Rebuilding Farm-forestry Interface: An Opportunity to Address Food Security and Environmental Sustainability in Nepal

Abstract

The farm and forestry divide was a slip of development strategy of the dominant reductionist views about people and nature. The separate policies, institutional as well as bio-physical boundaries of farm and forestry and the divided roles of the farmers and service providers has resulted the greater extent of failure in both the agriculture as well as forestry to improve the local food system, income/employment and the fragile ecosystem. The community based forestry, traditionally with significant buffering role to farm and forest interface, was dragged and boxed into orthodox forestry domain - leading this failure. This paper critically examines the scope of rebuilding farm forest relations for food security and environmental sustainability analyzing the historical trajectories of farm forest divide. It analyzes the potential of community forestry to bring them together for food security and environmental sustainability. We argue that a transformative agro-forestry approach must adapt in view with to address the key issues of food security, local livelihoods and environmental degradation including climate change hazards. In specific, relatively less labour intensive low input agro ecological approach of producing food, wood and good (public) together can be successfully reintroduced. In the changing socio-economic and environmental context, rethinking on rebuilding farm forestry interface is imperative, and the transformative agriculture can play a significant role in bridging these two systems towards more productive, viable and sustainable solutions for future. However, it demands very genuine initiative towards integrating farm with forest, productivity with sustainability and equity of resources. Along with the appropriate agroforestry technology, the effort should also be in place to transform policies and institutions that address the issues of resource access and ownership.