequality, exclusion of smallholder farmers, and biophysical challenges associated with hillside farming systems, but it remains unclear whether and how the policy promotes small-scale agricultural mechanization for sustainable development of agriculture in the hills and mountains of Nepal.

show abstract

Section: Policy Reviewsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: History Of Agricultural Innovation and Science Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Policy Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, these households can have access to additional income sources through remittances from their migrant workers. Women's responsibilities for farming and nonfarming work within and outside the household have also increased, resulting in the feminization of agriculture [25][26][27][28][29][30]. This phenomenon has a profound effect on land management practices and rural livelihoods as the rural communities adapt to new challenges and opportunities associated with outmigration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impacts are complex and are not uniformly experienced. Several studies have shown that the abandonment of agricultural land stimulates forest recovery (i.e., regenerating or transitional forests [31][32][33][34][35][36]). Alternatively, some authors have questioned this perceived positive impact of land abandonment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal

Race

2019

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Outmigration has become a key livelihood strategy for an increasing number of rural households, which in turn has a profound effect on land management. Studies to date have mainly focused on migrant households, and there is limited literature on the differences in land management practices of migrant and nonmigrant households. This article drew on a current study to explore how outmigration affects land management practices in the context of rapidly changing rural communities and economics in the middle hills of Nepal. The data were collected in Lamjung District in western Nepal using a mixed-method approach. We found that underutilization of farmland is a more prominent phenomenon than land abandonment, with rural communities moving to less intensive farming. Importantly, the increasing underutilization of farmland is not just occurring among migrant households. There are a range of complex factors which influence land-use decisions and the subsequent outcomes for landscapes. A high risk of food insecurity in Nepal is likely to be exacerbated if the current trajectory of underutilization and abandonment of farmland continues. A suite of policy tools that can be selectively applied depending on the local context may be more effective than broad-brush national policies in tackling the underlying causes faced by rural communities.

show abstract