Cooperative Based Water Management Strategies for Securing sustainable Livelihood- A Case of Gulmi District Nepal

Abstract

CHIRANJIBI RIJAL¹, GANESH DHAKAL², HOM NATH GARTAULA³ AND DEEPAK LOCHAN ADHIKARI⁴

Nepal is rich in water resources; however, these resources are not properly utilized for economic benefit of the people. Due to unequal distribution of precipitation, the monsoon summer season makes the country flooded, while the dry winter season becomes extremely drier. The poor management of the formal as well as informal water governing institutions is not able to ensure an efficient and equitable distribution of water throughout the year. With the help of a case from Gulmi district, this paper illustrates how an effectively managed community-based water management system can ensure an equitable and year round supply of water for its users. The research aims to assess the impact of water harvesting in agriculture production and analyse the management strategies adopted by community members for equitable distribution of water throughout the year. The water scarcity problem in the research area (Gaudakot Village Development Committee) is one of the common problems that the country’s hill region is facing. For example, the drinking water is supplied through a 16 kilometres long pipeline with scattered distribution outlets and regulated timetable due to limited availability of water at the source especially in the dry season, leave away the water for irrigation. In order to cope with this situation, some ten years ago, a few community members started collecting rainwater and made it available for household use during dry season. Even though, this was a good solution, the rainwater storage tanks made at household level were smaller and collected water was not sufficient for irrigation purpose. The community members devised an idea of forming an Agriculture cooperative and then formed water user subcommittee. The cooperative harvests rain water as well as lifts water by pumping from downstream and stores in a large reservoir with capacity of 600 thousand litres to secure year round water supply. The harvested water is distributed among the interested community members through distribution tank via separate pipeline|. From the beginning, they ensured the representation of women and disadvantaged people in the committee inclusive participation of class, caste and gender. Besides distribution of the the harvested water, the cooperative also provides loan to its members and assists in marketing of their agriculture products. With the increased access of micro credit and availability of water resource, the community members are able to grow commercial vegetables and adopt micro enterprise to secure the livelihood. The direct and visible impacts observed are increased income through production and sales of commercial vegetables, reduced male out-migration; increased access to capital; and enhanced food security.  Through this paper we invite the policy makers and researchers to take this case as a successful intervention for sustainable livelihood development in mountain region of Nepal.

Keywords: Cooperative, water harvesting, Community management, Inclusive participation, Food security

¹ Ministry of Agricultural Development, Agriculture Management Information System, Kathmandu

² Good Neighbour International Nepal, Jawalakhel, Lalipur, Nepal

³ IDRC/DFATD Sustainable Agriculture Project, International Development Studies Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

⁴ Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation Department, Development Inn Pvt. Ltd, Nepal 

River bed Farming (RbF) in Nepal

Riverbed farming (baluwa/bagarkhetii.e. cultivation in the sand) is the general practice of cultivating crops on the bed or in some cases banks of the river during the low water/dry seasons. This practice dates back to thirty years when mostly Indian nomadic farmers living near the border areas used to come to cultivate the riverbeds which were arable for certain types of crops. Watermelon was the only crops cultivated in the beginning. Although it started under the circumstances where there were no alternative lands for cultivation of crop such as watermelon, the scope has certainly widened greatly. And its utilization in wider scale is a relatively recent phenomenon.

The practice has evolved from being a subsistence livelihood approach to a commercial enterprise among the marginalized, landless and land-poor communities of terai. The key reasons for the expansion of this practice are mainly due to the availability of fertilizers and nutrients and improved agriculture technologies, easy availability of riverbeds, access to transportation and markets. Products from RbF always have access to the market. The emergence and development of haat bazaars have positively impacted rural agriculture in general with no exception for RbF. The yields are either sold by the farmers in these local markets or whole sellers and middlemen come to the farmers’ doorsteps to purchase the yield.

Major crops in RbF

The major crops grown by farmers along the river beds are watermelon (CitrulluslanatusT.), bottle gourd (Lagenariasiceraria), cucumber (CucumisstivusL.), summer squash (CucurbitapepoL.), bitter gourd (Momordicacharantia L.), pumpkin (Cucurbitamoschata D.), pointed gourd (Trichosanthesdioica R.) and sponge gourd (LuffacylindricaR.). Few farmers also grew chilly, beans, tomato and other high-value vegetables on the riverbeds. The choice of crop entirely depends on soil conditions and water availability.

