Livelihood Patterns of Majhi and Kumal Communities in the Arun Valley, Eastern Nepal

Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to portray the livelihood patterns of two marginalized communities such as Majhi and Kumal of Kumaltar village in the Arun valley, eastern Nepal. Data were collected from all 28 households of both communities. The findings show that agriculture and livestock now are the main occupations for their living. Prior to these, ferrying, fishing and pottering were their traditional occupations when they moved to Kumaltar in several years ago. As the production from agriculture and livestock is inadequate, other activities such as mobile trading of merchandise goods and local goods, pig and poultry farming, bamboo and ropes making, and local grains based country alcohol making have been adopted by them as alternative strategies for sustaining their livelihood. In addition, recently, the youths of these communities have migrated to different parts within the country, as well as in foreign countries for employment for better living in the village.The Geographical Journal of Nepal, Vol. 7, 2009: 7-14

Development Defect: A Case Study on Destroying Indigeneity of Majhi Community

“…Majhis are expected to push the vessel boat across the watercourse. As a result, they are also involved in angling and cultivating along the waterway (Rai & Majhi, 2014).…”

“…Majhi has a distinct culture and customary ways of life (Rai & Majhi, 2014). The Majhi community lives on the banks of the Kali Gandaki River.…”

“…Most of the Majhis follow Hinduism, and they celebrate most of the Hindu festivals (Rai & Majhi, 2014). They celebrate festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Holi, Janaipurnima, Maghe Sankranti, Sharawan a Sakranti (Luto Falne), Teej, Shivaratri, and Chaitra Dashain.…”

Diversification of Livelihood Strategies in Melamchi Valley, Sindhupalchok District, Nepal

“…Now-a-days, petty business has gradually become popular in the rural areas in Nepal. A study by Rai (2009) in Arun Valley of eastern Nepal and study by Rajbansi (2010) in the peripheral areas of Kathmandu valley have suggested that petty business in the rural areas of Nepal has also become an important base of livelihood in the recent days. Local products such as liquor (local beer and alcohol),grain, vegetables, fruits, livestock (goat, pig, chicken etc.…”

“…Their livelihood strategies to adapt to the changing environment condition differ over spaces and by social groups; cultural values of people in the same space can create differences in the pattern of adaptation from one ethnic group to another (Subedi and Pandey, 2002). Various studies done in the rural hilly and mountain areas have observed that livelihood strategies of people are shifting from agriculture to nonagriculture based livelihoods such as wage labor, business, petty business, vegetable farming and foreign labor migration (Koirala, 2006;Rai, 2009;Khatiwada, 2010;Rai, 2011). People in the high Himalayas pursue different types of livelihood activity for adaptation.…”