Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2018 Khana khanu bhayo (Have you eaten)? Traditional rice varieties, land tenure, and social structure in Nepal’s mid-hills Marie Louise Ryan Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Agriculture Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Geography Commons, and the South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Ryan, Marie Louise, "Khana khanu bhayo (Have you eaten)? Traditional rice varieties, land tenure, and social structure in Nepal’s mid- hills" (2018). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 16663. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/16663 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Khana khanu bhayo (Have you eaten)? Traditional rice varieties, land tenure, and social structure in Nepal’s mid-hills by Marie Louise Ryan A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degrees of MASTER OF SCIENCE MASTER OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING Co-Majors: Sustainable Agriculture; Community and Regional Planning Program of Study Committee: Francis Owusu, Major Professor Carmen Bain John Tyndall The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this thesis. The Graduate College will ensure this dissertation is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2018 Copyright © Marie Louise Ryan, 2018. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION To my mom and dad for their support, love, curiosity, and passion for food and adventure. To Bebe for trying to visit me in Nepal even after the April 25 th earthquake, and then for compelling me to swim everyday when our Nepal visit did not work out. To Lulu and Tillie for keeping play time real, and for bubble tea. And finally to Jane, for being you. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................ viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 A Feminist Political Ecology Conceptual Framework ......................................................................... 4 Thesis Outline ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 8 Feminist Political Ecology ............................................................................................................................... 8 Agrobiodiversity, Smallholder Homogeneity, and Outmigration ................................................. 12 Development ...................................................................................................................................................... 18 An Example of Top-Down Planning ..................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 3. SITUATING THE STUDY IN NEPAL ...................................................................... 23 A Brief Recent History .................................................................................................................................... 24 Regional Demarcations .................................................................................................................................. 28 Agricultural Life in Ghanpokhara VDC .................................................................................................... 33 Land Tenure & Sharecropping .................................................................................................................... 37 Rice in Nepal ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 Social Structure ................................................................................................................................................. 39 Caste and Ethnicity ..................................................................................................................................... 40 Intra-species Crop Diversity and Nepal’s Rice Diversity ................................................................. 43 CHAPTER 4. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 47 Pre-field Work Decisions ............................................................................................................................... 47 Bhache and Roplephant: A Two-Case Study of Rice Diversity ....................................................... 48 Data Collection ................................................................................................................................................... 50 Census Data ................................................................................................................................................... 53 Household Surveys ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Semi-Structured Interviews .................................................................................................................... 55 Sample Selection .......................................................................................................................................... 56 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................... 59 iv CHAPTER 5. SOCIAL STRUCTURE, LOCATION, AND RICE DIVERSITY ............................. 61 Local Rice Diversity ......................................................................................................................................... 64 Marginalization and Exclusion by Location and Social Structure ................................................ 65 The Privilege of Location: Roplephant and Bhache ...................................................................... 66 Gender Inequality ........................................................................................................................................ 71 Dalit Inequality ............................................................................................................................................. 74 Location and Social Structure Intersections with Rice Diversity ............................................ 78 Sharecropping & Land Tenure .................................................................................................................... 80 Sharecropping and Rice Diversity ........................................................................................................ 87 Wealth and Outmigration.............................................................................................................................. 90 CHAPTER 6. DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................... 94 Agricultural Development ............................................................................................................................ 95 Development’s Target Populations ........................................................................................................... 96 Spatial Targeting ......................................................................................................................................... 97 Social Targeting: “Good Character” ..................................................................................................... 99 Opportunity Gaps .......................................................................................................................................... 103 Improved Rice ................................................................................................................................................. 105 CHAPTER 7. CONCLUDING DISCUSSION .................................................................................. 108 Study Limitations .......................................................................................................................................... 108 Major