 Majority of farmers undertake direct sowing of seeds in the pits. Seed rate used for each species depends on the nature of the plants. Seeds are usually wrapped until germination and sown once they germinate. After sowing the seeds, mulching was done using locally available dry grasses. Sowing of seeds was done between November-December but there has been a slight shirt in the period as monsoon occasionally extends beyond the normal rainy season as riverbed farming depends on the water level in the rivers. However, early sown seeds and resulting seedlings have higher survival chances because they are able to survive the frost and dew during the winter having matured early. Plastic capping has also emerged in the riverbed farming in recent years. 

For more information: csrijal@gmail.com  

Kantipur News dated 17 March, 2015

Photo: Megh Nath Timalsina, DADO Jhapa

Photo: Megh Nath Timalsina, DADO Jhapa

Photo: Megh Nath Timalsina, DADO Jhapa

Chiranjibi Rijal - photostream

csrijal's photostream on Flickr.

Clips collection - Moving around - selected photos.

LocalEconomicDevelopmentCourse2012VTS 01 1

The Development Review Beyond Research (p25-40), ISSN NO: 2220 - 7651, CHANGES IN LIVELIHOOD CAPITAL ASSETS BEFORE AND AFTER CONFLICT: A CASE OF FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN NEPAL

http://thedevelopmentreview.org/Papers/TDR_Volume1Issue1.pdf#page=25

Chiranjibi Rijal, Student PGD-Disaster Management
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

Hom Gartaula, Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Anthropology,
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
R3T 2N2 Canada

Abstract
In Nepal, conflict has affected different social groups at different levels and scales. Taking an example from Bardiya District, Western Nepal, the paper aims to assess economic activities and safety nets of conflict-affected female-headed households using capital assets in the sustainable livelihood framework. Open-ended interviews with 30 conflict-affected female-headed households were conducted, in addition to an extensive visit of the study area, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. The study confirms that in post-conflict situations, livelihood opportunities are limited in case of female-headed households. However, due to proliferation of development initiatives targeting conflict-affected families, their social capital increases at greater extent and economic capital at lesser extent. Realizing the limitation of the pentagon of capital assets within sustainable livelihood framework in post-conflict situation, the paper recommends political capital and psychosocial trauma as additional capitals and a heptagon of capital assets, for household level livelihoods in post-conflict situation.

Key words: Capital assets, Post-conflict, Female-headed households, Safety-net, Nepal

Acknowledgement:
The authors would like to thank Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP) for its generous support in conducting fieldwork in Nepal.

Redefining pentagon of capital assets: A case of conflict affected female-headed households in Nepal

http://www.riskanduncertainty.net/sites/default/files/ISA/ISA_Conferences/2nd_ISAforum/Redefining%20pentagon%20of%20capital%20assets.pdf

ABSTRACT
In Nepal, conflict has affected social groups at different levels and scales. Taking an example from Bardiya district, western Nepal, the paper aims to assess economic activities and safety-nets of conflict affected female-headed households using capital assets of sustainable livelihood framework. The study area was well affected by the decade-long ‘people’s war’ between the government and Maoists that resulted into the formation of many female-headed households especially in the rural part of the country. Open ended interviews with 30 conflict-affected female-headed households were conducted, in addition to an extensive visit of the study area, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The study confirms that in conflict and post-conflict situations, livelihood options and opportunities are limited especially to female-headed households. However, due to proliferation of development initiatives targeting conflict affected families, their social and political capital has increased to a great extent and economic capital to lesser extent. Realizing the limitation of the pentagon of capital assets in conflicts and disaster situations, political and psychosocial capitals are added and a heptagon of capital assets is recommended.
Keywords: Capital assets, Post-conflict, Female-headed households, Safety-net, Nepal

http://www.riskanduncertainty.net/sites/default/files/ISA/ISA_Conferences/2nd_ISAforum/Redefining%20pentagon%20of%20capital%20assets.pdf

Sisdole Landfill Site, Okharpauwa, Nuwakot