282215027
Employment and Income Effects of Orange Incorporation into Traditional
Farming Systems in the Hill Region of Nepal
Shigeki YOKOYAMA*1 and Devendra GAUCHAN*2
*1National Agricultural Research Organization, Tsukuba, Japan, Email: syokoyam@affrc.go.jp
*2National Agricultural Research Council, Kathmandu, Nepal
ABSTRACT
In marginal mountainous areas of the tropics, establishment of economical viable and ecological
sustainable farming systems is essential.
Under increasing population pressure and
industrialization of the national economies in developing countries, it is inevitable to transform
traditional extensive forest land use systems into more intensive ones. However, there is a
tradeoff between crop productivity and environmental values such as biodiversity, carbon
sequestration. The intensified production of annual crops generates high income while it may
cause environmental degradation. Large scale tree plantation can not only provide sufficient
employment opportunities for increasing population but also reduces biodiversity. Same as the
case of forest transformation into grass land for cattle production. One of the promising
agroforestry systems is incorporation of high value tree crop production into subsistence food
crop production. This system allows high output in terms of value at low intensity of annual
crop production. This paper examines the employment and income effects of fruit tree
incorporation into traditional farming systems in the hill region of Nepal. In the study village,
the introduction of orange production increased farm income substantially, while it was
estimated to reduce employment opportunities in agriculture by 10% as a whole. The effect
was most conspicuous for female labor (both family and hired) which decreased by 20%, while
the use of hired male labor increased by 10%. It appears that the farm size was the major
factor for the introduction of orange cultivation. Neither human resources (both quantity and
quality) nor direct access to cash affected the dissemination of orange cultivation. Income
from orange farming accounted for 44% of the total household income, while it contributes 56%
of the total income inequality. Replacement of traditional upland crops by commercial orange
may have worsened the income distribution, though absolute income increase might be
significant. No villagers participated in marketing activities of orange, which has a large
potential of employment and income generation. To further promote rural development
focusing on the poor, use of labor for postharvest activities such as marketing and processing is
recommended.
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