German edition of Eawag News on material flows in foreign lands. An accounting method for the analysis of flows of ecologically significant materials and resources is increasingly being used by Eawag to assess acute environmental problems in developing and emerging countries. The German edition of Eawag News reports on projects carried out in Bangladesh, Eritrea, Congo/Rwanda, Cuba, Thailand and Vietnam.
Food Insecurity, conflict and livelihood threats in Nepal
Jaganath Adhikari , 2010
This chapter examines the food security situation in Nepal and the impact of the recent armed conflict on the food security situation. It argues that food security is understood in different ways and that definitions have changed over time, as these definitions are influenced by different factors – both subjective and objective, and domestic and international.
Based on the analysis, some recommendations are made as to how to improve the food security situation in times of conflict, during normal times and in the context of globalisation.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 73-130.
Geographic Analysis of Livelihood Strategy in Jagritinagar Squatter Settlement, Kathmandu
Rajip Adhikari, 2009
The general objective of this study is to analyse the urban poverty issue from the livelihood and vulnerability perspective in Jagritinagar squatter settlement of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The specific objectives are:
* to examine the socio-economic condition of the people of Jagritinagar squatter settlement
* to explore the types of livelihood means
* to assess the strategies adopted by the squatters
* to analyse the vulnerability context of the people in Jagritinagar squatter settlement
Abstract of Master Thesis at Tribhuvan University.
Livelihood Options of Dalits, an Analysis with Reference to Land Resources
Study in Dhangadi Municipality
Samana Adhikari, 2008
Dalits are considered as synonymous to landlessness. They do not have enough land to support their family. They have to depend on landlords for their subsistence. Many studies are conducted on the issue of Dalit, their empowerment, caste untouchability, their access and control over resources. However, no reports have been found addressing their livelihood options or about the decent jobs they can perform. This study has attempted to examine the various options available and adopted by the Dalits and their level of standard within their own community.
Jaganath Adhikari , C. Bhadra, K. Gurung, Gurung, Ganesh Gurung, Ganesh, B. Niroula, Seddon, David Seddon, David, 2006
The process whereby Nepali women migrate to foreign countries for work and the consequences of their migration, in terms of its impact on Nepali economy and society, are both poorly understood even though women's migration abroad is not a recent phenomenon. Indeed, women have been migrating on a seasonal, temporary, and permanent basis for more than two centuries.
The research on which this report is based was conducted with a view to enhancing our understanding of the different aspects of women's foreign labour migration. The 'problems' associated with women's migration have been much emphasised by the media, but it is impossible to understand the phenomenon and to develop effective and appropriate measures and mechanisms to support women migrants if we do not have a comprehensive and reliable picture of women's migration as a whole and of its implications for Nepalese economy and society. The research reported here will help build such a picture.
NIDS, 211 pp., Kathmandu: UNIFEM
Street Sweeping as a Livelihood Strategy of Pode Community in KMC
This paper attempts to analyze myths and realities regarding deforestation in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. It presents the perceptions of forest dependent people of the province regarding the forest use patterns, condition of forests, change in forest cover, factors responsible for the forest depletion and increase of illegal cutting. The intensive use of forest wood for household needs and ineffective forest management strategies by the forest department were some of the key reasons of deforestation in the study area. Policy guidelines are suggested for improving the effectiveness of forestry extension sevices.
International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 8(1):107-110.
"The system of participatory (or joint) forest management was commenced in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan in 1996 through Asian Development Bank's funded project. These forest reforms seek to initiate the process of eliminating the main causes of forest depletion through participation of local communities. Nevertheless, despite decades of the donor's interventions the deforestation rate in NWFP is still alarming. In this paper we have attempted to analyze the participatory forest management in Northwest Pakistan through livelihood lenses. More specifically this paper explores the impact of joint forest management initiatives on financial assets and livelihood strategies of local people. The overall results indicated that majority of the respondents were not dependent on the natural resources for their cash income rather they had adopted diverse non-natural resource based activities such as migration, labour etc. The results also indicated that the main priorities of the local people were financial and food security; where as the NWFP model of joint forest management gives more emphasis on forest protection and regeneration. Although the joint forest management enhanced the social assets of the local communities yet the omission of immediate financial benefits from the institutional changes in the forestry sector of NWFP was a barrier in motivating the local people in forest protection and was one of the main issues hindering the effectiveness of the forest reforms process."
Constitutional arrangements for peripheral areas in India reflect the national government’s instrumentalist attempts at decentralising bureaucratic and administrative control in far-flung (essentially hill) areas. Karbi Anglong is one of the two hill districts in Assam where there are special constitutional provisions for indigenous ethnic groups to elect and run their own councils. The constitutional provisions allow for nominal control over forest and land by allocating certain areas of the territory to the Autonomous Council, which then re-allocates these areas to its political constituencies. This article explores the reasons why, despite the constitutional efforts at decentralisation of powers to Autonomous Councils, violence between different ethnic groups and the state continues to define the civic and political discourse in
Anglong district.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 191-215.
Migration is an important social and historical reality in South Asia. In the past decade, migration from one country to another and internal migration (i.e. migration within a particular country) have assumed different dimensions
for people in the region. Contemporary research on migration is placed in a spectrum that ranges from exponents of economic benefits at one end, to those who see migration as a security threat, at the other. This paper combines the work of three researchers and looks at the different political locations from which the South Asian subject is induced to move. It also discusses the economic and political implications that arise from these migration trajectories. Drawing on their research, the authors emphasise the need for understanding how migration is linked to a complex set of processes that reflect power relations in unequal societies.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 313-328.
"The optimism generated by proponents of India’s “Look East” policy and tentative peace talks between armed opposition groups and the state would suggest that there has been a radical change in the government of India’s north-east policy. However, militarisation and ethnic confrontation continue to define the parameters of public policy in India’s north-east. Ethnic violence is accentuated by the existence of parallel political and administrative structures that undermine the rule of law. This article argues that the change in India’s north-east is contingent upon the government’s motivation to encourage transparency in governance and administration and to consciously move away from its existing reliance on archaic military solutions."
Nationalizing Space: Cosmetic Federalism and the Politics of Development in Northeast India
Sanjib Baruah, 2003
"Until recently Arunachal Pradesh on India's Northeast frontier was relatively insulated from the processes associated with development. State institutions were barely present during the colonial era. In 1962, however, India and China fought a border war in this area: this war, along with signs of unrest among indigenous peoples in the neighbourhood, exposed India's vulnerabilities in the region. Since then, nationalizing this frontier space by extending the institutions of the state all the way into the international border region has become the thrust of Indian policy. The region's governmental infrastructure was fundamentally redesigned to put in place what can only be described as a cosmetic federal regional order with a number of small states dependent on the central government's largess and subject to monitoring by India's Home Ministry. The new regional order has put Arunachal firmly on a developmentalist track, which has enabled India to meet its national security goals, but at a significant cost to the region."
This article attempts to find a way to grant poor people's rights to the land they cultivate. It takes a look at the question of land reform in Nepal and develops suggestions for future actions ensuring sustainable peace and livelihood security. In order to do this, the historical process of land controlling, the present situation as well as the role of different institutions and organizations in securing land rights are analyzed before suggestions for future actions are made.
In this chapter, the understanding of land reform, historic control over land, current situation, power structure of land, debate of land reform since the start of the Maoist movement to the drafting of the Interim Constitution and alternative land reform models are presented. Since land is both political and class issue, economic stability and social justice cannot be established without addressing it. There is no other alternative to a transformative land reform in New Nepal. Hence, in this chapter, attempts are made to explain the concept of a transformatice land reform and its importance in achieving stability, social justice, economic growth and protecting livelihoods of the poor farmers.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Basnet J, editors. Land Politics and Conflict in Nepal: Realities and Potentials for Agrarian Transformation. Kathmandu: Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR North-South and Human and Natural Resources Studies Centre (HNRSC), Kathmandu University, pp. 243-265.
Livelihood Strategies of the Street Vendors
A Comparative Study of Mobile and Static Vendors in Kathmandu Metropolis
Madhav Bhattarai, 2008
This study has been made among the street vendors of KM who are using the street public space and pavement of KM for their survival. Within the KM, Ratnapark-Asan-Indrachowk (core of city), Koteswor, Kalanki and Balaju Buspark (main entry points of KM) are selected as study areas. Among the street vendors, the study focused on watch and bag sellers. Among the watch sellers and bag sellers a sample of 64 was selected and asked some questions. Other vendors were observed on the field study.
