1. Katharina Schiller, Simone Kriesemer, Maria Gerster-Bentaya
University of Hohenheim, Germany
Tropentag 2013
Assessing the Sustainability of Leasehold
Riverbed Farming for Landless and Land-poor
Households in the Terai

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source: Wikimedia Commons
Research Area: the Terai of Nepal
- Terai: “Nepal's breadbasket”
- study based in Kailali &
Kanchanpur districts, Far-
Western Nepal
Issues
- population growth
- immigration from hills and mountains
- climate change

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Khutiya River, Kailali
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Challenges facing the Terai
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- population growth
- increasingly erratic hydrological patterns
- encroaching riverbeds and oversiltation of arable land
→ increasing production pressure on arable land

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Riverbed Farming
- gourd vegetables grown
- initial investment costs:
- tools
- inputs
- lease
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Assessing Sustainability
after: Kriesemer, S.K., Virchow, D. (2012). Analytical Framework for the
Assessment of Agricultural Technologies. Food Security Center,
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

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Methods
- study area: case study from Kailali and Kanchanpur districts, Nepal
- methods used: questionnaire, discussions with farmer groups, key
informant interviews, detailed harvest sheet
- production unit = 1 hectare (ha)
- non-quantifiable indicators: rating system:
– 0: low impact
– 0.5: medium impact
– 1: large impact
- target group: landless (< 10% ha) and land-poor (< 25% ha) farmers
- 318 farmers interviewed from 12 groups on 5 river systems

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Is riverbed farming:
- a sustainable agricultural technology that creates rural employment
opportunities?
- a tool to help marginal farmers sustainably adapt to climate change?
Objectives
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Indicator Score
weight inputs 224.25 kg
weight outputs 16,496 kg
off-farm inputs 0.01 %
energy usage 0
water usage 0
waste for recycling 100 %
waste for disposal 0 %
wastewater 0
carbon sequestration potential 0.5
global warming potential 0
acidification potential 0
maximizes natural biological processes 0.5
Results: Environmental Indicators
- prevents wind erosion
- enhances soil activity
- improves micro-climate
→ environmentally
sustainable

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Results: Economic Indicators
Indicator Score
gross agricultural margin $ 2,478
income per hour labor $ 1.48
- almost $2,500 in profit per hectare
- riverbed farmers' average income per year: $386
→ economically sustainable

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Results: Social Indicators
Indicator Score
total workers 24
non-household workers 0.5
female adopters 53.6 %
neighborhood disturbance potential 0
- generates rural employment opportunities
- well-received by women
- doesn't disrupt neighborhood
→ socially sustainable

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Results: Technological Indicators
- riverbed production can continue indefinitely
- according to farmers, very easy to learn
- farmers apply new skills in home gardens
- replication seen in 7 of 12 villages
→ technologically sustainable
Indicator Score
financial capital required $ 245.48
physical capital required $ 28.19
production cycles per year 1
expected life cycle 1
ease of learning and use 0

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Results
Is riverbed farming a sustainable technology that creates rural
employment opportunities?
- immediate job creation rate: 24 jobs per hectare
→ employment for members of the household
- secondary job creation: by farmers who have been riverbed farming for 5+ years
- re-invest extra income in riverbed farming: lease more land
- invest in market center shops
- open roadside restaurant
→ employment for other villagers
- slowing of male out-migration in 7 of 12 villages
→ YES!

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Results
Can riverbed farming be a tool to help marginal farmers
sustainably adapt to the effects of climate change?
- riverbed farming is easy to learn and implement
- already independently replicated by neighbors
- short-term risk: higher due to risk of environmental shocks
- medium & long-term risk: extra income increases households' resilience:
- diversified income opportunities
- investment in crop insurance
- utilizes under-used resource
- farmers increase technical knowledge
→YES!

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Riverbed farming ...
- ... is sustainable
– economically
– environmentally
– socially
– technologically.
- ... creates sustainable rural employment opportunities.
- ... may be used as a tool by marginal farmers to sustainably adapt to the
effects of climate change.
Conclusion

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Questions?
Thanks for your kind attention!