Abstract
Do changes in environmental security that result from declining access to forest resources shape labor migration in a context where household production and consumption are intimately dependent on natural resources? Using 1996 household data from the Chitwan Valley of Nepal, we examined if a decrease in access to firewood increased the likelihood of migration of individuals for work. The results of multinomial logistic regression showed that, environmental insecurity was a significant predictor for migration regardless of destination, domestic or international. Labor requirements for household maintenance also played an important role in the decision to migrate. Management of forest resources and poverty alleviation by providing firewood substitutes and economic opportunities at the local level is likely to change the labor migration flow, which could be an important issue for future research.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. David Abler, Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics and Demography and Dr. Sal Oropesa, Professor of Sociology from the Pennsylvania State University, for their encouragements and invaluable comments on the paper. We duly acknowledge Dr. William G. Axinn, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan, for proving the data. We would like to thank Population Research Institute and Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, the Pennsylvania State University and International Union for Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) for providing financial assistance that made possible for us to participate in the XXV International Population Conference in Tours, France.
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Shrestha, S.S., Bhandari, P. Environmental security and labor migration in Nepal. Popul Environ 29, 25–38 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-007-0059-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-007-0059-0