The major methods of primary data collection used in this study were questionnaires, field observation, focus group discussion and in-depth interviews.
Reflections on the conceptual framework of the NCCR North-South based on a comparative study of international labour migration in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan
International labour migration has become a strategy against poverty in many parts of the developing world. By remitting their earnings to the families they leave behind, migrant labourers have become a primary source of livelihoods for many of the world's poorest nations. The long-term consequences of this practice on local development are the subject of this study, based on reseach conducted in three rural communities in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan.
Haliyas and Haruwas, despite ploughing the landlord's land for generations, are not entitled to tenancy rights. According to the Land Reform Act, people tilling land should be granted those rights. This is a serious problem, and only by redistributing land, the inhumane bonded labor system can be abolished, which is possible only by a radical land reform programme from the state. Transformative land reform is possible only by restructuring the state, with total dismantling of the feudal system. At least in the short run, land should be granted to those who have been cultivating since generations, even if the possess no land registration certificates.
Exploitation by landlords, lack of alternative mode of livelihood, heavy dependence on agriculture, and the changing livelihood pattern, etc. are jeopardizing the livelihood of Haliyas/Haruwas and Charuwas. Therefore, context specific support programmes should be combined with a transformative land reform to address the problems of Haruwas, Haliyas and Charuwas.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Basnet J, editors. Land Politics and Conflict in Nepal: Realities and Potentials for Agrarian Transformation. Kathmandu: Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR North-South and Human and Natural Resources Studies Centre (HNRSC), Kathmandu University, pp. 210-218.
"The present study attempts to determine the significance of gender in environmental conflicts and to trace how considerations of gender may contribute to the management of environmental conflicts. These issues are examined by applying gender analysis to the specific case of the Cauvery River dispute in South India. The results show that gender does determine the way people are affected by an environmental conflict, and the way they are involved in the conflict management process. Consideration of gender may contribute to improved management of environmental conflicts by promoting the involvement of all stakeholders, including women, who are often marginalized in conflict management."
Frontier Encounters: Indigenous communities and settlers in Asia and Latin America
Danilo Geiger, Marina T. Campos, Christian Erni, Søren Hvalkov, Sabino Padilla, Jr., Devasish Roy, Ranabir Samaddar, 2008
Poverty and the maldistribution of land in core areas of developing countries, together with state schemes for the colonization of unruly peripheries, have forced indigenous peoples and settlers into an uneasy co-existence. On the basis of case study material from various Asian and Latin American countries, Frontier Encounters identifies characteristic patterns of interaction between these groups, explores the dynamics of some of the open conflicts that dot the map of the two continents, and situates them in the context of the politics and economics of the “frontier”.
Daniel Geiger is a doctoral candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Luzern, Switzerland. He has lectured on political anthropology and indigenous movements. His research experience includes fieldwork in the Philippines and Indonesia. Under the auspices of the NCCR North-South, he has coordinated a comparative research project on conflicts between indigenous communities and settlers in South and Southeast Asia.
In sum, the present situation of forestry in NWFP is one of tension, mistrust, and the existence of unrelated forest governance regimes (customary procedures; state/donors approach).
We argue (1) that more independent agents are required to mediate between state and local forest users, and (2) that local people need to be provided with the information that they are entitled to demand proper and inclusive Joint Forest Management Committees. For donors, this represents a delicate situation of choice and "positioning", i.e. defining with whom to cooperate and who to support.
In: Carter J, Schmidt K, Robinson P, Stadtmüller T, Nizami A, editors. Forests, landscapes and governance: multiple actors, multiple roles.
"In Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, international donors found it difficult to find non-governmental organisations relevant to their purposes. Because donors were uncomfortable with the local conditions and regional traditions, they simply overlooked possible contacts."
"Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity brings together insights from eight case studies in Latin America and South Asia that provide nuanced descriptions and analyses of the experiences of decentralised natural resource management. The studies are compared in a non-reductionist way through an interpretative framework drawing upon various contemporary state–society theories and human–environment perspectives.
The book goes beyond an identification of universal mechanisms of effective decentralisation. It provides a useful examination of how political contestations within and between heterogeneous communities and a non-monolithic state produce complex and often unintended outcomes for the management of natural resources as well as for the realisation of political participation as a fundamental human right. Decentralisation meets Complexity is an invaluable resource for both practitioners and researchers in the field of decentralisation and community-based natural resource management."
This article summarises and discusses eight case studies from Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Pakistan, India and Nepal that focus on the everyday realities of decentralisation. It recalls the mainstream arguments favouring decentralisation as a basic human right (i.e. to be able to participate in decision-making) and in a more utilitarian sense (i.e. decentralisation for development). The eight case studies support aspects of the mainstream; however, they also present new insights. To position these insights, the article deconstructs mainstream decentralisation discourses as based on a functionalist ontology, often leading to rather managerial and mechanistic approaches. To contrast such a functionalist position, three critical social science perspectives are introduced: the neo-Marxist view of the hegemonic state (including the notion of subalterns), Scott’s simplifying state techniques, and Midgal’s state-in-society approach.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 15-55.
"Von Geographischer Entwicklungsforschung wird häufig Praxisrelevanz gefordert, die sich etwa in Begleitforschungen zur Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZA) äussert. Solch anwendungsorientierte Forschung ist wichtig, thematisiert aber nie das Instrument der Entwicklungsintervention und deren Grundannahmen selber. Der Artikel argumentiert deshalb für eine Forschung zur Entwicklung als soziale Praxis, mit deren Hilfe die Wirkungsweise der EZA als eine soziale Arena der Politikformulierung und -umsetzung begriffen wird. Diese analytische Perspektive wird am Beispiel der stark genutzten Wälder Nordwest-Pakistans eingesetzt. Trotz intensiver Entwicklungsanstrengungen in den letzten zwanzig Jahren geht es den Wäldern heute so schlecht wie zuvor. Durch eine Perspektive von Entwicklung als soziale Praxis wird deutlich, dass zwischen der Formulierung von Entwicklungspolitiken und ihrer praktischen Umsetzung grosse Unterschiede bestehen, welche häufig im Spannungsfeld zwischen «Projektwelten» und der realen Alltagspraxis der Beteiligten begründet liegt."
"Forests in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan are under heavy pressure. Often, local people are blamed in this regard for their exploitative resource use. The present paper, however, searches for an understanding of the ongoing processes by analysing the livelihood strategies and daily practices of representatives of the local state and donor project experts. Insights show that policy formulation at the provincial capital is not implemented in a functionalist manner at lower levels of the administration. Instead, many processes and acts of translation within the wider context of livelihood strategies take place along the actual practice (rather than the discourse) of policy formulation and implementation through the various scales from the head offices of donors in the North to the provincial capital in the South, to the regional centres and, finally, to the forests in the Hindukush-Himalayan mountains."
Die Wälder im Nordwesten Pakistans sind bedroht. Sie überleben nur, wenn die Bevölkerung und die lokalen Behörden bei der Bewirtschaftung und beim Schutz konstruktiv zusammenarbeiten. Ein Forschungsprojekt zeigt, wie sich das schwierige Verhältnis zwischen ihnen verbessern lässt.
In: KFPE: Gemeinsam zum Erfolg - Was Forschungspartnerschaften mit Entwicklungsländern bewirken. Bern: Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT).
Student Workshop Proceedings on Peace-Building in Nepal
Safal Ghimire, A. Nahikian, 2009
The document contains the results of discussions held during a visit to Nepal by Harvard University students, co-hosted by the NCCR North-South and Kathmandu University.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 211-239.
The discussion in this chapter assesses, interprets and analyses the syndromes of urban crime as one of the post-conflict challenges for state building. It eyes upon the issues of crime from the angle of post-conflict security. The chapter gives attention to the increasing bureau-political tensions, and by the use of delineating the functions and malfunctions of police administration also to the loopholes to be corrected as well as the strengths to be accelerated.
The livelihood strategies of internally displaced people are affected by the various factors and the new contexts that they encounter in the host communities. This topic has also been of great interest in the broader framework of migration studies. Taking the case of the Rajhena Camp in the Western Terai, Nepal, this Chapter examines
the livelihood strategies of conflict-induced internally displaced persons using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (DFID 2002) and the Rural Livelihood System (Baumgartner 2006) as analytical tools. This Chapter attempts to understand how the circumstances endured by internally displaced persons affect their capacity
to build assets or capitalise on available assets and, thus, shape their livelihood strategies. This chapter also discusses the relevance of livelihoods frameworks in studying the livelihood strategies of special categories of people.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 217-256.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 167-191.
