Household responses to food shortages in Western Nepal
Panter Brick, C.; Eggerman, M.
Human Organization 56(2): 190-198
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0018-7259 DOI: 10.17730/humo.56.2.v2n1m73468h7t614Document Number: 268937
A survey of four administrative areas and in-depth interviews of 120 households (a sample of diverse caste and ethnic groups, stratified by land area) was undertaken in two districts of western Nepal to document the severity of shortfall in local agricultural production and the range of household coping strategies . The duration of food shortages averaged five months of the year, but ranged significantly across households, with 4% of sample families being entirely landless. Out-migration, wage labour, petty trade, high-interest loans, and land mortgage were well-established coping strategies, beneficial for some families in generating income and the possibility for investment, but for others leading to progressively greater debt, economic marginalization and impoverishment. The study highlights the importance of encouraging diversified strategies for subsistence farmers to ensure cash revenue, much of which is derived from debt and emigration, and reviews the geographical and socioeconomic factors influencing both constraints on household subsistence and responses to seasonal food deficits.