Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

From Forests to Food Security: Pathways in Nepal’s Community Forestry

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Small-scale Forestry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There is an increasing recognition of the contribution of forests to food security of poor and marginalized people. However, empirical findings remain limited on how forests contribute to food security. Drawing on four case studies of community forestry in Nepal, this paper discusses pathways through which forests are contributing to food security needs of local communities. The evidence presented here was gathered through 4 years of action research and draws insights from the past 40 years of Nepal’s community forestry practice, which is often regarded as a successful case of conservation and development. It is shown that there are four distinct pathways through which community forests contribute to food security as a source of: (1) income and employment; (2) inputs to increase food production; (3) directly for food; and (4) renewable energy for cooking. Despite emerging pathways linking forest management to food systems at the local level, forestry policies and institutions have neither explicitly recognized nor strengthened the linkage between forest and food security. The paper highlights that there is a need for a fundamental shift in thinking from the conventional notion of ‘forests for soil conservation’ to ‘sustainable forest management for food security’.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1 USD = 109.75 NRs as of 30 November 2016.

  2. Bhari is a local term denoting the weight of forest products, where 1 bhari is equivalent to 30 kg.

  3. About 1200 baskets of cow dung are collected every year to use as manure in Kalopani CF alone. 1 basket is equivalent to 25 kg.

  4. The calculation is based on the total households collecting an average of 10 bharis every month multiplied by the price of every bhari of fuelwood: 267 households × 10 bhari/month × NRs 200/bhari = NRs 534,000.

  5. A number of studies have shown that community forestry has reduced forest access of the poor and marginalised groups when such protection was enforced (e.g. Dhakal et al. 2005; Dhakal et al. 2011).

References

  • Adhikari J (2006) Land reform in Nepal: problems and prospects. NIDS and Development Fund, Norway, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Adhikari J, Ojha H, Bhattarai B (2016) Edible forest? Rethinking Nepal’s forest governance in the era of food insecurity. Int For Rev 18(3):265–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal A, Jamnadass R, Kleinschmit D, Mcmullin S, Mansourian S, Neufeldt H, Parrotta JA, Sunderland T, Wildburger C (2015) Introduction: forests, trees and landscapes for food security and nutrition. In: Vira B, Wildburger C, Mansourian S (eds) Forests, trees and landscapes for food security and nutrition. IUFRO World series vol. 33, International Union for Forest Research Organizations

  • Barrett CB (2010) Measuring food insecurity. Science 327(5967):825–828

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bharucha Z, Preety J (2010) The roles and values of wild foods in agricultural systems. Philos Trans R Soc Biol Sci 365(1554):2913–2926

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branney P, Yadav KP (1998) Changes in community forest condition and management 1994–1998: analysis of information from forest resources assessment study and socio-economic study in the Koshi hills. Nepal-UK Community Forestry Project Report G/NUKCFP/32. Kathmandu, Nepal

  • CBS (2009) Report on Nepal labor force survey. Central Bureau of Statistics, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • CBS (2011a) Nepal living standard survey 2010/2011: statistical report, vol I and II. Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • CBS (2011b) Poverty in Nepal 2010/11. Central Bureau of Statistics, Government of Nepal, Nepal

    Google Scholar 

  • CBS (2014) Statistical pocket book Nepal 2014. Central Bureau of Statistics, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen M, Bhattarai S, Devkota S, Larson HO (2008) Collection and use of wild edible fungi in Nepal. Econ Bot 62(1):12–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DFRS (2015) State of Nepal’s forests. Forest resource assessment (FRA) Nepal. Department of Forest Research and Survey, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhakal B, Bigsby H, Cullen R (2005) Impacts of community forestry development on livestock based livelihood in Nepal. J For Livelihood 4(2):43–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhakal B, Bigsby H, Cullen R (2011) Forests for food security and livelihood sustainability: policy problems and opportunities for small farmers in Nepal. J Sustain Agric 35(1):85–115

    Google Scholar 

  • DoF (2015) Forest tenure status, issues and challenges in Nepal. Department of Forests, Babar Mahal, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2006) Food security. Policy brief issue 2. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2010) Assessment of food security and nutrient situation in Nepal. Food and Agriculture Organization, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2013) Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and trees. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Gautam AP, Webb EL, Shivakoti GP, Zoebisch MA (2003) Land use dynamics and landscape change pattern in a mountain watershed in Nepal. Agr Ecosyst Environ 99(1–3):83–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godfray CJ, Beddington JR, Crute IR, Haddad L, Lawrence D, Muir JF, Pretty J, Robinson S, Thomas SM, Toulmin C (2010) Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Science 327(5967):812–818

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory PJ, George TS (2011) Feeding nine billion: the challenge to sustainable crop production. J Exp Bot 62(15):5233–5239

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gritten D, Greijmans M, Lewis SR, Sokchea T, Atkinson J, Quang TN, Poudyal B, Chapagain B, Sapkota LM, Mohns B, Paudel NS (2015) An uneven playing field: regulatory barriers to communities making a living from the timber from their forests-examples from Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam. Forests 6(10):3433–3451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurung A, Bista R, Karki R, Shrestha S, Uprety D, Oh SE (2013a) Community based forest management and its role in improving forest conditions in Nepal. Small Scale For 12(3):377–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurung A, Karki R, Cho JS, Park KW, Oh SE (2013b) Roles of renewable energy technologies in improving rural energy situation in Nepal: gaps and opportunities. Energy Policy 62:1104–1109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guthman J (1997) Representing crisis: the theory of Himalayan environmental degradation and the project of development in post-Rana Nepal. Dev Change 28(1):45–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobley M (1996) Participatory forestry: the process of change in India and Nepal. Rural Development Forestry Network, Overseas Development Institute, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanel KR, Niraula DR (2004) Can rural livelihood be improved in Nepal through community forestry? BankoJanakari 14:19–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanel KR, Shrestha K, Tuladhar AR, Regmi MR (2012) Demand and supply of wood products in different regions of Nepal. REDD Forestry and Climate Change Cell, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Khatri DB, Shrestha KK, Ojha H, Paudel G, Paudel N, Pain A (2016) Reframing community forestry governance for food security in Nepal. Environ Conserv. doi:10.1017/S0376892916000369