Domestic Workers in Their Living: A Study of Selected Localities in Kathmandu District
M Gotame, 2009
The present study attempts to examine issues of domestic workers by analyzing their socio-economic status, gender division of labor and power relations in their working place. These are general but important and often ignored aspects of domestic workers.
Their socio-economic status suggests that most are not poor, but there are varying reasons why they moved to urban areas and started to work as domestic workers, mostly by their parent’s choice. Domestic workers are mostly female. However, males too have entered this sphere. Therefore, the study’s conclusion is that the male invasion in the profession is narrowing the gap in the division of labor. A very positive sign is that the majority of the domestic workers are attending school. They are also allowed to use their free time for entertainment. Further, there has been a change in the way of addressing the owners, showing a change of attitude of the owners towards the workers. This change may be a positive first step towards a shift in power relations.
In: Jeff McNeely, Tom McCarthy, Andrew Smith, Linda Whittaker and Eric Wikramnayake, editors. 2006. Conservation Biology in Asia. Kathmandu: Society for Conservation Biology Asia Section and Resources Himalaya Foundation, pp. 45-61
Humankind today is challenged by numerous threats brought about by the speed and scope of global change dynamics. A concerted and informed approach to solutions is needed to face the severity and magnitude of current development problems. Generating shared knowledge is a key to addressing global challenges. This requires developing the ability to cross multiple borders wherever radically different understandings of issues such as health and environmental sanitation, governance and conflict, livelihood options and globalisation, and natural resources and development exist.
Global Change and Sustainable Development presents 36 peer-reviewed articles written by interdisciplinary teams of authors who reflected on results of development-oriented research conducted from 2001 to 2008. Scientific activities were – and continue to be – carried out in partnerships involving people and institutions in the global North, South and East, guided by principles of sustainability. The articles seek to inform solutions for mitigating, or adapting to, the negative impacts of global dynamics in the social, political, ecological, institutional and economic spheres.
For the print version, please send your order to: (price: CHF 45.00 / EUR 30.00, excluding postage)
There are several forms of international migration from Pakistan towards many regions: North America, European Union states, Persian Gulf and East Asia. These forms of trans-border movement vary extensively over time and place of destination. Pakistan was also among the other countries that supplied work force to European progression towards industrialization in the 1950s. That trend changed in the 1970s when geo-political changes and economic configurations resulted in sharp decline in expatriate labor to Europe. Later that trend transformed into re-unification of immediate family members of settled migrant workers and immigration to North America. Migration to East Asia and specifically to Persian Gulf States is of more significance both in terms of numbers and the new pattern of return migration due to short contractual arrangements.
Analyzing the Effect of Economic Class and Status on Disaster Vulnerability in Parsauni and Pratapur VDCs of Nawalparasi District
Surya Raj Joshi, 2009
Recently, there has been a shift in disaster Studies and the need to study disaster through sociological perspective is increasingly being stressed. However, in the context of Nepal the studies about these relations are rare. Being a society with long existing social disparity it is a matter of study if socioeconomic factors have played a role in influencing the vulnerability of people.
The study found that social factors are major criteria for disaster vulnerability. Poor and marginalized people take disaster as a part of their life, while the richest have very little concern for it. Thus, the study concludes that poverty and different social and economical disparities are responsible for disaster vulnerability.
Kathmandu, Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS)
Social Network Analysis of Stakeholders in the Context of Forest Related Development Interventions in NWFP
Sadia Kiran, 2009
Pakistan is endowed with natural resources and forests are one of precious assets, but are exploited badly due to many socio-economic factors like poverty, political pressure, and lack of awareness leading towards poor decision making of majority of stakeholders. Despite the fact that numerous forest related projects and interventions in NWFP have been launched and implemented, the rate of forest depletion is still very high as indicated by previous researches. An exploratory analysis of social networks of stakeholders was undertaken because it has more significant implications for the success of a development projects/interventions or policy framework. The main objective of this research project was to identify and analyze social networks of stakeholders, their characteristics, roles, relationships with each other, perceptions and angles of perceptions etc. in the context of selected forest related development interventions (projects).
Masters Thesis at Rawalpindi Arid-Agricultural University.
Re-evaluating the burden of rabies in Africa and Asia
Darryn L. Knobel, Sarah Cleaveland, Paul G. Coleman, Eric M. Fèvre, Martin I. Meltzer, François-Xavier Meslin, M. Elizabeth G. Miranda, Alexandra Shaw, Jakob Zinsstag, 2005
Rabies remains an important yet neglected disease in Africa and Asia. Disparities in the affordability and accessibility of post-exposure treatment and risks of exposure to rabid dogs result in a skewed distribution of the disease burden across society, with the major impact falling on those living in poor rural communities, in particular children.
"Labour migration and remittances are major economic mainstays for Nepal’s economy. However, there is still insufficient documentation on scale and significance of this process. Estimations of migration figures suggest that real numbers are several times higher than official statistics show. Therefore this article contributes to the emerging debate of the last years comparing latest national statistics with own empirical data. The paper concludes that the total numbers of migrants calculated by the authors closely corresponds with official statistics, while amount of remittances seems to be higher indeed, highlighting once more that labour migration and remittances are an important mainstay of Nepal’s economy."
Temporal and Spatial Changes in the Incidence of Agricultural Labourers: A Study in Maharashtra State, India
Awanish Kumar, 2009
The present thesis is an attempt to analyse temporal and spatial changes in the incidence of agricultural wage labour in the state of Maharashtra. It aims, primarily, at analyzing changes in the size of the labour force in agriculture and the distribution of these changes across castes and gender.
Conclusions of Master Thesis at Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Indian agricultural development in the context of economic reforms
Causes of change and issues for a future reform agenda
Marion Künzler, 2006
Master's Thesis, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
"This work examines the influence of reforms in the 1990s regarding the agricultural development in India. Many studies have analysed the impact of these reforms but most of them focused on foreign trade or the industry and service sector rather than on the agricultural sector. [...]"
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 193-209.
In this chapter not the state-led but the non-state led militarisation of youth is discussed. In the context of Nepal, societal militarisation is fatal for the progress of achieving security, justice and enabling state because militarisation causes impunity, violates rule of law and implants societal fear and nervousness. The majority of the youth are seen to be in militant groups due to unemployment. The authors argue that if the state could have provided entrepreneurship skill development trainings to the youth, then half of the problems would have been already solved.
Master's Thesis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
Master's thesis on the current Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and its effect on promotion of sustainable environmental sanitation improvements at decentralised level. The transaction costs and risks associated with the CDM have shown to favour large centralised projects. Though many decentralised projects contribute significantly to increasing sustainable development, they cannot compete with large centralised projects on emission reductions at lowest cost. The study assesses the viability of selected case studies and suggests approaches to enhance decentralised CDM projects.
Climate Change and Floods: Vulnerability Analysis of People towards Disaster
Kiran Maharjan, 2009
Although flood disasters devastate livelihoods annually, especially in the monsoon, diminution in havocs in the low lying areas of developing countries like Nepal does not seem to take place.
As impacts of climate change are being felt in many parts of the world recently, the current study tries to analyze the biophysical as well as socio-economic vulnerability of people towards climate change and floods, clarifying the relationship between these two phenomena.
Abstract of Master Thesis at Kathmandu University.
Climate Change and its Impacts on Agriculture: Farmers' Perception and Adaptation Measures: A Case Study of Jagatpur VDC of Chitwan District
Roshna Maharjan, 2009
Climate change is a global problem with local impacts. The poor are hit hardest and are most vulnerable to its impact, as they cannot afford mitigation measures. Poor and marginalized people live on marginalized land, which makes them more vulnerable to disasters brought about by climate change such as floods and landslides.
The changes in rainfall patterns and temperature have made agricultural production risky. A large part of Nepal’s population depends on agriculture and therefore even a small change in climatic conditions affects the lives of people to a high extent.
