Abstract
Around 6 to 8 million young Nepali, working abroad as migrant laborers, are contributing remittances of about 28% of the annual gross domestic product of Nepal. However, due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Nepal is not only going to lose a significant portion of remittances but will also face the Herculean task of creating employment for the workforce who may return to Nepal. This paper discusses sustainable options for the Nepali government to help create employment for its citizens in Nepal through the revitalization of fallow lands and other potential agricultural areas, which are below a 15° slope. The land-use and land-cover data for the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s are derived from the classification of satellite images. These classified and resampled 30 m × 30 m images along with the 30 × 30 m elevation data are brought to the Kibana Platform within the Amazon Web Service (AWS) to analyze the status of land-use and -cover conditions for the 1980 to 2010 period within nine different slope classes at an interval of 5° slope. Our findings suggest there have been massive conversions of forested areas for agricultural land at lower slope areas between 1980 and 2000, but the trend began to reverse from 2000 to 2010 as trees started coming back to the fallow agricultural lands. This happened mainly because, during the countrywide Maoist insurgency period (1996–2006), many youth first took shelter in various urban centers away from their natal homes and then emigrated to foreign countries for remittance purposes. As a result, many farmlands became fallow and barren, and agricultural productivity decreased. Consequently, Nepal, an exporter of rice and pulses until the late 1980s, started importing food grain each year. The major goals of this research are to explore: (a) if Nepal can self-sustain in agricultural products by utilizing potential agricultural lands below a 15° slope in various geographic regions; (b) the means for productively engaging the youth returning to the country; and (c) methods of reinvigorating the ecosystem services of Nepal to support sustainable development.
Highlights
In we focus focus on onthe theeffects effectsofoftopographic topographicaspects, aspects,mainly mainlythe theslope slope factors, search suitable farmlands to sustain the living of the Nepali farming communities
There is no proper record of unemployment in Nepal, but various records indicate that the current unemployment rate is no less than 43% and it is increasing each year with a large number of the youth population
Nepali youth emigrated in large numbers to various countries (Figure 1) for remittance purposes (Figure 8)
Summary
With the start of crop terracing and domestication of wild plants and animals during the first agricultural revolution, mechanization and fertilizer use during the second agricultural revolution, genetically modified organisms (GMO) in altering food at the genetic level and developing hybridAgriculture 2020, 10, 224; doi:10.3390/agriculture10060224 www.mdpi.com/journal/agricultureWith2020, the 10, start Agriculture224 of crop terracing and domestication of wild plants and animals during the2first of 38 agricultural revolution, mechanization and fertilizer use during the second agricultural revolution, genetically modified organisms (GMO) in altering food at the genetic level and developing hybrid strains during during the the third third agricultural agricultural revolution, revolution, many many advances advances have have been been made made in in the the agricultural agricultural strains sector.Since various landforms are converted into farmlands.During the conversion processes, sector. With the start of crop terracing and domestication of wild plants and animals during the first agricultural revolution, mechanization and fertilizer use during the second agricultural revolution, genetically modified organisms (GMO) in altering food at the genetic level and developing hybrid. 224 of crop terracing and domestication of wild plants and animals during the2first of 38 agricultural revolution, mechanization and fertilizer use during the second agricultural revolution, genetically modified organisms (GMO) in altering food at the genetic level and developing hybrid strains during during the the third third agricultural agricultural revolution, revolution, many many advances advances have have been been made made in in the the agricultural agricultural strains sector. Many stolid stolid and and inviolable inviolable landforms landforms are are encountering encountering physical, physical, chemical, chemical, and and biological biological forces forces that that many often challenge the sustainable management of farmlands from mountain peaks to plain level. Many factors—slope, aspect, aspect, land land cover, cover, soil soil types, types, demographic, demographic, social, social, cultural, cultural, political, political, economic, economic, and and factors—slope, technology—interact either either separately separately or or jointly jointly and and affect affect sustainable sustainable land land management management practices practices to to technology—interact varying degrees
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