Katharina Schiller, Simone Kriesemer, Maria Gerster-BentayaUniversity of Hohenheim, GermanyTropentag 2013

Assessing the Sustainability of Leasehold Riverbed Farming for Landless and Land-poor

Households in the Terai

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source: Wikimedia Commons

Research Area: the Terai of Nepal

- Terai: “Nepal's breadbasket”- study based in Kailali & Kanchanpur districts, Far-Western Nepal

Issues- population growth- immigration from hills and mountains- climate change

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Khutiya River, Kailali

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Challenges facing the Terai

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- population growth

- increasingly erratic hydrological patterns

- encroaching riverbeds and oversiltation of arable land

→ increasing production pressure on arable land

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Riverbed Farming

- gourd vegetables grown

- initial investment costs: - tools- inputs- lease

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Assessing Sustainability

after: Kriesemer, S.K., Virchow, D. (2012). Analytical Framework for the Assessment of Agricultural Technologies. Food Security Center, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

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Methods

- study area: case study from Kailali and Kanchanpur districts, Nepal

- methods used: questionnaire, discussions with farmer groups, key informant interviews, detailed harvest sheet

- production unit = 1 hectare (ha)

- non-quantifiable indicators: rating system: – 0: low impact– 0.5: medium impact– 1: large impact

- target group: landless (< 10% ha) and land-poor (< 25% ha) farmers

- 318 farmers interviewed from 12 groups on 5 river systems

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Is riverbed farming:

- a sustainable agricultural technology that creates rural employment opportunities?

- a tool to help marginal farmers sustainably adapt to climate change?

Objectives

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Indicator Score

weight inputs 224.25 kg

weight outputs 16,496 kg

off-farm inputs 0.01 %

energy usage 0

water usage 0

waste for recycling 100 %

waste for disposal 0 %

wastewater 0

carbon sequestration potential 0.5

global warming potential 0

acidification potential 0

maximizes natural biological processes 0.5

promotes biodiversity 0

Results: Environmental Indicators

- prevents wind erosion

- enhances soil activity - improves micro-climate

→ environmentally sustainable

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Results: Economic Indicators

Indicator Score

gross agricultural margin $ 2,478

income per hour labor $ 1.48

- almost $2,500 in profit per hectare

- riverbed farmers' average income per year: $386

→ economically sustainable

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Results: Social Indicators

Indicator Score

total workers 24

non-household workers 0.5

female adopters 53.6 %

neighborhood disturbance potential 0- generates rural employment opportunities

- well-received by women

- doesn't disrupt neighborhood

→ socially sustainable

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Results: Technological Indicators

- riverbed production can continue indefinitely

- according to farmers, very easy to learn

- farmers apply new skills in home gardens

- replication seen in 7 of 12 villages

→ technologically sustainable

Indicator Score

financial capital required $ 245.48

physical capital required $ 28.19

production cycles per year 1

expected life cycle 1

ease of learning and use 0

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Results

Is riverbed farming a sustainable technology that creates rural employment opportunities?

- immediate job creation rate: 24 jobs per hectare

→ employment for members of the household

- secondary job creation: by farmers who have been riverbed farming for 5+ years

- re-invest extra income in riverbed farming: lease more land

- invest in market center shops

- open roadside restaurant

→ employment for other villagers

- slowing of male out-migration in 7 of 12 villages

→ YES!

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Results

Can riverbed farming be a tool to help marginal farmers sustainably adapt to the effects of climate change?

- riverbed farming is easy to learn and implement

- already independently replicated by neighbors

- short-term risk: higher due to risk of environmental shocks

- medium & long-term risk: extra income increases households' resilience:

- diversified income opportunities

- investment in crop insurance

- utilizes under-used resource

- farmers increase technical knowledge

→YES!

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Riverbed farming ...

- ... is sustainable – economically– environmentally– socially– technologically.

- ... creates sustainable rural employment opportunities.

- ... may be used as a tool by marginal farmers to sustainably adapt to the effects of climate change.

Conclusion

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Questions?

Thanks for your kind attention!