"Livestock production is a key livelihood strategy and a way of life for most smallholders in the Hindukush. Depending on ethnicity, access to land, labor force, and ecological conditions, small to large herds of goats, sheep, cattle and buffalo serve as a primary or secondary source of livelihood. Ongoing deterioration of environmental conditions — frequently due to overgrazing — and the depletion of timber and firewood resources — often linked to demographic and economic pressure both in the highlands and the lowlands—increasingly worsen living conditions. Alternative livelihood strategies and pathways to more sustainable natural resource use are needed. [...]"
"In a report of the Environmental Change and Security Program, Richard Matthew and Bishnu Raj Upreti review the broad dynamics of Nepal’s current civil conflict and argue that environmental stress and population factors have played significant roles in creating the underlying conditions for acute insecurity and instability.
Through a brief case study of the Koshi Tappu Wetland area, the authors show that this situation is evident not just in the Maoist strongholds of western Nepal, but even in remote areas of the east, thus encircling the capital region."
Stellt die internationale Arbeitsmigration eine Chance für Nepal dar? Trägt sie zur Reduzierung von Armut bei? Können insbesondere arme Haushalte durch die Arbeitsmigration nach Indien ihren Lebensunterhalt sichern? Immer häufiger betonen internationale Entwicklungsorganisationen die wachsende Bedeutung und das grosse Potenzial der Migration. Gleichzeitig hat sich die Migrationsforschung facettenreich weiterentwickelt und befasst sich u.a. auch mit der Frage, wie Migrationshaushalte eine plurilokale Lebensunterhaltsstrategie meistern. Der Artikel zeigt Beispiele von Organisationsformen, mit denen Migrierende aus Far West Nepal die Möglichkeit schaffen, in der Megastadt Delhi ihre Existenz zu sichern.
Labour migration to India is a very important livelihood strategy for people living in marginal areas of Nepal. How is this strategy embedded in the local context? Which institutions shape the migrants' everyday life in India? What are the opportunities to improve the crucial institutions for money transfer and money saving? These questions are on the research agenda of an ongoing project at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
In: Jones G, Leimgruber W, Nel E, editors. Issues in Geographical Marginality: Papers presented during the Meetings of the Commission on Evolving Issues of Geographical Marginality in the Early 21st Century World, 2001-2004. Grahamstown: Rhodes University.
Lessons From Two Long-term Hydrological Studies in Kenya and Sri Lanka
D. N. Mungai, W. Elkaduwa, Boniface Kiteme, C. K. Ong, R. Sakthivadivel, 2004
The rate and characteristics of land use change in tropical watersheds due to changing demographic, economic and policy factors have important consequences for catchment health and environmental services. Few tropical watershed studies have lasted long enough to facilitate a credible analysis of the long-term effects of land use change on the environmental services provided by watersheds. This paper examines the driving forces and patterns of historical land use change in two long-term watershed studies in Kenya and Sri Lanka and their hydrological impacts.
"This paper examines the household livelihood strategies under agrarian distress in Pulpalli Panchayat of Kerala. It also looks at the relationship between household assets and livelihood strategies. The negotiations of institutions by the marginalized and depressed sections of the society were analysed in detail."
CDS Working Paper no. 396. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.
"This study examines the impact of agrarian distress on the different socio-economic groups, the strategies of livelihood adopted by households and the local institution in shaping these strategies. The study is based on the data collected from in-depth socio-economic enquiries conducted in Upputhara Panchayat in Idukki District. An important conclusion of the study is that the strategies of livelihood framed in response to a shock could vary across households depending on the extent of their asset ownership."
CDS Working Paper no. 392. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.
"This paper examines the factors and process underlying agrarian distress in Kerala by undertaking the case studies of three villages situated in Wayanad and Idukki districts namely, Cherumad, Kappikkunnu and Upputhara. The impact of distress on household livelihoods and indebtedness and how they cope up with the situation are examined with entire village and intra village analysis of data. The process of agrarian distress which resulted in suicides were analysed through a few in-depth studies."
CDS Working Paper no. 397. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies
"[...] This paper examines some micro-level studies on tenancy in Kerala, more specifically, its prevalence across locations and crops, characteristics of lessors and lessees, the terms of lease, and the income derived from lease cultivation and in the light of the analysis, argues for institutionalised arrangements for the expansion of lease cultivation, rather than sterner measures to check it. [...]"
CDS Working Paper no. 378. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.
"This paper examines the various dimensions of livelihood risk as informed by a in-depth case study of an agrarian village namely, Cherumad in Kerala. The livelihood risk in Cherumad since the last quarter of the 1990’s has been unique and unprecedented in their nature and intensity. The effect of price risk and productivity risk of crops became an income risk to the farming community. For agricultural labour too it was an income risk with double effects of wage risk and employment risk. These risk have resulted in a general fall in the living standards of people."
CDS Working Paper no. 394. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.
"In the coastal regionns of India, a complex and ecologically responsive farming system has evolved over centuries. In this system, rice an fish cultivation alternates trough a mechanism of water control. This paper discusses the evolution of the socio-political and institutional arrangements in such and integrated farming system (Know as kaipad cultivation) in Ezhome Panchayat in Kerala that emerged out of collective action, and documents how they could not be sustained. The decline of kaipad cultivation has been adversely affecting the livehoods of a segment of agricultural labour households, especially the women and the elderly. They are several constraints to the revival of this cultivation. Nevertheless, reviving this is vital for ecorestoration and to ensure justice to the disadvantaged people."
Pre-conference Proceedings. University of Bern, Switzerland, 2–4 July 2008
NCCR North-South, 2008
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 21
Access to Land Resource: Dalits and their Livelihood Insecurity.
Purna Bahadur Nepali, 2008
Historical distribution of land in Nepal does not reflect a spirit of social justice. Only a few people owned or had control over land in the name of Birta, Jagir and other land entitlements.
In an agrarian society like Nepal, there is no off-farm opportunity to make better income. Also, there is no social security policy for the Dalits so that they constantly face hunger and food insecurity. Dalits' livelihood is miserable and vulnerable. Various kinds of informal institutions such as the Balighare, Khalo and Khan Pratha existed in the traditional agrarian system of Nepal. These were discriminatory and exploitive in form. This unjust situation is further compounded by the Hindu caste system of untouchability. Hence, Dalits today are marginalized people on each sphere of life, and their human rights are being continuously violated.
Therefore, the state has to take some bold steps in enunciating a future scientific land reform program in order to bring about equitable changes.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 151-166.
Land is one of the key factors to determine power structure. Unequal distribution of land can result in various forms such as discrimination, dominance, exploitation and violence. In spite of the past development interventions, political changes and land reform programmes, the feudal and historical legacies in production relation have not changed much in Nepal. But to attain meaningful state building it is one of the necessary conditions to guarantee the access of land to the majority of the poor people.
Acces to Land Resources: Livelihood Strategy of Ex-Kamaiyas of Kailali District
Mahima Neupane, 2008
Kamayia is an agriculture-based bonded labour system, practiced in the Terai belt of Nepal.
This study attempted to understand the livelihood status and strategies, the vulnerability and coping strategies of Ex-Kamayias with a main focus on their livelihood strategies in combination with land resources.
Livelihood strategy of the street food vendor in Kathmandu city: A case study of Jawalakhel, Gongabu and New Road Area
Soney Pandey, 2008
In Kathmandu City, there are many Street Food Vendors selling pre-cooked, packed food and food to be cooked on the spot. Most of the Street Food Vendors are migrants from rural areas of the country and usually poorly educated or illitarate.
This study attempts to examine the socio-economic conditions of Street Food Vendors, their livelihood strategies, the vulnerability of their context and the consumers' perception of the street food.
Livelihood Strategy and Occupational Vulnerability of Street Ice Cream Vendors in Kathmandu Valley
Indra Prasad Paneru, 2008
Urban centers are dynamic places for different business and exchange activities. Earning their livelihood by street ice-cream vending in urban Kathmandu is also a business for a group of people.
This study examines the livelihood strategy and assets, socio-economic background, migration status, working condition and occupational vulnerability of street ice-cream vendors in Kathmandu valley.
Livelihood Options of Internally Displaced Girls in Kathmandu and Nepalgunj: Analyzing Risks and Vulnerabilities
Sulava Piya, 2010
The present qualitative study focuses on the livelihood strategies of young displaced girls in two urban centers of Nepal, Kathmandu and Nepalgunj. The study attempted to highlight the livelihood options and strategies of those girls who had been forcefully displaced to urban centers. The attempt was also made to analyze the livelihoods of the girls with the use of two renowned frameworks - DFID's Sustainable Livelihood Framework and Rural Livelihood Strategies.
