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

Bhawana K C; Digby Race

doi:10.3390/land9010002

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

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

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

Bhawana K C and Digby Race

Land, Vol.9(1), 2

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land9010002

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Abstract

agrarian change

food security

land abandonment

land management

land use

livelihoods

Nepal

migration

underutilization

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

Details

Title: Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal
Authors: Bhawana K C (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Digby Race (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Land, Vol.9(1), 2; 19
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.3390/land9010002
ISSN: 2073-445X
Copyright note: Copyright © 2019 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: Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; USC Business School - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451322602621
Output Type: Journal article