What Determines Indigenous Chepang Farmers’ Swidden Land-Use Decisions in the Central Hill Districts of Nepal?

Sharif A Mukul; Anja Byg

doi:10.3390/su12135326

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What Determines Indigenous Chepang Farmers’ Swidden Land-Use Decisions in the Central Hill Districts of Nepal?

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

What Determines Indigenous Chepang Farmers’ Swidden Land-Use Decisions in the Central Hill Districts of Nepal?

Sharif A Mukul and Anja Byg

Sustainability, Vol.12(13), pp.1-16

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135326

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Abstract

shifting cultivation

sedentary agriculture

smallholder

food security

rural livelihood

climate change

Swidden or shifting cultivation is a widespread yet controversial land-use in the tropical forest–agriculture frontier. In recent years, the extent of land under swidden and the people who rely on it for subsistence and income have declined. We report swidden land-use changes in two central hill districts of Nepal by indigenous Chepang communities—a stronghold of swidden cultivation in mountainous Nepal. Despite a common trend of swidden decline, as in other parts of South and Southeast Asia, we found that swidden is important in the life and livelihoods of smallholder rural Chepang farmers in the area. Swidden cultivation was found to be more important to farmers with limited off-farm opportunities and in areas where alternative land-uses were scarce. We discuss biophysical, socio-economic, institutional, and other key drivers affecting farmers’ decision to shift away from or continue with swidden in the area. Using linear mixed effect models, we also examined households’ attributes that may expedite swidden decisions in the area. Our study recommends greater access to alternative land-use(s) and other income-generating options for the wellbeing of smallholder indigenous Chepang farmers, as well as the sustainability of this age-old land-use practice.

Details

Title: What Determines Indigenous Chepang Farmers’ Swidden Land-Use Decisions in the Central Hill Districts of Nepal?
Authors: Sharif A Mukul (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
Anja Byg (Author) - James Hutton Institute
Publication details: Sustainability, Vol.12(13), pp.1-16
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.3390/su12135326
ISSN: 2071-1050
Copyright note: Copyright © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99469108402621
Output Type: Journal article

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