Abstract of Master Thesis at Kathmandu University.
Interlinkages between Internal and International Migration: A Case Study of Migrants from Bajhang in Dhangadhi, Far West Nepal
Ephraim Poertner, 2010
In Nepal, poverty, unemployment, demographic developments and political turmoil during the Maoist insurgency have fuelled out-migration to foreign countries as well as internal migration in the recent past.
Both internal and international migration phenomena are little researched components of the demographic dynamics in Nepal, despite their relevance for the country’s socio-economic and political development. The interlinkages between the two types of migration are even less understood, although it is assumed that they often influence one another. Evidence from research on migration in Nepal has revealed that internal migration can lead to international migration and vice versa. This study focuses therefore on such interlinkages between international and internal migration and aims at unveiling how internal migration and labour migration to India are interlinked in the case of a migrant community in the urban Terai.
Abstract of Master Thesis at University of Zurich.
This paper addresses the topic of “Promoting employment in the informal economy in South Asia: Policy options and implications on institutional frameworks and social organizations” by first outlining the sector and the special status it has been accorded by policy makers in India. The history of institutional support for the sector is outlined next, with a focus on enterprise development. Next, the paper discusses experiences and policies as relating to Productive Social Organisations (PSOs). It ends with a comment on relating policy and practice.
This book on "Nepal: Transition to Transformation" is the outcome of a national conference jointly organized by the Kathmandu University (KU) and the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and held in Kathmandu on June 22, 2007. All the papers included here were originally presented in that conference.
In sum, the papers in this volume provide valuable insights in the state-of-art of the comtemporary Nepal and the roadmap that lies ahead for it. In particular, issues relatd to the post-conflict situation and ways to transform Nepal are well described. I strongly believe that the discourse contained in these papers as well as analysis of issues in relation to transition and transformation could be of interest to the policy makers, planners, politicians, researchers and scholars in Nepal and outside alike.
This book presents accounts of how Nepal is moving from a feudal, centralized, exclusionary monarchical state to an inclusive, federal republican nation. The book contains the role of the ten years of the armed conflict and the popular people's movement of April 2006 to bring enormous political and social changes in Nepal. The book also examines the role of foreign aid, situation of internally displaced people, relationship between land and conflict, and issues of pluralism, diversity and integration. Finally this book gives succinct ways forward for establishing political change and socio-economic transformation.
Nepal is still emerging as a nation state. Consequently, a great deal of social conflict accompanies such nation building. Empirical evidences show that differences exist between different caste and ethnic groups and also between geographical regions. Cultural discrimination on the basis of caste, ethnicity, religion, language, and regionalism is equally an inherent phenomenon of statehood and creation of minorities in Nepal.
The key to attaining national integration is respecting and recognizing pluralism and diversity and empowering various groups of people on equal footings. Nepal is a country where none of the ethnic/caste groups is the majority. Social transformation calls for a thorough reform in legislation. The time has come to acknowledge that is is necessary to work out, with involvement of all social actors, a new body of laws consonant with that long-standing cultural and ethnic diversity which represents the deep roots of real Nepal.
Tenancy System and Land Productivity in Masuriya VDC, Kailali
Kalawati Rai, 2008
Land is more than just a physical entity for an agricultural society where access to and control over it determines the socio-economic structure and identity.
The objectives of this study are to assess the income sources of the tenant farmers, to analyze the investment-production relation under the tenancy system, to analyze how the tenancy system affects the productivity of the land and to examine the power relations between the land tillers and the land owners.
This paper discusses the historical experience with civil society and decentralisation in the State of Kerala, India. The paper tries to address three separate, but related, questions: firstly, what conclusions can we draw from the literature on the conditions for the success of civil society organisations in social transformation? Secondly, what are the lessons that the history of Kerala provides on the potential and role of social movements in the development process? Thirdly, how has the interface between civil society organisations and democratically elected institutions changed with the increased decentralisation of power to local people in Kerala?
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 275-310.
“It was hard to come to mutual understanding…” – The multidimensionality of social learning processes concerned with sustainable natural resource use in India, Africa and Latin America
Sustainable natural resource use requires that multiple actors reassess their situation in a systemic perspective. This can be conceptualised as a social learning process between actors from rural communities and the experts from outside organisations. A specifically designed workshop provided the background for evaluating the potentials and constraints of intensified social learning processes. Case studies in rural communities in India, Bolivia, Peru and Mali showed that changes in the narratives of the participants of the workshop followed a similar temporal sequence relatively independently from their specific contexts. Social learning processes were found to be more likely to be successful if they 1) opened new space for communicative action, allowing for an intersubjective re-definition of the present situation, 2) contributed to rebalance the relationships between social capital and social, emotional and cognitive competencies within and between local and external actors.
"The present paper discusses a conceptual, methodological and practical framework within which the limitations of the conventional notion of natural resource management (NRM) can be overcome. NRM is understood as the application of scientific ecological knowledge to resource management. By including a consideration of the normative imperatives that arise from scientific ecological knowledge and submitting them to public scrutiny, ‘sustainable management of natural resources’ can be recontextualised as ‘sustainable governance of natural resources’. This in turn makes it possible to place the politically neutralising discourse of ‘management’ in a space for wider societal debate, in which the different actors involved can deliberate and negotiate the norms, rules and power relations related to natural resource use and sustainable development. [...]"
From the Princely State of Swat and Kalam to the State of Pakistan
Sultan-i- Rome, 2008
The historic Swat valley in the North-West Frontier-Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and its adjoining area were covered in forest since the earliest times. The nineteenth century proved a turning point in respect to the exploitation of these forests when some outsiders, mostly Kaka Khel Mians, started to exploit the forest in the area and extracted timber for export.
Research into the present-day forest issues in NWFP has always recognised the importance of the historical past. However, very little was known about the details of forestry in the areas that comprised the princely state of Swat, and Kalam - both before and during the period of the Princely State of Swat.
The objective of the present study is to cover in detail the Walis period from 1947 till 1969 and also the post-State period; and to show how forests have been managed and used in the Swat State areas and Kalam during the period 1947-2005.
WP2/IP6 Working Paper No. 9.
Zurich: Department of Geography, University of Zurich
Livelihood Strategies and Vulnerability of Urban Poor: A Case Study of Khadi Pakha Squatter Settlement in Kathmandu Metropolitan City
Factors Influencing the Gender Disparity in Primary School Participation
A Case Study in Rupandehi District, Nepal
Lilith Schärer, 2005
Master's Thesis, University of Zurich, Switzerland
"This thesis examines the patterns of gender inequality in primary school participation and the different causes for the gender gap in primary school participation in the area of Lumbini, Rupandehi District, Nepal. Within the framework of the goals declared at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000 of achieving universal primary education by 2015 and eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, this study focuses on girls as a social group, which in Nepal, as in many other developing countries, is disadvantaged in educational opportunities. [...]"
Pakistan has very low forest cover, but these forests are very diverse in nature and of significant importance for the livelihood security of millions of rural people who live in and around these forests. Policies, institutions and processes form the context within which individuals and households construct and adapt livelihood strategies, on the other hand these institutionally shaped livelihood strategies may have an impact on the sustainability of natural resource use. The present paper aims to critically analyse the forest policies of Pakistan. Implications for sustainable forest management and livelihood security of forest dependent people are also given.
The present contribution is an attempt to understand the conditions that impede some households and social groups in securing a decent livelihood by drawing on ‘purported’ facilitating institutions. It is generally agreed that access to livelihood assets is negotiated through institutions. However, the way in which these institutions operate in everyday practice and in specific contexts is less well understood. The four case studies presented here therefore analyse how customary norms and state regulations work. The article argues that a deeper understanding of the working of institutions, which in turn influence who is excluded from and who is entitled to access a particular livelihood asset, also provides a bridge to evidence-based development support.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 283-297.
PhD Thesis, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
Most of the natural forests of Pakistan are located in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). High rate of deforestation has brought into focus the shortfalls of traditional state controlled top-down systems of forest management. The participatory approach of forest management was started through Asian Development Bank’s funded Forestry Sector Project (FSP). The province's Forest Department was reformed, and village level committee were formed to join the forest department officials in preparing and implementing local resource use plans. The FSP developed and implemented these processes in a number of villages, expecting the reformed forest department to spread the concept throughout NWFP. This thesis analysed the impact of participatory forest management on livelihood assets, vulnerability and livelihood strategies based on a comparison of project villages with non-project villages; and thereby identifying the issues supporting or hindering the effectiveness of forest reforms and decentralisation process.
