Table of Content ACRONYMS.................................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................VII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... VIII 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ..............................................................................1 1.1 ABOUT THE REPORT .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 OBJECTIVES............................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 GENERAL BACKGROUND OF POVERTY IN NEPAL ..................................................................... 2 1.4 THE LIVELIHOOD APPROACH AS A BASIS OF UNDERSTANDING POVERTY ................................ 6 2. METHODOLOGY.......................................................................................................................7 2.1 APPROACH................................................................................................................................. 7 2.2 RESPONDENT CATEGORIES ....................................................................................................... 7 2.3 SELECTION OF SITES, RESPONDENTS AND COLLECTION OF DATA............................................ 8 2.3.1 Sites....................................................................................................................................8 2.3.2 Questionnaire....................................................................................................................9 2.3.3 Time and duration of the survey......................................................................................9 2.3.4 Interview............................................................................................................................9 2.3.5 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................... 10 2.3.6 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 10 2.3.7 LIMITATIONS, ISSUES AND LESSONS.................................................................................... 11 3. PROBLEM ANALYSIS AND PRIORITIZATION.............................................................12 3.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 12 3.2 INTRODUCTION TO FOUR FOCUS GROUPS ............................................................................... 12 3.3 PROBLEM TREES ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.3.2 Landless...........................................................................................................................21 3.3.3 Artisans, traders and small-scale entrepreneurs..........................................................25 3.3.4 Urban and peri-urban poor ...........................................................................................30 3.4 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PRIORITY PROBLEMS ......................................................................... 33 1. Lack of favorable policies ...................................................................................................33 Resource poor farmers (F1)................................................................................................. 34 Landless (L1) ....................................................................................................................... 35 Artisans and small-scale entrepreneurs (A1) ..................................................................... 36 Urban and peri-urban poor (U1) ......................................................................................... 37 2. Lack of support services......................................................................................................38 Resource poor farmers (F2)................................................................................................. 38 Landless (L2) ....................................................................................................................... 39 Artisans and small-scale entrepreneurs (A2) ..................................................................... 40 Urban and peri-urban poor (U2) ......................................................................................... 40 3. Shrinking market and lack of marketing infrastructure....................................................41 Resource poor farmers (F3)................................................................................................. 41 Artisans and small-scale entrepreneurs (A3) ..................................................................... 41 4. Limited agricultural inputs including irrigation ...........................................................42 Resource poor farmers (F4)................................................................................................. 42 5. Limited and/or no land holding ..........................................................................................43 6. lack of access to natural resources and raw materials .....................................................44 iii Resource poor farmers (F6)................................................................................................. 44 Artisans and small-scale entrepreneurs (A5) ..................................................................... 44 7. Limited education, awareness and exposure .....................................................................45 8. Lack of food security............................................................................................................45 Resource poor farmers (F8)................................................................................................. 46 Landless (L7) and Urban and peri-urban poor (U6).......................................................... 46 Artisans and small-scale entrepreneurs (A8) ..................................................................... 46 9. Low income ..........................................................................................................................47 10. Low agricultural production.............................................................................................48 11. Lack of employment opportunities....................................................................................48 Resource poor farmers (F11) .............................................................................................. 48 Landless (L10) ..................................................................................................................... 48 Artisans and small-scale entrepreneurs (A7) ..................................................................... 49 Urban and peri-urban poor (U9) ......................................................................................... 49 12. Forced child labor.............................................................................................................49 13. Exploitation and limited access to decision making........................................................50 14. Lack of financial capital....................................................................................................50 15. Lack of skills and quality training services......................................................................51 16. Large family size................................................................................................................52 4. ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL CAPACITIES, EXISTING INITIATIVES AND GAPS TO ADDRESS THE PRIORITIZED PROBLEMS ........................................................................53 4.1 PRIORITIZED CONSTRAINTS WITH RESPECTIVE NATIONAL CAPABILITIES ............................. 53 4.2 CATALOGUE OF FUNDING ON POVERTY ON FOREST RELATED RESEARCH (SCALE AND FOCUS OF FUNDING TO BE ELABORATED)................................................................................................. 64 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES.........................................................................................65 6. ANNEXES ...................................................................................................................................68 ANNEX I. NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF INTERVIEWEES............................................................... 68 ANNEX II. KEY CONTACTS FOR FORESTRY AND LIVELIHOOD RELATED ACTIVITIES IN NEPAL72 ANNEX III. INTERVIEW CHECKLISTS, ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES AND LETTERS SENT TO KEY INFORMANTS.................................................................................................................................. 76 ANNEX IV. TERMS OF REFERENCE .............................................................................................. 80 ANNEX V. COMPARATIVE PRIORITY RANKING OF PROBLEMS AS PERCEIVED BY THE FOUR FOCUS GROUPS AND SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................................... 86 ANNEX VI. KEY LEARNING THROUGH REFLECTION .................................................................. 88 ANNEX VII: PROCEEDINGS