Reviving the Lost Commons Through Farming Systems Perspectives: Lesson from a Watershed in Nepal

Abstract

"Based on the field study conducted in one of the hilly areas of Nepal, this paper draws two major policy implications for improving degraded or revitalising the lost common land. Firstly, the CPRs should be seen from farming systems perspective particularly in the hills and mountains. Secondly, initiatives and actions should emanate from local communities while external interventions playing a role of catalyst. Over the last 20 years, local people had completely lost (technically as well as institutionally) their forest, pasture, grazing land, and other marginal and sub-marginal land that are essential for their sustenance for various reasons. Consequently, people were left not only with reduced quality and range of options (in terms of production, consumption, welfare of a community) but many of them had no option except to migrate elsewhere. In order to improve the situations, state intervention, in terms of special project, was launched but with little success. This paper will illustrate how a local community has recently revived the lost CPRs with improved quality and how the community is now better off in terms of not only socioeconomic well-being but also with improved biophysical conditions of the areas. This successful experience is now being replicated in 10 districts of Nepal, some of the outputs are also being exported to neighbouring countries such as India and Bangladesh, and thus enhancing self-reliance of the community."