This book attempts to unterline the livelihoods perspective of participatory or joint forest management initiatives in NWFP. The main aim is to understand the linkages between rural livelihoods, the role forests play in the livelihoods and the impact of (changing) forest governance on these livelihoods.
The analysis revealed that in the NWFP model of joint forest management, the provincial Forest Department maintains the priorities of forest conservation, while local people's top priorities are to secure the financial means they require for living and related basic needs. The book shows that this divergence of expectations was not taken into consideration during the reform process. Mistrust and lack of effective communication between main stakeholders are identified as another factor hindering the effectiveness of the participatory approach. Likewise the interventions had not taken care to include the poor and marginalised sections of the community.
To order this publication, please contact Regina Kohler at the Division of Human Geography, Department of Geography, University of Zurich.
Donor-driven participatory forest management and 'Local Social Realities': Insights from Pakistan.
This paper analyses a participatory forest management initiative in the milieu of local social realities (such as customary forest use, power relations and livelihood concerns) and the actors who are part of these realities. The paper shows that the donor-driven decentralisation of forest management did not consider traditional practices of forest use, nor did it attempt to engage customary institutions and local civil society in the process. Though new institutions (joint forest management and Village Development Committees) have been established for implementation of participatory forest management and land use plans at the village level, the paper shows that responsibility delegated by the state to these institutions concerns protection of the forests rather than management. A mismatch between local livelihood concerns and the institutional change process is also revealed.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 249-273.
Deforestation in Pakistan is one of the highest in the world, despite rigorous institutional changes in forest management paradigms. This paper attempts to provide an explanatory analysis of forest governance and deforestation and its consequences in Pakistan, to examine the interaction between forests and local livelihoods, and to identify the factors responsible for deforestation and the ineffectiveness of state forest management strategies. The paper argues that some of the main barriers to effective and sustainable forest management are a lack of understanding of local livelihood strategies, lack of political will in the part of state actors, lack of sense of ownership of forests by the local communities, and the presence of powerful timber smugglers.
In: : Cornin R, Pandya A, editors. Exploiting Natural Resources: Growth, Instability, and Conflict in the Middle East and Asia. Washington DC: The Henry L. Stimson Centre, pp 21-32
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S, editors. The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 47-63.
This chapter initiates a debate on the role of private sector in conflict transformation and post-conflict state building. The key questions in this paper are: What went wrong with the development in Nepal in the last several decades? And what role can the business community play in resurrecting this fragile country?
In short, the general perception among the Nepalese is that foreign aid made life more pleasant and rewarding for a limited few and that it has done little to promote the production of wealth, or to breed political responsibility, or to encourage people to help themselves. By doing so it has allowed successive governments to avoid correcting their mistakes.
In order to transform this nation into a 'New Nepal', all the stakeholders need to reform themselves, starting from the political parties to the donor community. The stubborn and un-reforming attitude of the political parties is being assisted by the 'business as usual' attitude of the other stakeholders. AID cannot be blamed for all the mistakes made in the projects it bankrolls. However, by providing a seemingly endless credit line to governments regardless of their policies, AID effectively discourages governments from learning from and correcting their mistakes.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 305-310.
In this chapter the author tries to wrap up the discussions of of the book by synthesising the concepts discussed and highlighting the complexities of post-conflict state building.
Socio-Economic Study and Livelihood Conditions of Dalits of Geta VDC in Kailali District
Shristee Singh, 2008
Dalits are considered as one of the most disadvantaged groups because the process of social stratification and job distribution in the past has resulted in their present socio-economic plight and their entire and perpetual backwardness. Hence, most of the Dalits even today remain poorest of the poor. Even though many of the Dalits carry on with their caste based and service oriented traditional occupation as well as agricultural work, the significant return to the service they render and landlessness have made them face appalling poverty. Therefore, the main object of this study was to examine the socio-economic and livelihood conditions of Dalits, their household level food security with respect to land holding size and their living standard.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Indian natural rubber sector has been affected by trends towards trade liberalisation, a reduced role of the State, and organisational reforms. Rubber cultivators in Kerala - around 1 million holders cultivating an average 0.5 ha of rubber plantation - have been affected by these processes in different ways. It is hypothesised that growers - especially the ones located in agro-ecologically marginal rubber areas - are coping with these changes with diversified income-generating strategies. The book shows that the different types of holdings have specific management strategies and ways of dealing with risks. Furthermore, there is evidence that specific local institutions and organisations can hinder and/or support the income generation of the different types of holdings.
In the face of economic liberalisation, a reduced role of the state, and the changing institutional setting affecting less developed countries, it has become important to understand the impacts of these processes on the livelihoods of rural households. Empirical studies show that smallholders are facing more and more difficulties in dealing with declining terms of trade and the fluctuating prices of agricultural commodities, which play an important role in the income of smallholder producers in rural areas. There is a hypothesis that, since the beginning of these processes, the opening-up of rural areas to the “global world” has induced a shift from solely agricultural and farm income towards a more diverse income portfolio. A second hypothesis is that the local institutional setting plays a key role in supporting or hindering the diversified livelihood strategies of smallholders. This study takes these as its research hypotheses and seeks to validate them through a crop- and locality-specific case study.
This publication first draws a global picture of food security and examines why food prices have soared. Later, it analyses the Pakistan situation accounting for all of the following aspects of food security: Food availability, access to food, food absorption and sustainability of availability and access. Ultimately, it looks at ways to improve the availability of food at affordable prices.
For poverty reduction interventions to be effective, it is important to understand the multiple livelihood assets, livelihood activities and multiple sources of vulnerability faced by the poor. In addition to recognizing these activities, using livelihood approaches requires an attempt to understand the processes that underlie poverty, and the social, cultural, political, and institutional contexts in which poor people live. Although the individual, household, and community are the primary levels of analysis, livelihood approaches seek out the relevant interactions at micro, meso, and macro levels. In this backdrop, the main objective of this “Livelihood Assets Atlas” is to provide a comparative depiction of the indicators of livelihood assets which are assumed as poverty reducing factors.
Women's right to land ownership in Swat State Areas
The Swat State era and the post-State scenario.
Rome Sultan-i-, 2008
<7i>Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies 2008(1): 105-121.
Analysis of Forest Related Development Interventions in Highland District of NWFP, Pakistan
Muhamad Tayyab, 2008
Global community has been discussing international forest policy issues within the United Nations system since the end of the Second World War. Since then, the forest sector has undergone many changes. The Millennium Development Goals and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), for example, recognize that forests are critical to achieving overall sustainable development, reducing poverty, securing livelihoods, improving the environment, halting the loss of biodiversity and reversing land and resource degradation.
Pakistan is also following the global agenda and several forest related development projects/interventions were carried out from time to time in forest rich mountainous areas. But very few studies are reported on the analysis of such projects on scientific basis. The present research project is therefore designed to critically analyze the forest related interventions in NWFP.
Processes of migration are embedded in social networks, more recently conceptualised as social capital, from sending households to migrants’ formal and informal associations at their destinations. These processes are often assumed to reduce individuals, households and economies’ vulnerabilities and thus attract policy-makers’ attention to migration management. The paper aims to conceptualise the gendered interface between social capital and vulnerability. It utilises Bourdieu’s notion of social capital as an analytical starting point. To illuminate our conceptual thoughts we refer to empirical examples from migration research from various Asian countries.
Bourdieu’s theory highlights the social construction of gendered vulnerability. It goes beyond that by identifying the investment in symbolic capital of female honour as an indirect investment in social and, ultimately, economic capital.
"International labour migration is a main livelihood strategy for many people in Nepal. This article analyses the migration process from the perspective of migrants and their non-migrating household members, exploring the institutional regulations that structure the organization of migration and the cash flows involved. The results are based on a case study conducted in Sainik Basti, Western Nepal, in 2002. The article shows that for different destinations there are specific ways of organizing migration. These country specific ways of organizing migration demand specific assets from prospective migrants and their household members and, therefore, influence their choice of destination. Savings are remitted back home mainly by carrying them personally or by using the hundi system. [...]"
Based on existing research about the importance of migration, questions need to be raised about how Nepalese migrants live in receiving countries, what individual or structural backgrounds enable migrants and their families to benefit from migration, and what prevents them from doing so. How do migrants manage their daily lives, how do they gain access to resources, and what are their reasons for doing so?
