Understanding rural outmigration and agricultural land use change in the Gandaki Basin, Nepal

Maharjan, Amina; Kochhar, Ishaan; Chitale, Vishwas; Hussain, Abid; Gioli, Giovanna

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2020.102278

Cited by 57 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…As a result, they would not transfer farmland out or even transfer it in, and their non-agricultural income can be re-invested in agricultural production and used to expand their farmland scale. Theoretically, with a farmland size increase, they would increase agricultural inputs-such as fertilizers, pesticides, or agricultural machinery-which could significantly contribute to their agricultural and total incomes, thereby promoting farmland productivity [26,[41][42][43][44]. Lastly, because the non-agricultural income is the main source of the total households' income, II part-time rural households are less dependent on farmland than I part-time households due to the fact of a more stable non-agricultural employment.…”

Section: Theoretical Analysis and Research Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Farmland Transfer on Rural Households’ Income Structure in the Context of Household Differentiation: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

Chen

ChaoHui³

et al. 2021

Land

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Farmland transfer is an important factor affecting rural households’ income and sustainable development of rural areas in developing countries. However, recent studies have reached controversial conclusions on how farmland transfer affects rural households’ income because of ignoring the household differentiation and the difference in the impacts of farmland transfer-in and transfer-out on the income structure. Taking the Heilongjiang province, the major cereal production area in China, as the study area, the paper aims to estimate the impacts of farmland transfer-in or transfer-out of different rural households on income structure based on the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model. Results showed that the total income of all rural households transferring-in farmland increased significantly while the income decreased after transferring-out farmland, and I part-time households have the largest increase, followed by pure-agricultural households and II part-time households, whereas I part-time households has the smallest reduction, followed by pure-agricultural households and II part-time households. Because the increase in the agricultural income and subsidies was greater than the decrease in the outworking income for I part-time households transferring-in farmland, while the outworking income not increasing but decreasing when II part-time households transferring-out farmland. We can conclude that (1) encouraging pure-agricultural and I part-time households to transfer farmland in and II part-time households to transfer out of farmland, and develop mutual assistance for the aged in rural areas should be strengthened. (2) Improving the farmland transfer market and promoting non-agricultural employment of surplus-labor need to be synchronized. (3) Agricultural subsidies should be provided to cultivators.

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Section: Theoretical Analysis and Research Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Farmland Transfer on Rural Households’ Income Structure in the Context of Household Differentiation: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

Chen

ChaoHui³

et al. 2021

Land

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“…Yet in Nepal, two thirds of farmers are subsistence-based and more than half of Nepal's districts face regular food insecurity ( Paudel et al, 2019 ). Compounding this, there is growing agricultural labour scarcity due in large part to rural out-migration, especially in the Plains (Terai) region that borders northern India where opportunities for non -farm income are increasingly lucrative in comparison to agricultural activities ( Maharjan et al, 2020 ). This creates a clear and urgent need to address agricultural productivity, profitability, and sustainability to ensure the viability of rural livelihoods in Nepal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualising adoption processes through a stepwise framework: A case study of mechanisation on the Nepal Terai

