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Farming Flexibility in Mustang, Nepal

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Farming Flexibility in Mustang, Nepal Farming Flexibility in Mustang, Nepal Potentialities and constraints under conditions of climate change By Nina Holmelin Master Thesis in Human Geography Department of Geography University of Bergen May 2010 Farming Flexibility in Mustang, Nepal Potentialities and constraints under conditions of climate change By Nina Holmelin Master Thesis in Human Geography Department of Geography University of Bergen May 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Master thesis is part of a research programme on ‘Farming Flexibility under Conditions of Climatic- and Market Uncertainty’, led by Professor Tor Halfdan Aase at the Department of Geography, University of Bergen. Taking part in a research group has been a pleasure and in this final stage of writing, I am most grateful for all help and support I have received while working on this thesis. In particular I want to thank: Professor and supervisor Tor Halfdan Aase for great inspiration, guidance and the many advices I got during fieldwork and writing process; Keshav Prasad Paudel for help with the map; the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen, for economic support for fieldwork; Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) in Copenhagen for the SUPRA Scholarship, for letting me use their facilities and for their warm welcome; all my friends and informants in Mustang for their great hospitality and patience with all my strange questions; Gabi and the children in Muktinath Tibetan Traditional Medical Centre (“the gompa ”) for letting me teach there and for including me in the daily life in the village. I would also like to thank my friends at the Department of Geography and particularly Signe Vinje and Bjørn Erik Løken who have stayed by my side sharing joys and frustrations since our very first day of University studies; my parents and my sister for all their support and for visiting me in Nepal after completed fieldwork; and lastly, I send my greatest thanks to Carl- Fritjof, who brightens my days and brings me back to reality when I happen to get lost in thoughts and work. I appreciate all help I have received, although I alone am responsible for any mistake this thesis might include. Bergen, May 2010, Nina Holmelin V VI TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... V TABLE OF CONTENT ..........................................................................................................VII LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................... X Figures................................................................................................................................... X Map........................................................................................................................................ X Pictures.................................................................................................................................. X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 The challenge of climate change to food production ....................................................... 1 1.2 Flexibility in farming systems.......................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research questions ........................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Structure of the thesis....................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2: JHARKOT IN CONTEXT ................................................................................. 7 2.1 Geographic setting............................................................................................................ 9 2.1.1 Nepal ......................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.2 Mustang District...................................................................................................... 10 2.1.3 Muktinath and Jharkot............................................................................................. 11 2.2 Historic context: A Tibetan Kingdom............................................................................ 12 2.2.1 Trans-Himalayan salt trade ..................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Trekking in the mountains....................................................................................... 15 2.2.3 A sacred place: The Muktinath temple ................................................................... 16 2.3 Recent changes in Mustang............................................................................................ 17 2.3.1 Education................................................................................................................. 17 2.3.2 A mobile population................................................................................................ 18 2.3.3 Infrastructure ........................................................................................................... 20 2.3.4 Level of subsistence and food security ................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 23 3.1 Qualitative and quantitative research methods............................................................... 23 3.2 Fieldwork methods......................................................................................................... 24 3.2.1 Observation ............................................................................................................. 24 3.2.2 Participant observation: Status and access.............................................................. 25 3.2.3 Field conversations and interviews ......................................................................... 30 VII 3.2.4 Supplemental methods ............................................................................................ 30 3.3 Methodological challenges and choices......................................................................... 32 3.3.1 What is ‘work’? Interpretor challenges................................................................... 32 3.3.2 “Sometimes little, sometimes much. It depends.”................................................... 32 3.3.3 Ethical concerns ...................................................................................................... 33 3.4 From observations to data .............................................................................................. 33 3.4.1 Reliability................................................................................................................ 34 3.4.2 Validity.................................................................................................................... 35 3.5 Analysing data: Scientific concepts and analytical frameworks.................................... 36 CHAPTER 4: FARMING SYSTEMS IN THEORY AND PRACTICE................................. 37 4.1 Farming system approach............................................................................................... 37 4.1.1 A classification of farming systems ........................................................................ 39 4.1.2 Subsystems.............................................................................................................. 42 4.2 Theoretical precedents of farming system research ....................................................... 42 4.2.1 Peasant economy..................................................................................................... 43 4.2.2 Human ecology ....................................................................................................... 45 4.2.3 The Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation.......................................... 46 4.2.4 From classical to new ecology ................................................................................ 49 4.2.5 Two trends in farming system research................................................................... 51 4.3 Basic assumptions in system analysis ............................................................................ 52 4.3.1 Epistemological foundation..................................................................................... 53 4.3.2 Simplifying a complex reality................................................................................. 55 CHAPTER 5: THE FARMING SYSTEM OF JHARKOT ..................................................... 57 5.1 Overview of the farming system .................................................................................... 57 5.2 Agricultural calendar...................................................................................................... 58 5.2.1 Cultivated fields ...................................................................................................... 61 5.2.2 Orchards .................................................................................................................. 65 5.2.3 Manure .................................................................................................................... 67 5.2.4 Domesticated animals ............................................................................................
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