Agricultural Land Abandonment in the Hill Agroecological Region of Nepal: Drivers, Farmer Perceptions and Reutilisation Pathways

Abstract

<p>Amid concerns of the looming scarcity of agricultural land and rapidly growing global demand for food and biofuel, cropland abandonment is occurring in many parts of the globe, affecting millions of hectares of cultivated land. Although cropland abandonment trends have been widely reported and studied in European landscapes and other Western countries, this land use change phenomenon is relatively new in developing countries, including Nepal, and knowledge about the drivers and impacts of cropland abandonment is lacking. There is a need for a deeper understanding of why Nepalese farmers are abandoning farming, what are the impacts of cropland abandonment on rural households, and how abandoned croplands can be reutilised for the benefit of the rural community and the environment.</p> <p>Drawing lessons from global evidence, this PhD work aimed to understand the underlying drivers and implications of agricultural land abandonment, and to explore potential reutilisation pathways to improve the rural economy, food security and sustainable land use in Nepal. To achieve this goal, four research objectives were formulated and investigated using a systematic literature review and quantitative and qualitative data collection from three districts of the hill agroecological region of Nepal, using a mixed methods research approach. Three districts – Kavre, Lamjung and Kaski – were selected considering the diversity of demographic and socioeconomic status of farmers, land use and farming practices, economic opportunities and livelihood systems, and land abandonment trend and prospect for reutilisation. Quantitative data was collected through a household survey and qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. In total 374 household surveys, 6 focus group discussions, and 15 key informant interviews were conducted.</p> <p>The first objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review to understand the drivers and consequences of agricultural land abandonment and pathways for the reutilisation of abandoned agricultural lands reported across the globe (Chapter 2). For the review, 124 relevant articles were retrieved from a systematic search of CAB Abstracts, Scopus and Web of Science, applying exclusion and inclusion criteria in line with standard protocols. The spatial and temporal diversity of the reviewed articles showed that most of the research on the topic of land abandonment is concentrated in European (64 articles) and Asian Countries (44 articles). Although this land use change has received research attention from the early 1990s, about 95% of the articles were published only in the last 15 years. In the case of Asian countries, almost all of the studies took place after 2014.</p> <p>The review identified seven categories of drivers responsible for cropland abandonment: demographic, household characteristics, farm characteristics, biophysical, economic, regulatory and socio-political. Cropland abandonment had mixed impacts on several abiotic and biotic components of the landscape, with contrasting views about the social and environmental implications. However, negative consequences were most frequently reported compared to positive consequences, particularly in the agricultural landscape, farmland and farm structures, food security, socio-cultural aspects and economic aspects. Positive impacts were observed on carbon sequestration, habitat availability and microbial abundance. Although previous studies often considered land abandonment as a global concern in land use assessment and management, few studies discussed the possible reutilisation pathways of abandoned croplands. Alternative land uses included various farm-forest and afforestation systems, highvalue crop farming and a range of communal land management approaches. Finally, this review chapter provided valuable insights for future research and knowledge about the trade-offs and opportunities associated with land abandonment.</p> <p>The second objective of the study was to examine the extent, drivers and impacts of cropland abandonment in the hill agroecological region of Nepal (Chapter 3). The study revealed that, depending on the location, between 31% and 48% of croplands were abandoned in the region, with 60% of farming households having abandoned at least one parcel of cropland. Biophysical drivers (distance from homestead to parcel, the slope of the parcel, land fragmentation, land quality and irrigation availability) and socio-demographic drivers (family size, higher education of the household members and out-migration) were commonly responsible for agricultural land abandonment. Negative impacts of land abandonment were reported for rural landscapes, human-made farm structures, socio-economic systems, local food production and food security. In line with global studies, this research suggested that marginal land quality, demographic changes (particularly migration) and rising alternative economic opportunities elsewhere contributed to cropland abandonment.</p> <p>The third objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics and potential pathways for reutilising abandoned cropland. To address this objective, Chapter 4 examined the potential reutilisation options, farmer preferences, and conditions that create an enabling environment for productive reutilisation of abandoned croplands. Regardless of their abandoned cropland holdings, the majority of the Nepalese hill farmers considered that abandoned croplands should be reutilised. The farmers identified seven options for reutilising abandoned croplands: Cash cropping, Fruit crop farming, Spice and medicinal crop farming, Fodder tree plantation, Cereal cropping, Woodlot plantation and Mixed subsistence farming. Despite the dominance of traditional mixed subsistence farming in the area, the majority of farmers did not consider this system as a viable option for reutilisation. Farmers preferred high value and cash-generating options for reutilisation. This implied that the use of relatively productive croplands for marketoriented farming could help to minimise abandonment and revitalise the Nepalese agricultural sector. The study showed that farmers' preferences and adoption of reutilisation options are influenced by their socio-economic attributes, household needs and availability of resources.</p> <p>Chapter 4 also showed that the most important conditions that motivate farmers, apart from labour availability, were structural and institutional conditions that require state or commercial intervention to address. However, many aspects of these latter factors are beyond the control of farming households in the region. This highlighted the need for an in-depth understanding of how policies regulate structural, commercial and institutional settings, thereby shaping the reutilisation decisions of farmers at the local level. Chapter 5 addressed this need by analysing the policy constraints for reutilisation of abandoned farmlands and identifying possible policy solutions for the management of abandoned farmlands for productive use.</p> <p>Chapter 5 found that policy provisions related to land rights, labour, incentives and governance play important roles in shaping decisions on reutilisation of abandoned cropland. Land-related issues rooted in ownership, tenancy rights, access, inheritance law and rising trends of land conversation to non-farm use, have played important roles in shaping the abandonment and reutilisation process. Migration-promoting policies, and agricultural policies that fail to support farming systems innovation or agricultural market development have further limited reutilisation. Similarly, the lack of effective implementation of programs to manage croplands sustainably, weak coordination within and between institutions, and conventional land governance systems are other constraints for reutilisation.</p> <p>Based on these findings, five potential policy solutions to address these problems have been recommended: (a) provision of land use rights transfer to improve access to land, (b) promoting the consolidation of fragmented land parcels to help ensure economies of scale, (c) improved farm labour management and promotion of farm mechanisation to address labour shortage issues (d) commercially oriented policy priorities to reutilise relatively productive abandoned croplands for high-value, comparative advantage and export potential commodities, and (e) improved administrative and governance capacity of local governments to monitor and manage unauthorised land conversion, fragmentation and abandonment.</p> <p>From a global policy perspective, abandoned croplands are often viewed as unproductive land, occupying marginal lands. But there is evidence that a significant portion of globally abandoned croplands is still economically viable for recultivation, a view reinforced in this study. Thus, development activities and policies should consider options for reutilising abandoned croplands sustainably to address the growing global socio-economic and environmental challenges associated with land abandonment. Against this backdrop, it is anticipated that the findings of this study will contribute to ongoing national and international discussions about practices, policies and trade-offs of cropland abandonment and its reutilisation pathways.</p>