School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia.
UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia.
Environ Manage. 2021 Jun;67(6):1100-1118. doi: 10.1007/s00267-021-01461-2. Epub 2021 Mar 17.
Despite widely reported trends of agricultural land abandonment across many parts of the globe, this land use change phenomenon is relatively new in the context of Nepal. In recent years, rural farming communities in the hill region are gradually reducing the intensity of farming, leading to underutilisation and abandonment of agricultural lands. Adopting a mixed methods research approach, this study investigated the extent of agricultural land abandonment, its underlying causal drivers and perceived impacts in the hill agro-ecological region of Nepal. A structured survey of 374 households and six focus group discussions were carried out in three districts. The study revealed that around 40% of agricultural lands in the hill agro-ecological region have been abandoned and 60% of farmers have left at least one parcel of agricultural land abandoned. It was found that biophysical drivers (distance from homestead to parcel, slope of the parcel, land fragmentation, land quality and irrigation availability) and socio-demographic drivers (family size, higher education of the household members, domestic migration and out-migration) were responsible for agricultural land abandonment. Negative impacts of land abandonment were observed on the rural landscape, human-made farm structures, socio-economic systems, local food production and food security. In line with global studies, this research suggest that marginal land quality, demographic changes and rising alternative economic opportunities elsewhere contribute to farmland abandonment. This study also discusses land management approaches and policy implications to address the issue of agricultural land abandonment.
尽管在全球许多地区都有报道称农业土地被废弃，但在尼泊尔，这种土地利用变化现象相对较新。近年来，丘陵地区的农村农业社区逐渐减少了农业的强度，导致农业土地未得到充分利用和被废弃。本研究采用混合方法研究方法，调查了尼泊尔丘陵农业生态区农业土地废弃的程度、其潜在的因果驱动因素和感知到的影响。在三个地区进行了 374 户家庭的结构调查和六次焦点小组讨论。研究表明，丘陵农业生态区约有 40%的农业土地已被废弃，60%的农民至少有一块农业土地被废弃。研究发现，自然物理驱动因素（宅基地到农田的距离、农田的坡度、土地破碎化、土地质量和灌溉条件）和社会人口驱动因素（家庭规模、家庭成员受教育程度、国内移民和外出移民）是导致农业土地废弃的原因。土地废弃对农村景观、人造农场结构、社会经济系统、当地粮食生产和粮食安全产生了负面影响。与全球研究一致，本研究表明，边缘土地质量、人口变化和其他地方不断增加的替代经济机会是导致农田废弃的原因。本研究还讨论了土地管理方法和政策影响，以解决农业土地废弃问题。