The principal aim of the study is to enhance understanding of the process of migration and its contribution to the livelihoods of people from rural areas in Nepal. It also aims to help develop interventions that will maximise the benefits of migration.
Although migration from Nepal has increasingly been the subject of research since the 1990s, there are very few publications about gender and migration in Nepal. We want to contribute to fill this research gap by presenting a case study of women’s livelihoods in the context of labour migration, both as migrants themselves and as women who remain in the villages. The migrants originate from Bajura district of the Far Western Development Region, where migration to India has been a common occurrence for several generations and the economy can be described as “agri-migratory” (Bruslé 2008: 241). The analysis sheds light on women’s individual aspirations as well as their position within their families and communities. It also explores how kinship networks and social capital shape women’s lives and whether migration facilitates social change.
In: European Bulletin of Himalayan Research 35-36: 107-121.
"Kann Migration zur Reduzierung von Armut beitragen? Immer häufiger betonen internationale Entwicklungsorganisationen die wachsende Bedeutung und das große Potenzial der Migration. Gleichzeitig hat sich die Migrationsforschung facettenreich weiterentwickelt und befasst sich unter anderem auch mit der Frage, wie Migrationshaushalte eine plurilokale Lebensunterhaltsstrategie meistern. Der Artikel zeigt Beispiele von Organisationsformen, mit denen Migrierende aus dem ruralen Nepal die Möglichkeit schaffen, in der Megastadt Delhi ihre Existenz zu sichern. Dabei wird ersichtlich, dass der Beitrag von Migration zur Existenzsicherung weit über die Bedeutung von Geldüberweisungen hinausgeht."
Women's participation in mountain tourism in Nepal started during the 1920s and 1930s with portering. It has now reached a stage, though in small numbers, where female trek leaders are leading solo women tourist trekkers; working as team leaders in mountain expeditions; and operating hotels, lodges, restaurants, trekking and travel agencies in top management positions. However, most of their involvement is at lower level jobs in various organized sub-sectors of tourism. Will balanced development of the tourism sector be possible without enhancing the equitable share of women workers in the access to and control over the benefits from mountain tourism in a context where more than fifty percent of total numbers engaged in the industry are women? This brief paper attempts to answer this question.
There is a great need for a pro-women (focusing on protecting and safeguarding of women) tourism policy, action plan and programs to increase the number of mountain women improve their status in mountain tourism.
The widespread involvement of local people in mountain tourism is not only mandatory for the comprehensive development of mountain tourism, but also for the fulfillment of the livelihoods related inevitable needs of mountain people as key local stakeholders. The post-conflict Nepal after the end of a decade long (1996-2006) violent conflict is passing through the fragile period of transition. The local communities' participation is increasingly important to prevent their discontent and frustration, and, if not fulfilled, can further induce the possibility of the recurrence of any kind of unwarranted conflict in Nepal.
A sincere review on existing mountain tourism related policies and regulation and molding these measures to facilitate local people's participation will be justifiable for the sustainable development of mountain tourism in Nepal.
Sustainable tourism and post-conflict state building
P.K. Upadhaya, Sagar Raj Sharma, 2010
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S, editors. The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 87-109.
This chapter looks at the different sources of the decade-long armed conflict in Nepal and their interrelationship with livelihood insecurity. The complexity and interwovenness of the different causes is highlighted and their collective impact on the livelihoods of the poor and marginalised people examined.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 9-47.
The livelihoods of people in conflict-ridden countries like Nepal are threatened by various conventional and non-conventional factors. The decade long conflict and the ongoing peace process have altered the livelihood options in Nepal, creating new options while constraining others. This Chapter highlights the need for a proper understanding of livelihoods in Nepal in the current transitional context to develop a response strategy to address livelihood insecurity and to capitalize on the opportunities brought about by the political changes in the country. It also suggests some areas for further research and analysis.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 257-271.
In: Rotberg F, Swain A, editors. Natural Resources Security in South Asia: Nepal's Water. Stockholm: Institute for Security and Development Policy, pp 15-65.
This book looks at livelihood insecurity and social tension in Nepalese society. Conceptual links between livelihood insecurity, social tension and conflict in Nepal have seldom been made. Therefore, we examine this relationship from different perspectives. Nepalese experts, campaigners, academic and non-academic scholars engaged in the fields of public policy analysis, food rights and globalisation, livelihoods, conflict transformation and social change were invited to contribute their views and analysis. Their contributions provide the reader with a wide range of perspectives on livelihood insecurity and social conflict. Another aim of the book is to test the explanatory power of the livelihood approaches and to enrich the livelihood perspective by constructive and evidence-based criticism.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: RCO South Asia, NCCR North-South, pp 1-7.
In Nepal, the ten years of armed conflict between the state and the C P N (Maoists) has uprooted thousands of people from their homes and communities. They are facing tremendous difficulties.
The objective of this article is to analyze the status, trend and dilemmas faced by the IDPs, and to initiate a debate on the urgency of addressing the IDP issues.
Nepal's armed conflict (1996-2006) has created enormous impact in biodiversity, the economy and society. This paper discusses only the impacts on biodiversity.
The main negative impacts documented from the study were: A loss of unique habitats for wildlife within ecosystems once the vegetation for such specialised habitat were destroyed; loss of medicinal plant resources after the forests were used as battlefields; and severe disruption of conservation activities, leading to intensified unsustainable exploitation as law and order was broken down by the armed conflict.
Land has always been one of the major causes of armed conflict and structural violence in Nepal. Land is also a source of feudal socio-economic structure in the country. Hence, examining land issues from these perspectives is crucially important to initiate fresh debates on the potential contribution of land reform in the transformation process and addressing the problems of landlessness in the changing political context.
This is an effort of researchers and practitioners to examine various aspects of land related issues in Nepal. This work particularly focuses on conflict and exclusion of marginalized people in access to and control of land resources and associated power dynamics in Nepal.
Livelihoods Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal
In this book, the basic causes of livelihood insecurity and social tension and conflict in Nepal are documented and analysed and possible ways of addressing these challenges envisioned. We do not claim that this book gives a comprehensive framework for addressing all the challenge this country is facing, but we firmly believe that it will contribute to a deeper understanding of the livelihood complexity of poor people and elucidate potential ways to enhance their livelihood security and contribute to solving social conflict in Nepal.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 273-282.
Nepal's transition can be successful only when Nepali politicians can keep aside their vested and narrow political interests and collectively work for achieving broader national interests. Different groups with their various demands at present wait for the accomplishment of the constituent assembly elections and the formation of an elected government. It is crucially important to review the past achievements and the past problems, focusing on the processes, mechanisms, outcomes, and the spirit of various agreements (by avoiding to engage in blames and counter blames), and coming forward with commitments to order new institutional arrangements and appropriate processes and procedures that can ensure a smooth transition from a state of war to the conditions of peace, by holding the constituent assembly election, and by honestly addressing the grievances of the Nepalese people.
This book critically examines the decade long armed conflict and its impacts on various sectors, explores opportunities and challenges for Nepal's peace process and future development. It will be a valuable reference book for readers who are interested in:
Nepal's power, politics and political change;
land conflict and its relation with politics;
environmental stresses created by the armed conflict;
dynamics of internal displacement;
hydroconflict and its political implications on Nepal and beyond;
public legitimacy issue in making post conflict constitution;
relationship between the armed conflict and tourism and potentials of tourism sector in promoting peace;
reorienting of development in the post-conflict situation;
various impacts of the armed conflict;
role of women in Nepal’s peace process;
debate on the security sector restructuring after the armed conflict and challenges and opportunities for Nepal to achieve inclusive democracy, durable peace and economic prosperity.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 241-257.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 259- 285.
Promotion and strengthening of reconciliation and social and political reintegration is extremely essential for successful peace building in Nepal. This chapter mainly aims at focusing on the following objectives:
1. Identifying the issues related to reconciliation and social and political reintegration based on the reflection of communities and suggesting measures to promote community-focused reconciliation and social and political reintegration framework strategy.
2. Identifying community based capacity building measures for reconciliation and social and political reintegration.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 129-149.
The main objective of this chapter is to initiate a debate on the various dimensions of post-conflict development and reconstruction as integral components of state building and strengthening democracy and achieving durable and just peace. This chapter attempts to answer the questions: what are the key issues and elements of post-conflict development? How can development contribute to state-building?