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahapatra R (2001) Betrayed: Nepal’s forest bureaucracy prepares for the funeral of the much hailed community forest management programme. Down Earth 9(22):20–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahat TBS (1987) Forestry-farming linkages in the mountains. Occasional paper no 7. International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu

  • Marquardt K, Khatri D, Pain A (2016) REDD+, forest transition, agrarian change and ecosystem services in the hills of Nepal. Hum Ecol. doi:10.1007/s10745-016-9817-x

    Google Scholar 

  • MoFSC (2013) Persistence and change: review of 30 years of community forestry in Nepal. Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra H (2002) Tenure and forest conditions: community forestry in the Nepal terai. Environ Conserv 29(4):530–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neupane HR (2000) Factors that influence the poorer households benefit from community forests: an analysis of forest management and benefit sharing processes. Dissertation, The University of Reading, UK

  • Nightingale A, Sharma JR (2014) Conflict resilience among community forestry user groups: experiences in Nepal. Disasters 38(3):517–539

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ojha H, Persha L, Chhatre A (2009) Community forestry in Nepal: a policy innovation for local livelihoods. IFPRI discussion paper 00913

  • Pandit BH, Thapa GB (2004) Poverty and resource degradation in Nepal. Soc Nat Resour 17(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paudel NS, Banjade MR, Dahal GR (2009) Community Forestry in changing context: emerging market opportunities and tenure rights. ForestAction and CIFOR, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Paudel NS, Karki R, Paudel G, Ojha H, Shrestha KK (2014) Reframing the farm –forest interface: how can community forestry better address food security and livelihoods in Nepal? Paper presented during the 6th National Community Forestry Workshop Babarmahal, Kathmandu, pp 16–18

  • Pender J (2004) Development pathways for hillsides and highlands: some lessons from Central America and East Africa. Food Policy 29(4):339–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pokharel B, Paudel D, Branney P, Khatri DB, Nurse M (2006) Reconstructing the concept of forest-based enterprise development in Nepal: towards a pro-poor approach. J For Livelihood 5(1):53–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Pokharel BK, Branney P, Nurse M, Malla YB (2007) Community forestry: conserving forests, sustaining livelihoods and strengthening democracy. J For Livelihood 6(2):8–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Reithmuller P (2003) The social impact of livestock: a developing country perspective. Anim Sci J 74(4):245–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sapkota IP, Oden P (2008) Household characteristics and dependency of community forests in Terai of Nepal. Int J Soc For 1(2):123–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen A (1983) Poverty and famines: an essay of entitlement and deprivation. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha PM, Dhillion S (2006) Diversity and traditional knowledge concerning wild food species in a locally managed forest in Nepal. Agrofor Syst 66(1):55–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Springate-Baginski O, Blaikie P (2007) (eds) Forests, people and power: the political ecology of reform in South Asia. EarthScan Forestry Library. Earthscan, London and Sterling

  • Subedi BP, Ghimire PL, Khanal SC, Gyawali S, Katwal P, Sthapit KR, Gauli K (2014) Potential of forestry sector in economic growth and development: short concept notes on five themes. Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme, Kathmandu

    Google Scholar 

  • Tester M, Langridge P (2010) Breeding technologies to increase crop production in a changing world. Science 327(5967):818–822

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thapa G, Weber KE (1995) Natural resource degradation in a small watershed in Nepal. Nat Resour Forum 19(4):285–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thoms C (2008) Community control of resources and the challenge of improving local livelihoods: a critical examination of community forestry in Nepal. Geoforum 39(3):1452–1465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vira B, Wildburger C, Mansourian S (eds) (2015) Forests, trees and landscapes for food security and nutrition. IUFRO world series volume 33, Vienna, p 172

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study draws on the findings from a research project entitled ‘Enhancing Livelihoods and Food Security from Agroforestry and Community Forestry in Nepal’, project FST/2011/076, also called EnLiFT (http://enliftnepal.org/), funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). We are grateful to Tony Bartlett, ACIAR Forestry Program Manager, for his support throughout this project, and Madan Bashyal, Kamal Bhandari and Mitra Jirel for their support in field data collection. We would also like to express our gratitude to the local communities in the research sites for providing us with information in relation to this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ForestAction Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Rahul Karki, Naya Paudel, Dil B. Khatri & Anukram Adhikary

  2. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Krishna K. Shrestha & Hemant Ojha

  3. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Dil B. Khatri

  4. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    Ian Nuberg

Authors
  1. Rahul Karki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Krishna K. Shrestha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hemant Ojha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Naya Paudel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dil B. Khatri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ian Nuberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Anukram Adhikary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rahul Karki.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Karki, R., Shrestha, K.K., Ojha, H. et al. From Forests to Food Security: Pathways in Nepal’s Community Forestry. Small-scale Forestry 17, 89–104 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-017-9377-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-017-9377-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation