CHANGING SCENARIOS OF AGRICULTURE AND LIVELIHOOD OF THE CHEPANG COMMUNITY OF GORKHA, NEPAL

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Chepangs being one of the indigenous nationalities of Nepal are still marginalized in many aspects. This research investigates the changing aspects of agriculture and livelihood among the Chepang community residing in Taklung, Gorkha, Nepal. The study aims to examine the current cultivation pattern with highlights of past agricultural practices. In addition, the research tries to foster all possible livelihood strategies of the Chepang people for their living with a glimpse of land use pattern change and the probable reasons behind it. The research employs mixed methods i.e., both qualitative and quantitative methods to produce the desired data. Household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions forms the major primary sources, and published research, unpublished research, government reports form secondary sources of data for this research. In addition, remote sensing data is utilized to generate land use pattern change in the past two decades in the study area. Chepangs are one of the underprivileged groups of people in various developmental aspects such as health, education, transport, employment opportunities, and many more. For many centuries Chepangs relied on shifting cultivation hunting and gathering for their livelihoods. However, after the formulation of new laws related to forest resources management, Chepangs were restricted from the utilization of forest resources. Hunting was made illegal after the enactment of laws which acted as a major transition phase for the changes in their life and livelihood. Later, when their access to forest resources was severely restricted, they could not utilize forest resources for continuing the shifting cultivation, and hunting was banned so they had to change their cultivation pattern into a permanent one. Chepang people from the study area have restriction in the forest resources consumption, and utilizing the forest patches for cultivation is no longer possible, which has led to the disappearance of the shifting cultivation trend in the community. People in the present context are cultivating staple crops for food and cash crops for commercial purposes. However, paddy cultivation has been declining in recent years because paddy requires more irrigation. This research investigated the dynamic aspects of Chepang's livelihood, and found that still more than 80% of the people are involved in agriculture. However, only agriculture is not enough to sustain their livelihood and Chepangs are diversifying their livelihood strategies these days. Diversified livelihood bases are helping them to fulfill the needs of their family members. Those who are considered to follow agriculture for their livelihood have shifted towards cultivating income-oriented crops which have very good income value in the market. From the analysis of remote sensing data of the study area, there are noticed changes in the land use pattern in the area. When analyzed in detail the factors behind land use change, the major reasons are changes in the forest policy due to which forest patches were no longer allowed for cultivation and out-migration of the Chepang people. Chepangs are migrating these days to the bigger city areas for better employment opportunities as agriculture alone is not enough to sustain their livelihood. Hence, rural out-migration is one of the factors behind land use changes in the community. This study mainly focused on analyzing the changing aspects of agriculture and livelihood and found that the agricultural system has drastic changes, and they are diversifying the income sources including intensive cash crop cultivation for their livelihoods.