This paper highlights the relationships between resource rights, governance practices and conflict in Nepal. The discussion is focused on policies, strategies, laws and regulations, and decisions and actual governing practices in natural resources. The good governance framework is used as a conceptual basis to analyse the relationships. This framework is for the purpose of this paper consensus oriented, participatory, guided by the rule of law, effective and efficient, accountable and transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive. Within this framework, the paper examines the role of resource governance in creating or minimising scarcity and conflict in Nepal. It is based on my current research project on ‘livelihood security, environmental security and conflict mitigation’ in Nepal. It highlights power relations, feelings of injustice, mistrust, the intervention of new technologies, contradiction between customary practices and statutory laws as sources of research. Resource conflicts produce both positive and negative consequences and alter existing social relations, as they induce change in resource management regimes, policy process, livelihood strategies, land use patterns, gender relations, power structures, and individual and collective behaviour. This paper also establishes the linkages between resource conflict and the ongoing Maoist insurgency in Nepal.
The April movement of 2006 has fundamentally questioned the feudalistic, centralized and exclusionary political system presided over by the monarchy in Nepal. It has also paved the way for a broader socio-political transformation and the ushering of a federal republic structure of the state.
Based on the experiences of the 19-day-long people's peaceful resistance movement, it is argued that the conventional concept of civil society needs to be redefined based on the potential of civil movement in changing the political system and shaping the future of the nation-state. The author concludes that non-violent resistance movement has a great prospect of settling conflict and building peace.
Nepal is known as one of the world’s most conservation-friendly countries, with more than 18% of its total area as protected areas. However, because of the top-down, bureaucratically oriented, exclusionary governance systems practised in the protected areas, there is tension between park authorities and local people that ultimately causes livelihood insecurities. Most of the sufferers from the poor conservation governing systems in Nepal are poor, marginalised and indigenous people. As indigenous people are the victims of protected area management systems, an intense debate on the property rights and prior rights of indigenous people has emerged. To shed light on this debate, the author has employed the conceptual framework of legal pluralism, thereby providing better understanding of the conflict between the customary rights exercised by the indigenous communities and the formal legal arrangements of the state.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Acces to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 217-248.
Nepal is at a crossroads of fundamental socio-political transformation. Facilitating and sustaining such transformation requires new vision, new constitutional framework, new institutional arrangement, new instruments and new commitment. Conduct, action and behaviour of the political parties, judiciary, security (military, armed police, civilian police, intelligence and other security related institutions) and bureaucracy are some of the fundamental institutions that determine success or failure of materializing fundamental sociopolitical transformation. Hence, substantial reorientation of these institutions is a precondition to make them relevant to the changing political context. This paper discusses the restructuring of military, one of the fundamentally important security components of security sector, from the conflict transformation2 and peace building perspective. The objective of this paper is to initiate a constructive debate on the need and approach of restructuring of Nepal Army in the changing political context. The paper brings argument that the relevance of transformation of Nepal Army is essential at the present context.
Nepali Journal of Contemporary Studies VII(1): 69-94
Nepal is in a critical transition from war to peace and is therefore facing several transitional challenges. One of them is transforming the security sector, which has operated within a highly centralized and unitary political system for more than two centuries. When the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) waged an armed insurrection in 1996, the state security system was reshaped to counter the insurgency. Hence, one of the biggest challenges is to transform the counterinsurgency and focus on ensuring that existing security policies, strategies and organizations fit into the changed political context. This chapter argues that the ongoing peace process will not be completed nor will democracy be stabilized without a thorough transformation of the security sector.
In: Born H, Schnabel A, editors. Security Sector Reform in Challenging Environments. Geneva: LIT Verlag, pp 165-187.
State building is a highly debated topic these days, whether referring to war-torn Iraq, conflict-ridden Afghanistan, or any number of other countries facing or recovering from acute instability. Questions of physical reconstruction and socio-economic transformation are especially crucial. The issue of state building has recently gained in importance in South Asia, particularly in the aftermath of conflicts in Sri Lanka and Nepal. The Remake of a State presents expert analysis, conceptual frameworks, and case studies relevant to sustainable state building in Nepal.
The role of the state in modes of resource governance is increasingly becoming a source of conflict over natural resources. Based on studies of resource governance practices in South Asia, this contribution argues that conflict or collaboration in natural resource management depends upon the legitimacy of the state and its interaction and cooperation with resource users. When the state shows a controlling attitude towards managing natural resources, conflict and tension are unavoidable. On the other hand, challenges arise in resource management if the state is too weak to provide a conducive policy framework, institutional arrangements, and a facilitating environment. This article concludes that expanding the horizontal and vertical legitimacy of the state is essential to promote sustainable governance of natural resourc¬es and to resolve associated conflicts.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 299-312.
"[...] The combined and participatory approach suggested in this paper describes how a more tangible, quantifiable relationship can be established between individual plant and community level processes. Such an approach, which involves herders in expert assessment and data collection, enables better monitoring and forecasting of those changes in plant community composition that are relevant for livestock husbandry and sustainable resource use. In this study, the highest dry matter production (DMP) was recorded at altitudes between 1200 m (with 1945 kg/ha) and 1600 m (with 1921 kg/ha). In “freely grazed rangeland”—where access is not limited and no manual improvement measures are taken—the proportion of palatable forage species is much lower than in “fenced rangeland,” where access is limited and the stocking rate reduced to one third. Such integrated assessment of rangeland conditions ultimately provides the baseline for evaluating changes in ecosystems over time; it also provides a sound basis for negotiation among stakeholders with different interests."
"Der mit Landwirtschaftsressourcen gut ausgestattete südindische Bundesstaat Kerala ist seit Jahrhunderten in den Weltmarkt eingebunden. Aber selbst in der heutigen Phase der Globalisierung und Liberalisierung weisen die Märkte für Keralas Agrarprodukte Merkmale auf, die nicht nur internationale Verhältnisse zwischen Angebot und Nachfrage widerspiegeln, sondern von zahlreichen sozialen und politischen Institutionen auf verschiedenen räumlichen Ebenen geprägt sind. Solche „real existierende globale Märkte“ werden im Beitrag am Beispiel von Cashew und Kautschuk besprochen."
Identification and Analysis of Stakeholders in the Context of Forest Related Development Projects in Highland Districts of NWFP
Implications for Forestry Extension and Rural Development
Muhammad Arif Wattoo, 2008
Despite various forest related development and extension projects had been implemented, the rate of forest depletion is still very high in Pakistan. Failure of most of the forest related projects and policies in meeting their intended objectives calls for investigating the underlying causes of the ineffectiveness of these projects.
The study objectives included;
i. To identify and characterize major stakeholders at multiple levels in the context of forest related development projects.
ii. To assess the perceptions of stakeholders regarding poverty environment nexus.
iii. To identify the interactions (affiliations) among different organizations and actors in terms of activities (projects) and institutions.
iv. To assess sphere of influence of involved stakeholders and the objectives pursued by them with regard to poverty and to environmental functions and services.
v. To suggest policy implications for improving the effectiveness of forestry extension.
Abstract of Master Thesis at University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
This paper reports the findings of a research project conducted in the forest districts viz. Mansehra, Abotabad and Haripur in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The main objective of the study was to identify the interaction among main stakeholders at the local level – and analyze their extent of participation in decision-making in the context of three forest related extension projects.
Poor interaction between the forest department and local communities was perceived due to supremacy of the forest department in decision-making regarding forest management at local level. It was recommended that implementing should involve local communities simultaneously in decision-making and implementation process, local communities should work with implementing agencies to accelerate project activities and donor agencies should develop consensus among involved stakeholders before the implementation of a project.
Pakistan Journal of Agicultural Sciences 42(2): 173-177
"The paper describes experiences of Waste Concern, a research based Non-Governmental Organisation, with a community-based decentralised composting project in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The composting scheme started its activities in 1995 with the aim of developing a low-cost technique for composting of municipal solid waste, which is well-suited to Dhaka's waste stream, climate, and socio-economic conditions along with the development of public–private–community partnerships in solid waste management and creation of job opportunities for the urban poor. Organic waste is converted into compost using the “Indonesian Windrow Technique”, a non-mechanised aerobic and thermophile composting procedure. [...]"
The NCCR North-South is hosted by the University of Bern
and funded jointly by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
