In Nepal, families that farm together stay together
Image by the author via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
This story was originally published by Durga Rana Magar in Nepali Times. An edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Like many Nepalis, Surendra Dhami left his home village in Darchula District in the Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal for Malaysia in the hope of improving his family’s quality of life.
He returned in a few months because the work and pay were not what he had been promised by the recruiter. But there were no jobs in Darchula, and farming in the rugged, arid mountains would not feed his family.
So, like many other mountain farmers, Dhami, 36, migrated with his family down to the Tarai to settle in the village of Gharkheda in Kailali District’s Chure Rural Municipality.
It was a good move. He sold 10,000 kilograms of oranges last year, and Surendra and his wife Bhaka have diversified into vegetables.
“So far, we can make a living with our farming. At least, it is better than in Darchula,” says 30-year-old Bhaka Dhami.
Neighbour Krishna Devi Kandel and her husband Devendra have involved all five of their children in their farm. Their orange trees are not doing well because of infestation, and the failure of winter rains affected crops.
Surendra and Bhaka Dhami. Image by the author via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
“We do not have irrigation and do not get as much rain as we used to,” says Devendra.
Chure village is full of families who have moved down from Darchula, Baitadi, and other mountain districts to the north. But even here, erratic rains due to the climate crisis have impacted farming.
Diversifying crops is the best way to cope. After her orange trees died, Pabitra Sapkota moved on to vegetables.
Pabitra Sapkota. Image by the author via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
“The tomatoes that my son planted in this greenhouse are nearly ripe,” she says, clutching a lush bunch of mustard greens.
The Chure range in western Nepal rises to elevations of 2,500 meters, unlike in the east, where it is less than 500 meters. It is the youngest, lowest and weakest of the folds that form the Himalayan range and the first ridges to rise up from the plains.
The Chure covers nearly 13 percent of Nepal’s area and runs through 37 of the 77 districts from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west. It is a fragile range, where deforestation has led to frequent landslides and floods.
Aftermath of a flood. Image by the author via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
“The Chure watershed is deteriorating and there are frequent droughts, further declining farm productivity,” explains Sushmita Dhakal of the President Chure Terai-Madhes Conservation Development Board.
One way recent migrants from the mountains to Chure are adapting to the crisis is through family farming, without hired labour for better food security, nutrition and to protect the environment.
The United Nations declared 2019–2028 a “Decade of Family Farming” to preserve traditional agriculture, increase the involvement of youth, recognise women’s leadership, promote sustainable agriculture and improve livelihoods.
In doing so, family farming also protects households from the climate crisis by diversifying crops. It is also an antidote to water-intensive commercial farming with its use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Devendra and Krishna Devi Kandel. Image by the author via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
At one point, more than 80 percent of Nepal’s population depended on agriculture, and most were family farms. But the figure has come down to 62 percent. Agriculture now only makes up around 25 percent of the GDP.
Agronomists say that family farming can reverse the decline by making agriculture profitable again.
Vegetable farmers of Lisbeli village in Kailali district are proving this — their products have a ready market in the towns of western Nepal.
Dammari Bhatta works on her vegetable patch with her family and chooses not to hire anyone else. The cabbages, cauliflowers and tomatoes are enough to feed her family year-round, and she sells the surplus to pay for the education of her children.
Her husband, Madanraj Bhatta, leads the Lisbeli Farmers’ Group, which sold 1,700 kilograms of cabbage and 700 kilograms of tomato this winter.
Dammari and Madanraj Bhatta. Image by the author via Nepali Times. Used with permission.
None of the 30 families here in Lisbeli use chemical fertilisers, and apply organic manure instead. This, in turn, has reduced pest infestation and diseases in the crops, all the while restoring soil quality.
“Home fertiliser has increased harvest and made the soil more fertile,” says Manju Jagriti, a former teacher, now a full-time farmer. “The whole family farms, and we do everything together,” says Manju proudly.
Family farming is nothing new in Nepal, it has been the traditional method of agriculture. However, many families moved away as commercial farming using agrochemicals took over. Now, families are moving back to the old method of growing food.
Agriculture scientist Binayak Bhandari shared his thoughts on the trend:
We need to go back to our old sustainable farming ways, protect the environment and find the fine balance between nature and livelihood, especially to adapt to the climate crisis.
