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Field Report on Food & Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent HHs from the Forest of Nepal Field Research Report on Food and Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent Households from the Forests of Nepal Submitted To: Renaissance Society Nepal (RSN) पुनजार् गर समाज नेपाल Central Office: Balkot Height-2, Bhaktapur GPO Box 10429, Sundhara Kathmandu Phone: 6632821; Fax: 6630489; E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.renaissance.org.np0TU U0T SubmittedU By: Mr. Resham Bdr. Thapa Social Research Officer Renaissance Society Nepal (RSN) Date: 10 May 2013 - 1 - Field Report on Food & Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent HHs from the Forest of Nepal Date: 10 May 2013 The Program Coordinator Renaissance Society Nepal (RSN) Balkot-2, Bhaktapur Nepal Subject: Submission of Report on "Food and Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent Households from the Forests of Nepal.'' Dear Sir, The field research report entitled "Food and Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent Households from the Forests of Nepal" is prepared by intensive field visit conducted from April 5 to April 28, 2013 in Chitwan, Makawanpur and Surkhet districts of Nepal. Different communities of Chepang, Bankariya and Raji people are visited and consulted. This report contains detail inventory of forest food items found in target area and socio-economic status of marginalized people found in target areas. This will be a primary reference to design innovative social development project regarding to marginalized communities of Nepal. I would like to request to approve this document as a field research report and official document. Sincerely Yours' ………………………… ………………………… Submitted by Approved by Mr. Resham Bdr. Thapa Mr. Madan Bahadur Thapa Social Research Officer, RSN Program Coordinator, RSN - 2 - Field Report on Food & Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent HHs from the Forest of Nepal Table of Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATTIONS .......................................................................................................................................... - 4 - 1. CONTEXT OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................................................... - 5 - 2. OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................................................... - 7 - 4. RELEVANCE ........................................................................................................................................................ - 7 - 4.1 RELEVANCE TO THE NEEDS AND CONSTRAINTS ................................................................................................................... - 7 - 4.2 INNOVATIVENESS .......................................................................................................................................................... - 9 - 4.3 RELEVANCE TO THE POLICY AND PROGRAM ..................................................................................................................... - 10 - 5. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION .................................................................................................................... - 11 - 6. RESEARCH AREA .............................................................................................................................................. - 12 - 6. STUDY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................................. - 13 - 6.1 COMMON FOREST FOOD ITEMS .................................................................................................................................... - 13 - 6.2 INTRODUCTION, DEMOGRAPHY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS............................................................................................ - 13 - 7. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION .............................................................................................................. - 15 - REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................. - 16 - - 3 - Field Report on Food & Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent HHs from the Forest of Nepal LIST OF ABBREVIATTIONS CBO Community Based organization CBS Central Bureau of Statistic CEP Chepang Empowerment Programme CFUGs Community Forest User Groups LFUGs Leasehold Forest User Groups FECOFUN Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal DADO District Agriculture Development Office/ Officer DDC District Development Committee DFO District Forest Office\Officer MSFP Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme GoN Government of Nepal HDI Human Development Index HRD Human Resource Development INGO International non-governmental organization MoV Means of Verification NCA Nepal Chepang Association NEFIN Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities NGO Non-governmental organization UNDP United Nation Development Program VDC Village Development Committee PAF Poverty Alleviation Fund SSU Services Support Unit RSN Renaissance Society Nepal UN United Nation FAO Food and Agriculture Organization US United States NTFPs Non Timber Forest Products NFC Nepal Food Corporation WFS World Food Summit FCG Food Coordination Group MDGs Millennium Development Goals NAP National Agricultural Policy FGDs Focus Group Discussion NARC Nepal Agriculture Research Council - 4 - Field Report on Food & Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent HHs from the Forest of Nepal Food and Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent Households From the Forests 1. Context of the Study Food security is generally understood as a state of unreliable entitlement and access to insufficient food either through own production or through exchange entitlements to meet the needs of an individual, a family or a community. The definition of food security for the first time emerged from the first World Food Conference of 1975 and focused on “the availability at all times of adequate world supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption” (Maxwell & Watkins 2003, quoted by SCF, 2008). This definition mainly focused on the availability and ample supply of food to the needy people. This did not explain about seasonality, location and variation among needy people. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has defined food security as assuring to all human beings the physical and economic access to the basic foods they need. This implies three different aspects namely – availability, stability and access (FAO, 1999). The Human Development Report (2013) ranks Nepal at 157th out of 182 countries listed on the Human Development Index (HDI), where the poverty, malnourishment, epidemics and death from preventable diseases, famine and hunger are common phenomena. Especially the problem is severe among 125 ethnic and marginalized caste groups of the total population of 26 million (CBS, 2011). Some of the reasons for these are harsh geographical terrain, unequal access and distribution of resources, socio-political exclusion. The country’s mountain terrain lacks infrastructure networks. It has only about 17% of cultivable land, mostly unproductive. The population growth is 1.35%, leaving 83% of the people in villages that lack basic facilities - health, education, communication and transport, and market services. About 80% of the total population is dependent on agriculture and 34.1% are illiterate. The average healthy life expectancy at birth is 68.7 years (World Bank 2011) with per capita annual income of approximately US $ 742 (The Economic Survey, Nepal, 2011-12). The people below poverty line are 25.12% by Nepal living Standard Survey III conducted by CBS and World Bank in 2010. Among Chepangs, 77% are illiterate and 71% of the children are malnourished (NCA, 2004). Multiplicity and diversity of ethnicity, languages, cultures and religions is a distinctive feature of Nepalese society. For the past two hundred and forty years, the state was not able to recognize properly the diversity of the mass population. The Development Process has adversely impacted the socio-cultural aspects of the Janajati people and further led to linguistic persecution and discrimination, economic exploitation and marginalization of the Janajatis. The Census 2011 has revealed that there are 8.46 million Janajatis which comprise 37.2 percent of the total population of the country. The NFDIN Act, 2002 has enlisted 59 ethnic groups as "indigenous people" or "nationalities" such as Chepang, Bankariya, Raji, Raute etc. on the basis of their distinctive characteristics such as language, traditional customs, lifestyles, culture and social structure. The Chepang people, sum 0.23% of the total population, are one of the twelve highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal. According to the population census 2011, the total Chepang population is 52,237. The majority of Chepangs inhabit scattered settlements nearby the forests, in remote, steep terrains, and inaccessible hills in the west of Makawanpur district, northeast of Chitwan district, southeast of Gorkha district, and south of Dhading district. The Chepangs are - 5 - Field Report on Food & Nutrition Security of the Forest Dependent HHs from the Forest of Nepal believed to have lived by hunting and gathering until the last 150 years as Brain Hodgson described them in his 1857 article 'On the Chepang and Kusunda Tribes of Nepal' as "living entirely upon wild