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.
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.
This book presents a critical analysis of the potentials and constraints of past and present models of developing agrarian innovations.
These innovations had low to non-existent impacts on the sovereignty and security of food production. They focused on linking indigenous food production to a market economy that was not able to guarantee reasonable prices to farmers, preventing them from covering production costs and basic needs for their livelihoods.
The attempt to overcome this one-sided policy in order to develop agrarian innovations in the context of a dialogue among scientific, indigenous and popular forms of knowledge was presented as an institutional experience developed by AGRUCO. This experience was developed during the last 15 years with active support from the Centre for Development and Environment, NCCR North-South and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Read an extensive account of the book launch by Stephan Rist
The Tajik Pamirs: Livelihoods in rural areas
Michael Domeisen, 2003
The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.
Focusing on pastoralism and access to land, this article aims to demonstrate that management institutions are eroded in a context of resource scarcity, and that certain groups build discourse and strategies on fuzzy notions of nationhood or identity in order to exclude other users. In this process, the notion of autochthony appears to be an ideological tool in the hands of native people to express their social malaise and difficulties in sustaining their livelihoods in a context of global development. The article concludes that in a context of ‘presence-absence’ of the state, negotiations between various stakeholders at different levels could foster sustainable development.
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 61-76.
"This is an important contribution to the literature on protected areas and the political ecology of natural resource management and conservation. It provides a very timely analysis of "participatory" PA governance and management, examining "new paradigm" PA approaches which - in policy and rhetoric if not always in practice - offer alternatives to the fortress conservation approaches that have so often proved environmentally ineffective, socially disastrous and morally questionable. The editors and 31 contributors "tried to determine how the participatory approach to conservation evolved in specific settings and who profits from the new approach." Drawing on research by 13 research groups working in diverse regions of the global South (South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia) and in Switzerland, the book offers a set of coordinated case studies that are attentive to historical, geographical, political, social, and economic contexts and dynamics." Stan Stevens, Univ. of Massachusetts
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: 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
Female Sex Workers in Kathmandu: Livelihood Assets and their Vulnerability
Madan Raj Joshi, 2009
This study attempts to explore the livelihoods of Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in Kathmandu. Particularly, the study examines the socio-economic background, motivational factors, social perception, livelihood assets and vulnerability context of FSWs’ livelihoods.
It is found that FSWs are quite young as well as uneducated and victimized by domestic violence and sexual harassment. The overwhelming majority of FSWs are migrants. They come from a variety of castes and ethnic backgrounds and the majority is divorced or separated. Motivational factors of the FSWs are complex and interconnected. Together with poverty, political conflict, unsuccessful conjugal life, domestic violence and sexual harassment have led many women into sex trade. Sex trade is regarded as social evil and societal perception is quite negative towards FSWs and their profession.
"Kleinbäuerliche Besiedlung und die Ausprägung von Haushaltsstrategien am Mount Kenya" in: Jeanneret F, Wastl-Walter D, Wiesmann U, Schwyn M. editors. 2003. Welt der Alpen - Gebirge der Welt. Ressourcen, Akteure, Perspektiven. Bern: Haupt Verlag, pp. 185-196
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.
"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. [...]"
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.
"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 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.
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.
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.
Access to Health Care in Contexts of Livelihood Insecurity
A Framework for Analysis and Action
Brigit Obrist, Sandra Alba, Angel Dillip, Manuel W. Hetzel, Nelly Iteba, Christian Lengeler, Ahmed Makemba, Iddy Mayumana, Christopher Mshana, Hassan Mshinda, Rose Nathan, Alexander Schulze, 2007
Access to health care is a major health and development issue. Most governments declare that their citizens should enjoy universal and equitable access to good quality care. However, even within the developed world, this goal is difficult to achieve, and there are no internationally recognized standards on how to define and measure “equitable access”.
This article presents a framework for analysis and action to explore and improve access to health care in resource-poor countries, especially in Africa. The framework links social science and public health research with broader development approaches to poverty alleviation.
"Health is the core value and ultimate goal of health development, yet we know very little about health conceptions in everyday life. Inspired by investigations into lay health concepts in Europe, our study explores experiences and meanings of health in a strikingly different context, namely, in a low-income neighbourhood of an African city. Grounded in ethnographic research in Dar es Salaam, we introduce the concept of 'health practice' and examine health definitions, explanations, and activities of urban Swahili women. Our findings show that representations of health form a set of experiences, meanings and embodied practice centring on the links between body, mind, and living conditions. We suggest that 'livelihood', 'vulnerability' and 'resilience' best capture women's main concerns of health practice in such a setting. All women face an emotional burden of being exposed to urban afflictions and an intellectual and practical burden of overcoming them, but some meet this challenge more successfully than others do. This approach tips the balance towards a positive view of health that has been neglected in medical anthropology. It also opens new lines of inquiry in urban health research by consequently following a resource orientation that acknowledges women's struggle to stay healthy and directs attention to their agency."
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.
The Role of Ecotourism in Improving Rural Livelihoods and Conservation of Forest Resources in Uluguru Mountains, Morogoro Region, Tanzania
T. Philemon, 2006
MSc Thesis
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.
Migration and Livestock Farming: Competing or Complementary Livelihood Strategies
A Case Study of Ylaitalaa, Kyrgyzstan
Nadia Schoch, 2008
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the breakdown of a complex economic system and resulted in a huge economic crisis and rising poverty in Kyrgyzstan. As a consequence, predominantly economically motivated migration became an important livelihood strategy to diversify the sources of income. Remittances sent to the remaining relatives have become an essential income source for many households. Besides labour migration, livestock farming with the use of pastures remains important for rural ivelihoods.
Though, evidence from research reveals, that on the one hand livestock farming is increasingly financed through remittances. On the other hand, migration leads to absence of work forces on household level. This setting of either complementing of competing livelihood strategies in rural areas of Kyrgyzstan are analysed within this study. The aim of the study is to understand the effects of migration on household organisation and livestock farming.
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.
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.
Why is rural Kyrgyzstan experiencing widespread poverty and a considerable divide between the wealthy and the poor – despite twenty years of independence and sustained efforts to reform the rural economy? Drawing on an innovative livelihoods perspective with a focus on institutions, the author illustrates how the Kyrgyz agrarian reforms of the 1990s have fundamentally altered rural property relations. Not only have the reforms redefined the economic value and social significance of land and other resources, they have redefined the livelihood prospects of the rural population. Existing disparities between the asset-rich and the asset-poor have been reinforced, and their social relations have increasingly become embedded in a poorly regulated economic system.
The book provides a vivid example of the long-term effects of an agrarian “shock therapy” and shows how the introduction of seemingly “robust” institutions runs the risk of widening the existing gap between the rich and the poor.
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.
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.
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.
"Worldwide, an increasing number of people are diversifying their income sources through migration. This mobility in most cases involves only parts of the family migrating, and this results in people's livelihoods taking on a multi-local dimension. Scholars have been studying this increasing mobility and multi-locality by applying either a livelihoods approach or one of transnational migration, but they rarely combine the two. However, one major criticism of both approaches is that they do not make the link to other existing social theories and do not therefore permit any fundamental analysis of the relationship between the subject and society, the power relations within a society and the changes human mobility effects to power relations. To address this criticism, I shall discuss existing innovative research and propose Bourdieu's Theory of Practice as a means to fill this theoretical gap."
Impact of Conservation and Development Interventions on Livelihoods and Forest Resources Management in Pangani River Basin: A Case of Muheza District, Tanzania
Mwembe Uhuru , 2009
Master thesis at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
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.
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 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 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.
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
