Identification of resource management options to enhance
food security in Achham, Bajhang and Dolpa Districts

   Shyam Adhikari, Nirmal Phnuyal, Yam B. Thapa,
Durga Acharya, Damar B. Gurung, Buddhi Mani Ghimire

The present study is the second phase of the project on "Development of Alternative coping Strategies to Address Food deficits in Mid and Far Western regions". The first part of the study categorized the households in the study clusters into three wellbeing strata, and probed into the intensities of the food scarcity endured and the coping strategies adopted by them to escape the hunger periods. A separate report has been produced to give the finding of the first phase of the study. The overall objectives of the studies were to document the intensity of the food scarcity along with locally adopted coping strategies by different wellbeing categories of the people, and to explore some alternative coping strategies through participatory workshops and resource appraisals.

The studies were carried out in two clusters each of 4 VDCs in each of Bajhang, Achham and Dolpa Districts. The study Districts were selected purposively based on high degree of vulnerability to food insecurity as shown by World Food Programme (WFP) study in 1999, and the VDC and clusters were selected on the basis of the information given from the respective DDC and District Development Offices. Both the first and the second round of studies were conducted at same clusters with similar respondents. This study covered about 25 households in each cluster. Various tools of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) were employed to collect information during the first and second phases of the study. During the second phase of the study, preceding the PRA, key informants' workshops were also facilitated to explore the better options for utilizing the available resources and to look for the ways of enhancing local skills and occupations. Some secondary information were also collected to support the study findings.

The study came up with three distinct categories of the households with respect to the possession of private property, social decent, and employment and food security status. In general, almost all people are found resource poor with limited cash earning opportunities in almost all study clusters. Categories were identified based on respondents' perceptions as: well off (food sufficient for 7-9 months), fair off (food sufficient for 4-6 months), and poor off (food sufficient for just 2-3 months) according to well being ranks of the first round of survey. However, with respect to food insufficiency, they had adopted almost similar coping strategies irrespective of the well being categories.

There are three basic ways how people cope with crisis. First the households attempt to expand the household economy by diversifying economic activities. The second coping strategy is reduction in the level of consumption. The third way of coping with crisis involves mutual assistance through the exchange of resources among the community members. The first strategy constitutes the very important adaptation mechanism as this enables the people to come through the crisis. In addition to their engagement in off-farm and non-farm earning activities, small-scale trading and services, people resort to temporary migration for economic opportunities to supplement their income. Working as porters, low wage agricultural laborer, seasonal labor in cities and migration to Indian cities are the major ways of diversifying their economy. Some families engage in small commercial activities like selling of vegetables and running tea stall.

The livelihood of the people in the study locales relies on both private and common property resources. Land and livestock constitute the private property resource with substantial contribution to the subsistence of the people. Nevertheless, the productivity and sizes of ownership of both land and livestock are by far at low levels to produce enough food for the whole year in almost all households. So far as the common property resources are concerned, these include forests, range lands and rivers which have been exploited to the varying extent for extracting fuelwood, fodder, grazing, and NTFPs; mining chalk and slates and diversion of rivulets for drinking water and small scale irrigation.

Based on the availability of resources, the respondents gave some alternative options that needed some extra skills and knowledge, external investment and some options for social reforms, improvement in health and sanitation. Among the alternative options given by the respondents, improved goat farming, livestock improvement, fresh vegetable fruit production for income generation were the major on-farm related activities. Similarly, canal construction, water-mill, drinking water and slate mining were some community level options. Skill enhancement for updating the traditional cultures and or preparation for new infra-structure development profession were also among the alternative options indicated by the community.

There exist some other potential options that are technically feasible and worth adopting for the preventive approach to long-term solution to the problems faced. Vegetable seed production, herb collection, conservation, processing and marketing, community hydro-electricity and eco-tourism promotion are some of the major activities that could create employment and cash earning opportunities within the community. Promotion and improvement of minor crops like chinu, kaguno, buckwheat and naked barley especially in Bajhang and Dolpa are other options for the cause of the betterment of the people living in the area.