Case Study Of Nepal Research Articles

Farmers’ Fertilizer Application Gap In Ricebased Cropping System: A Case Studyof Nepal

Low adoption of improved agricultural practices is one of the major challenges to improve food security. A case study was carried out to assist the farmer’s fertilizer application gap in rice cultivation in Nepal. To collect data a household survey was conducted in 2017 by selecting 90 households randomly from rice growing pocket area of Banke district of Nepal. The rates of fertilizers use were assessed in relation to farm size, crop variety, irrigation etc. The applications of both organic and mineral fertilizers vary highly by farmer type. Small and medium farmers applied twice the amount of organic manure compared to large farmers. For inorganic fertilizer use, large farmers applied higher amounts of nitrogen (N) fertilizer compared to medium and small farmers. Across farmer types, a higher amount of N and P fertilizers was used for hybrid varieties than inbred varieties and in irrigated fields than in rainfed fields. The use of potassium (K) fertilizer was low and not affected by farmer type or variety. Overall, farmers used a lower amount of N and K and a higher amount of P than the recommendation. The imbalanced use of fertilizers was associated with poor access to agricultural extension services. Variations of fertilizer use among farmers and the role of extension in the adoption of improved practices are still underresearched, and hence this study exposes the need to investigate indepth knowledge, determinants of fertilizer use and role of extension education. Results from this study could be important to develop an innovative extension program using multiple channels to increase farmers’ access to and awareness regarding balanced use of fertilizers to increase soil fertility and crop productivity.
 SAARC J. Agri., 17(2): 267-277 (2019)

Assessment of Brain Drain and its Impact on the Sending Economy: A Case Study of Nepal

The research attempts to examine the factors that lead the experts to leave the country. Using 160 respondents living abroad, the study investigates the relationship between brain drain and the sending economy i.e. Nepal. The study follows descriptive, co-relational and causal comparative research design to analyze the purpose of this study. The result reveals that people leave country mainly for the purpose of education, employment and skills but what makes them settle there is employment and skills, as both of them have significant impact on sending economy at 5 per cent level of significant. As people get better job offers, they start working abroad and when they realize their skills being enhanced, their chances of getting settled in foreign land increases. This means as long as they realize self-growth in the form of better jobs and good skills, they do not plan to come back.

Impact of Value Education in Personal Behaviour of Students: A Case Study of Nepal

Values are certain characteristics which affect the behaviour and characters of an individual. Values are a kind of standard principles that are used to judge the worth of an idea or action. They provide the criteria by which we decide whether something is good or bad, right or wrong. Values are taught by the value education of school. In Nepal, there is separate course of value education in basic education (grade 6 to 8). The main aim of this study was to explore the impact of value education in personal behaviour of students. The study was conducted in three districts (Dolkha, Kavre and Chitwan) of Nepal among the 600 students and teachers. The study was based on the quantitative approach. The result shows that the value education had taught basic qualities of life like Honesty, hard work, respect for others, cooperation, compassion, and forgiveness. It has brought the positive change in personal behaviour of students. Though, they reported the need of improvement in teaching practices because there was significant difference between the importance level and practice level of value education to teach the quality of life to change in personal behaviour.

Engaging volunteer tourism in post-disaster recovery in Nepal

There is limited research published on the significance of volunteer tourism in assisting host communities in the recovery of a tourism destination and its industry after a disaster. Our paper addresses this research gap with reference to a case study of Nepal's tourism recovery after the country's 2015 earthquake. We argue that a clear post disaster volunteer tourism framework could validate volunteer tourism's potential role to ensure that communities do not miss out on any form of assistance that may be of use in re-establishing destination or community lifestyle. Our paper provides an initial exploratory understanding of how post disaster volunteer tourism might be effective; it uses a disaster management framework to conceptualise the phenomenon.

The troubled path to food sovereignty in Nepal: ambiguities in agricultural policy reform

The food sovereignty movement arose as a challenge to neoliberal models of agriculture and food and the corporatization of agriculture, which is claimed to have undermined peasant agriculture and sustainability. However, food sovereignty is an ambiguous idea. Yet, a few countries are institutionalizing it. In this paper, we argue that food sovereignty possesses the attributes of a ‘coalition magnet’ and, thus, brings together policy actors that support agricultural reform, but have diverse and often opposing interests, in a loose coalition. This facilitates agenda setting, but there may be problems in policy formulation and implementation stages due to the ambiguous nature of the idea. Consequently, despite including food sovereignty in a country’s constitution and/or legislation, policies and programs related to food and agriculture exhibit the status quo, which is not expected under an alternative food paradigm. We examine this argument in a case study of Nepal, where food sovereignty has been instituted as a fundamental right in the Constitution.

Human energy and time spent by women using cooking energy systems: A case study of Nepal

In most developing countries, many rural households use fuelwood and a traditional cookstove (TCS). Women are the backbone of the cooking system, as they mostly manage it. Despite several existing efficient cooking energy systems, households generally do not prefer them. Thus, our aim is to find why this is the case. We estimate the time required and human energy expenditure (HEE) for production of cooking fuel for four alternative cooking energy systems in Nepal, as a case study. The time required to produce cooking fuel for the baseline scenario (i.e. fuelwood and TCS) is 40 h/cap/yr and HEE is 41 MJ/cap/yr. System 2 (charcoal and TCS) has the highest demand for time and HEE. The results suggest that the most efficient system is System 1 (i.e. fuelwood and an improved cookstove (ICS)). However, a woman produces cooking fuel for the whole household, which multiples her time and HEE demand to the household size. This system analysis indicates a significant influence in the selection of cooking fuel due to the HEE and time demand. It concludes that in the future, more importance should be attached to the labour required from women in the cooking energy systems in the development of technological improvements.

What’s War Got to Do with It? Post-conflict Effects on Gender Equality in South and Southeast Asia, 1975–2006

Does gender equality get better or worse following civil conflict? Given the plethora of research linking gender equality to less bellicosity, we aim to look at the relationship between post-conflict situations and gender equality. Specifically, we argue that circumstances surrounding how a conflict ends can better explain gender equality levels in a country in the post-conflict set up. We discuss whether outright victory for rebel groups will have the best impact for women due to the regime change and democratic process that typically follows. We conduct a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 13 cases of intrastate conflicts in South and Southeast Asia for the years 1975–2006 along with an in-depth case study of Nepal. We find that rebel victory does have a positive impact on women in post-conflict situations when religious freedom was high, the conflict was centre seeking and wanted to establish a democratic regime.

Energy balance and environmental impacts of rice and wheat production: A case study in Nepal

Energy and environment are the key concerns in todays’ agriculture. This study investigated energy balance and environmental impact of rice and wheat production systems in terms of energy ratio, impact of energy inputs to the crop yield and CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions under terai and hill geographical regions of Nepal. Primary data were collected from 139 randomly selected farms by using structured questionnaire. The results revealed that the total energy consumption in rice and wheat production were 9.70 GJ/hm2 (terai) to 11.78 GJ/hm2 (hill) and 8.40 GJ/hm2 (hill) to 10.95 GJ/hm2 (terai), respectively. The energy balance of rice and wheat production were found 46.33 GJ/hm2 (hill) to 59.29 GJ/hm2 (terai) and 27.14 GJ/hm2 (terai) to 38.52 GJ/hm2 (hill), respectively, where energy use efficiency in terai and hill were found to be 7.14 and 4.97 in rice, and 3.49 and 5.59 in wheat, respectively. The contribution of fertilizer on impacts was significant among other energy inputs in rice and wheat production in both geographical regions. The CO2e emissions from rice and wheat were higher by 52% and 78% in hill as compared to respective crop rice (1786 kg CO2e/hm2) and wheat (843 kg CO2e/hm2) in terai. This study showed that rice production system in terai is more energy and environmentally efficient, whilst wheat production in hill is more energy efficient. Keywords: energy indices, environmental impact, productivity, profitability, GHG emissions, rice, wheat, sensitivity analysis DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191201.3270 Citation: Pokhrel A, Soni P. Energy balance and environmental impacts of rice and wheat production: A case study in Nepal. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(1): 201–207.

Impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and food security in the Himalayas: A case study in Nepal

The paradigmatic Dudh Koshi basin laid at the toe of Mt. Everest is largely visited by tourists every year, and yet agricultural productivity and food security therein are at stake under climate change. Agricultural yield in the area recently decreased, and the question arose whether cropping at higher altitudes may help adaptation. We investigated here the present, and future (until 2100) patterns of productivity of three main rain-fed crops in the catchment (wheat Triticum L., rice Oryza L., and maize Zea Mais L.). We explored food security using a nutritional index, given by the ratio of the caloric content from our target cereals, to daily caloric demand. We preliminary investigated whether vertical extension of the cropped area may increase food security. We did so by (i) mapping crops area using remote sensing, (ii) setting up the agronomic model Poly-Crop, (iii) feeding Poly-Crop with downscaled outputs from global climate models, and (iv) projecting vertical land occupation for cropping, population projections, and nutritional requirements. We estimated crop yield and food security at half century (2040–2050), and end of century (2090–2100), against a control run decade CR (2003−2013), under constant land use, and projected land occupation. On average, specific wheat yield would decrease against CR by −25% (rice −42%, maize −46%) at 2100, with largely yearly variability for unchanged land use scenario. Under modified land use scenario, wheat yield would decrease by −38%, while rice and maize yield would improve, maize very slightly (−22%, and −45%, against CR) in response to occupation of higher altitudes than now. Our food security index would decrease under all scenarios (111% in 2010, 49% on average at 2050, under a population peak, and 51% at 2100), and become more variable, however with potential for adaptation by colonization of higher lands (75%, 62%, at 2050, 2100). Very large expansion of one cereal (i.e. maize), may make food security more unstable, as mostly depending on erratic yield of that cereal only.

Energy balance and environmental impacts of rice and wheat production: A case study in Nepal

Energy and environment are the key concerns in todays’ agriculture. This study investigated energy balance and environmental impact of rice and wheat production systems in terms of energy ratio, impact of energy inputs to the crop yield and CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions under terai and hill geographical regions of Nepal. Primary data were collected from 139 randomly selected farms by using structured questionnaire. The results revealed that the total energy consumption in rice and wheat production were 9.70 GJ/hm2 (terai) to 11.78 GJ/hm2 (hill) and 8.40 GJ/hm2 (hill) to 10.95 GJ/hm2 (terai), respectively. The energy balance of rice and wheat production were found 46.33 GJ/hm2 (hill) to 59.29 GJ/hm2 (terai) and 27.14 GJ/hm2 (terai) to 38.52 GJ/hm2 (hill), respectively, where energy use efficiency in terai and hill were found to be 7.14 and 4.97 in rice, and 3.49 and 5.59 in wheat, respectively. The contribution of fertilizer on impacts was significant among other energy inputs in rice and wheat production in both geographical regions. The CO2e emissions from rice and wheat were higher by 52% and 78% in hill as compared to respective crop rice (1786 kg CO2e/hm2) and wheat (843 kg CO2e/hm2) in terai. This study showed that rice production system in terai is more energy and environmentally efficient, whilst wheat production in hill is more energy efficient. Keywords: energy indices, environmental impact, productivity, profitability, GHG emissions, rice, wheat, sensitivity analysis DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20191201.3270 Citation: Pokhrel A, Soni P. Energy balance and environmental impacts of rice and wheat production: A case study in Nepal. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2019; 12(1): 201–207.

Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading in Micro/Mini-Grids for Local Energy Communities: A Review and Case Study of Nepal

Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are being integrated into the power market by customers rather than large scale energy suppliers, thereby slowly transforming the centralized, unidirectional market to a decentralized, bidirectional market and transitioning customers into prosumers. Various system architectures are used in the real field to coordinate the energy distribution in the micro/ mini-grids integrated with DERs, all of which have their strengths, weaknesses and challenges. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is an emerging architecture in the field of electrical energy trading and Distributed Generation (DG) management that can be applied in local energy markets. This paper focuses on P2P energy trading, with an in-depth discussion on its various operating algorithms, their principles, characteristics, features and scope through state of art review on P2P. Furthermore, the energy system of Nepal is used as a case study in this paper, and the micro/mini-grids of Nepal and their associated challenges, constraints and opportunities for improvement are discussed. Finally, an energy trading model is proposed to address the problems occurring in the specific case of Nepalese energy market.

Micro Credit and Rural Household Labor Allocation for Non-Farm Sector: A case study of Nepal

Micro Credit and Rural Household Labor Allocation for Non-Farm Sector: A case study of Nepal

Aid, Growth, Remittances and Carbon Emissions in Nepal

Using historical data from Nepal—one of the largest recipients of aid among South Asian countries—this paper investigates the link between foreign aid, growth, remittances and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The investigation of this issue is particularly important, as policy makers in the least developed countries are increasingly concerned about growing reliance on energy imports, particularly fossil fuels, and increasing CO2 emissions. Mounting energy consumption has not only made their economies vulnerable to environmental disasters and increased health costs, but also to external shocks due to frequent fluctuations in international market prices for petroleum products. Since available studies are largely based on cross-sectional data—which lump together countries with different characteristics— empirical evidence is contradictory. In-depth case studies of countries with different backgrounds would certainly provide better insights into the link between aid, growth, remittances and CO2 emissions, and contribute to ongoing policy dialogue. Our empirical results, based on an in-depth case study of Nepal, suggest that more foreign aid and remittances reduce CO2 emissions, whereas financial development and higher income increase CO2 emissions. These findings point to the importance of market mechanisms for regulating financial development and higher income to control CO2 emissions, without undermining competitiveness.

Evaluating participatory techniques for adaptation to climate change: Nepal case study

The community-based climate change adaptation plan of action (CAPA) ensures a bottom-up planning process to minimize climate impacts on the livelihood of vulnerable people and provides adaptation actions for increasing resilience capacity in Nepal. This paper mainly examines the role of participatory tools and techniques with the potential to identify the level of vulnerability and likely adaptation measures to increase the forest resilience capacities of communities where CAPA has been prepared (i.e. CAPA group). In total, 13 participatory qualitative tools were evaluated against 15 criteria for identifying their performance in nine CAPA groups representing three geo-graphical regions of Nepal. Multivariate analyses of the participatory tools and their performance allowed for selecting the most similar and dissimilar CAPA groups. The results indicated how CAPA groups are evaluating the likelihood of climate change impact, determining the vulnerability of specific ecosystem services and understanding the possible local adaptation measures. Many methods do not offer conditions for exploiting new innovative opportunities, assessing scenarios or identifying ecosystem services in the CAPA process. Tools are required that consider qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, measure vulnerability and ecosystem functions and services. Although many issues related to local conditions and vulnerabilities have not been tapped adequately, it is difficult to generalize individual case study results within the different geographical contexts of Nepal. The integration of adaptation planning in local institutions, in order to deal with different ecosystem-based adaptation options, along with identification of climate change scenarios, impacts, trade-offs, synergies and the sensitivity of management problems, is highly recommended.

Federalization is a Tool of Conflict Resolution : A Case Study of Nepal

Federalization is a Tool of Conflict Resolution : A Case Study of Nepal

Building resilience: Knowledge, experience and perceptions among informal construction stakeholders

Nepal is considered one of the most disaster-prone countries is the world, with vulnerabilities exacerbated by chronic poverty. Whilst a variety of sound buildings codes and regulations has been introduced in the past decades, a challenge exists in implementing these as the majority of the building stock is constructed by informal construction workers. Based on a case study of Nepal's Banepa Town, this paper aims to explore the role of knowledge, perceptions of and experiences with disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures among informal construction stakeholders. The paper highlights that whilst the level of awareness of hazards and knowledge of the importance of DRR measures among informal construction stakeholders is high, it is also important to consider perceptions and organisational challenges when finding the best solutions for promoting DRR measures. There is still a gap between transforming knowledge into practice, often because of the perceptions (such as trust, experience, and gender) that are predominant in the sector. Understanding these issues is important as this situation is not unique to Nepal: rapid urbanisation in many developing countries has similarly led to a boom in informal construction sectors and construction that has little regard for building codes and regulations.

