University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark; Agriculture and Forestry University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agribotany and Conservation Ecology, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2018 May 23;218:59-68. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.02.028. Epub 2018 Feb 21.
Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, a high altitude Himalayan fungus-caterpillar product found in alpine meadows in China, Bhutan, Nepal, and India, has been used in the Traditional Chinese Medicine system for over 2000 years. Heightened demand in China over the past 15 years, coupled with limited production, has led to a price hike and increased economic importance of harvests to rural households throughout the species' range. There is, however, limited knowledge on the actors and profit distribution in the O. sinensis production network, especially from the distribution areas on the southern flanks of the Himalayas. Filling in this knowledge gap is essential to the identification and design of public interventions.
To describe and quantify the O. sinensis production network originating from Darchula District in far-western Nepal.
Data was collected, for fiscal year 2014-15, in spring and summer 2016 using standardized collector (n=56) and trader (n=45) questionnaires in Darchula District, and central wholesaler (n=9) questionnaires in cities of Nepal. All questionnaires contained quantitative and qualitative components focusing on key elements of the production network, i.e. value creation, enhancement, and capture; and network and territorial embeddedness.
Trade is sustained and significant even at the margins of the distributional range, with 384.1 kg of O. sinensis harvested in and traded from Darchula District in 2014-15, having a collector value of approximately USD 4.7 million and constituting the dominant household-level source of income for collectors. The functioning production network is characterised by conflicts in relation to value creation, a high share of value capture by collectors, limited value enhancement, and a high degree of network and territorial embeddedness.
O. sinensis income is of major economic importance for rural households at the margin of its distribution range in Nepal. Production networks operated by informal actors establishing trust-based relationships allow responses to cross-border market signals, enabling the flow of rural and remote environmental resources to urban centres of demand. There is scope for public interventions, e.g. to determine the drivers of demand.
冬虫夏草（Berk.）G.H.Sung、J.M.Sung、Hywel-Jones 和 Spatafora 是一种生长在中国、不丹、尼泊尔和印度高山草甸的高海拔喜马拉雅山真菌 - 毛毛虫产品，在中国传统医学系统中已有 2000 多年的使用历史。在过去的 15 年中，中国对冬虫夏草的需求增加，加上有限的产量，导致价格上涨，收获对整个物种分布范围内的农村家庭的经济重要性增加。然而，对于冬虫夏草生产网络中的参与者和利润分配知之甚少，特别是来自喜马拉雅山南麓的分布区。填补这一知识空白对于公共干预措施的确定和设计至关重要。
描述和量化源自尼泊尔远西部达楚拉区的冬虫夏草生产网络。
2016 年春夏季，使用标准化的采集者（n=56）和贸易商（n=45）问卷在达楚拉区以及尼泊尔城市的中央批发商（n=9）问卷中收集了 2014-15 财年的数据。所有问卷都包含定量和定性部分，重点关注生产网络的关键要素，即价值创造、增值和获取；以及网络和地域嵌入。
即使在分布范围的边缘，贸易也得以维持并具有重要意义，2014-15 年在达楚拉区收获并交易了 384.1 公斤冬虫夏草，其采集者价值约为 470 万美元，是采集者的主要家庭收入来源。运作中的生产网络的特点是在价值创造方面存在冲突，采集者占据了大部分的价值获取，增值有限，网络和地域嵌入程度高。
冬虫夏草收入对尼泊尔分布范围边缘的农村家庭具有重要的经济意义。由建立信任关系的非正规参与者运营的生产网络能够对跨境市场信号做出反应，使农村和偏远地区的环境资源流向需求旺盛的城市中心。有公共干预的空间，例如确定需求的驱动因素。