Brown¹,

Paudel²,

Krupnik

2021

Agricultural Systems

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CONTEXT The desire for agricultural mechanisation is mainstreaming across the Global South, yet there are limited tools through which to monitor and estimate progress made in pursuit of this. Despite Nepal enacting an agricultural development agenda focused on mechanisation to address issues of productivity, labour scarcity, inclusive economic growth and sustainability, it remains one of the few places in South Asia that is yet to see substantial agricultural mechanisation rates. We use this scenario as a case study to propose and investigate adoption processes. OBJECTIVE This research aims to provide a baseline to understand progress made towards Agri-mechanisation on the Nepal Terai. Despite decades of promotional efforts, there are only limited comprehensive analyses of the status of agricultural mechanisation in Nepal that cover diverse machinery and go beyond binary adoption estimates, nor a framework to understand different types of (non-)adopters. METHODS The applied non-binary ‘Stepwise Process of Mechanisation’ framework provides a systematic process for investigation of the status of agricultural mechanisation on the Nepal Terai. This framework is applied to representative survey data from 14 districts across 1569 households from Nepal's Plains (Terai) region. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that decades of activity have not yet led to the substantial closure of exposure gaps, nor sufficient ownership of machines that enables accessible fee-for-hire service provision. Exposure gaps were substantial in all machines, meaning current demonstration programs may not be achieving their targeted outcomes. Across nearly all machinery, a primary reason for limited progression to sustained adoption was a lack of service providers, a manifestation of limited machinery ownership, meaning current broad subsidy programs aimed at procurement may not be achieving intended outcomes. However, substantial pools of potential adopters and concentration of supply-side constraints highlight that with targeted intervention, rapid rural mechanisation is possible in the near future on the Nepal Terai. SIGNIFICANCE This research provides a foundation on which to understand the progress made towards small holder agricultural mechanisation. For the first time in South Asia, a systematic analysis through a novel stepwise framework has clarified and updated the status of agricultural mechanisation on the Nepal Terai. This work also lays the foundation for future work to explore the drivers, implications and inclusiveness of agri-mechanisation, utilising the identified typologies, both in Nepal and more broadly where increased nuance in understanding the status of agricultural mechanisation is warranted.

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“…Arable land abandonment (ALA) has emerged as one of the most critical challenges to agriculture and food security, particularly in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic (Gray & Bilsborrow, 2014; He et al, 2020; Maharjan et al, 2020). Many countries have begun to restrict the export of grain and other agricultural products, and agricultural and food markets in some countries are facing disruptions because of shifts in food demand (Laborde et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have shown that the spatial distribution of ALA and rural labour outflows is uneven (Qi et al, 2019; Song & Zhang, 2019). Regional differences due to variations in farm labour demand and arable land resource availability (Maharjan et al, 2020; Xu, Deng, Guo, & Liu, 2019) may further affect the response of rural households to labour outflow. At the macroscale, however, such differences may be eliminated (Song & Zhang, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining pathways linking rural labour outflows to the abandonment of arable land in China

Chen

Meadows

Liu

et al. 2021

Population Space and Place

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Against the backdrop of increasing rural labour outflow in China, the marginalisation of agriculture and arable land abandonment has become prevalent. Previous studies have examined the linkages between rural labour outflow and arable land at the national scale but have largely ignored regional differences. Moreover, mechanisms linking rural labour outflow to abandonment have not been analysed systematically. This study uses 2016 China Labour‐force Dynamics Survey data (CLDS) and structural equation models (SEMs) to examine the means by which rural labour outflows affect arable land abandonment regionally. The analysis focuses on the mediating role and the moderating role of land tenure approval (LTA), nonagricultural income (NAI), agricultural mechanisation (AMC), and agricultural production efficiency (APE). There are three major findings. Firstly, in the main grain‐producing areas (MGPA), part‐time labour outflow alone is positively associated with arable land abandonment, while in the main grain‐consuming areas (MGCA), only off‐farm labour is directly related; there is no significant relationship between labour outflow and arable land abandonment in grain production and marketing balance areas (GPMBA). Secondly, part‐time labour does not necessarily lead to reduced levels of mechanisation, although lower APE emerges as an important factor in promoting arable land abandonment. Thirdly, the relationships between off‐farm labour/part‐time labour and arable land abandonment are moderated by LTA in both MGPA and GPMBA, while the moderation effect exists only in the case of part‐time labour in MGCA and GPMBA. We conclude that policies and measures in relation to agriculture and abandonment should be formulated differently for different regions.

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Understanding rural outmigration and agricultural land use change in the Gandaki Basin, Nepal

Cited by 57 publications

References 61 publications

The Impact of Farmland Transfer on Rural Households’ Income Structure in the Context of Household Differentiation: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

The Impact of Farmland Transfer on Rural Households’ Income Structure in the Context of Household Differentiation: A Case Study of Heilongjiang Province, China

Visualising adoption processes through a stepwise framework: A case study of mechanisation on the Nepal Terai

Examining pathways linking rural labour outflows to the abandonment of arable land in China

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