Ananda Raj Devkota is presenting a PhD Thesis Proposal Review (TPR) seminar on ‘Rural Livelihoods and vulnerability to environmental and socio-economic change: Case of high value agricultural communities in middle hills of Nepal.’

Abstract

With farming in the global south under pressure from climate change and many rural people shifting out of agriculture, scholars and policy makers debate whether diversification into new high value agriculture (HVA) may lead to secure livelihoods and reduce vulnerability. In Nepal the vulnerabilities of farming households under climate change is becoming an acute issue, as government policy supports farming diversification and new cash crops are being introduced. Cash crops such as large cardamom are being promoted in Nepal given their potential to contribute to rural households’ income, rural employment generation and support in agricultural export. But there remains gap in understanding how HVA ameliorates or deteriorates vulnerabilities of farming households and whether it serves as a tool for climate adaptation. The study considers to what degree and under what conditions HVA helps address the differential vulnerability of farming households in the context of diversification, labour out migration and climate change. The study considering large cardamom producers in middle hills of Nepal, uses a mixed method case study design, to analyse patterns of vulnerability in HVA areas, the suitability of HVA as a climate adaptation strategy and response options of the farming households towards environmental and socio-economic changes. This study will shed light on emergent vulnerability patterns in HVA areas and will consider the policy question of whether HVA offers a pathway for climate change adaptation.

Biography

Ananda Raj Devkota is currently a PhD student at Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. His PhD research explores the vulnerabilities of the rural households towards climatic and socio-economic changes. Prior to his PhD, he was engaged as researcher and monitoring and evaluation professional at different private consulting firms and international non-governmental organizations in Nepal. During his career as monitoring and evaluation professional he was engaged in various development projects relating to post-disaster reconstruction, building community resilience through biodiversity conservation and forest management, agriculture and food security, and agriculture market development.

Seminar host: Dr Simon West

Speaker website: https://read.crawford.anu.edu.au/people/phd/ananda-devkota

PhD supervisory panel: John McCarthy, Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, Keith Barney, Steven Crimp