Situating local stakeholders within national disaster governance structures: rebuilding urban neighbourhoods following the 2015 Nepal earthquake

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on 25 April 2015, killing nearly 9,000 people and destroying half a million homes. This paper analyses the effectiveness of Nepali government institutions managing the reconstruction. Using institutional ethnography, we analyse how the post-earthquake governance framework has incorporated the flexibility and decentralization outlined in pre-earthquake plans. We balance this with observations from five case study urban settlements in the Kathmandu Valley to provide a “bottom-up” perspective on how local stakeholders are engaged in rebuilding their communities. The creation of ad hoc national-level disaster management agencies can weaken already under-resourced local governance structures. The Nepal case study reveals that national disaster management plans drafted after the Hyogo and Sendai frameworks, which promote the decentralization of disaster governance, are not necessarily followed up with practical steps to empower local stakeholders and facilitate decentralization – and are readily dismissed in the face of a real emergency.

The development and application of a sustainable diets framework for policy analysis: A case study of Nepal

The objectives of this study were to 1) develop a policy analysis framework for examining the components of a sustainable diet and 2) to apply its use to three relevant national polices in Nepal. We developed a policy analysis framework using existing literature and applied the framework to three Nepalese policies: Nepal’s Multisectoral Nutrition Plan (MSNP) 2013–2017, Agricultural Development Strategy (ADS) 2015–2035 and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2014–2020. Each policy was coded independently by two researchers to examine whether the different components of the sustainable diets framework were mentioned and if they had associated policy actions. We then used a health policy analysis tool to examine the overall quality of each policy. The ADS mentioned the most (89%) components of the sustainable diets framework as compared to the NBSAP (58%) and the MSNP (70%). If all three policies were fully implemented they would address all but one of the components of a sustainable diet, with the potential to deliver for health and the environment. However, there was a lack of clarity regarding how the resources to accomplish the policy objectives would be obtained as well as insufficient detail regarding the policies’ monitoring and evaluation frameworks. The sustainable diets framework developed in this study enables the identification of gaps where policies need to broaden their focus in order to incorporate a more holistic view of the food system. This will become increasingly important as climate change continues to persist and the need for more resilient food systems becomes more recognized.

Design and performance evaluation of Korean traditional heating system—Ondol: Case study of Nepal

Poor infrastructure in developing countries, combined with challenging geographical characteristics, is associated with problems of limited access to resources, poor transportation and environmental health issues. In some developing countries, there are no heating systems during the winter season, which causes problems for both people and livestock. The most common heating source is from open fires using biomass from animal and plant residue, which are also used for cooking. Fireplaces are typically located inside the house, which can lead to respiratory health problems because of limited ventilation. Thus, heating systems with proper ventilation are desirable to mitigate health problems and improve living conditions. Here we describe the application of ‘Ondol’, a traditional Korean heating system that was redesigned for improved efficiency, in remote villages in a mountainous region of Nepal. Total 10 models of Ondol were designed and fabricated, and the temperature profile and uniformity were characterized to select the optimal design. The height and type of the ‘Gorae’ were the most important factors in determining the efficiency. The optimal design was provided to local people, who were trained to replicate and build the Ondol on their own. A post-installation survey was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the system.

The need for international search and rescue (SAR) teams during an earthquake: Nepal case study

ABSTRACTOn 25 April 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, causing huge damage. Many countries and international organisations such as the United Nations started monitoring the situation and offered support to the Nepali government. This article raises points that must be examined by decision-makers before implementing delegations; these include cost effectiveness, whether it improves morale and resilience, international relations, and experience, and promotes good relationships between the two countries, and assisting their own citizens who were affected by the disaster.