Suchergebnisse

ResumenSe investiga el efecto de la migración laboral internacional en la práctica del barbecho, la adopción de tecnologías de intensificación agrícola y la diversificación de medios de subsistencia en Nepal. Aplicando métodos empíricos que admiten inferencias causales a datos nacionales representativos, se observa que la probabilidad de tener tierras en barbecho (estimada con el emparejamiento por puntaje de propensión) es más de un 50 por ciento mayor en los hogares con migrantes que en los demás. La migración promueve las tecnologías de intensificación agrícola y la diversificación de los medios de subsistencia. El barbecho aumenta la inseguridad alimentaria, pero la intensificación agrícola puede reducirla, con un efecto neto incierto.

RésuméLes auteurs étudient l'effet de la migration internationale temporaire de main‐d'œuvre sur l'abandon de terres cultivées, l'adoption de techniques d'intensification agricole et la diversification des moyens de subsistance au Népal. Ils appliquent des méthodes empiriques d'inférence causale en s'appuyant sur des données représentatives au niveau national. Ils établissent que les familles de migrants ont plus de 50 pour cent de chances en plus de laisser des terres en friche que celles de non‐migrants. La migration internationale temporaire favorise l'adoption de pratiques d'intensification agricole et incite les ménages ruraux à diversifier leurs moyens de subsistance. Si la déprise agricole est susceptible d'aggraver l'insécurité alimentaire, l'intensification de l'agriculture peut en revanche la réduire, d'où un effet net incertain.

This article investigates the effect of temporary international labour migration on farmland fallowing, adoption of agricultural intensification technologies and livelihood diversification. Using nationally representative data, combined with empirical methods that allow causal inference, the authors find that households with international migrants are over 50 per cent more likely (based on propensity score matching estimates) to have fallow land than those without. Temporary international migration promotes the adoption of some agricultural intensification technologies and causes rural households to diversify their livelihoods. Land fallowing may increase food insecurity, while agricultural intensification may improve it, for an uncertain net effect.

Solid waste management has become one of the most important issues in urban centres of developing countries where population growth puts pressure on public services. Nepal is struggling to manage municipal solid waste in urban centres due to a lack of segregation at the source, recycling, and proper disposal. This chapter examines whether women and men manage household waste differently at the household level, especially at source segregation, managing recyclable waste (paper and plastic), and composting degradable waste. Using household survey data from the Bharatpur Metropolitan City of Nepal, we find that women are more likely to segregate waste at the source and also manage degradable waste at home better. Still, there is no gender difference in selling plastic and paper waste. In contrast, women are more likely to give paper or plastic waste either to the waste collectors (free) or throw away, suggesting a heterogeneity across gender when it comes to managing household waste. In most cases, women waste managers perform well (segregating at source and composting degradable waste), but they do not seem to do well in all areas of plastic or paper waste management where some sort of sensitization may be helpful.

AbstractMany cities in developing countries lack adequate drainage and waste management infrastructure. Consequently, city residents face economic and health impacts from flooding and waterlogging, which are aggravated by solid waste infiltrating and blocking drains. City governments have recourse to two strategies to address these problems: a) 'hard' infrastructure-related interventions through investment in the expansion of drainage and waste transportation networks; and/or, b) 'soft', low-cost behavioural interventions that encourage city residents to change waste disposal practices. This research examines whether behavioural interventions, such as information and awareness raising alongside provision of inexpensive street waste bins, can improve waste management in the city. We undertook a cluster randomized controlled trial study in Bharatpur, Nepal, where one group of households was treated with a soft, low-cost intervention (information and street waste bins) while the control group of households did not receive the intervention. We econometrically compared baseline indicators – perceived neighbourhood cleanliness, household waste disposal methods, and at-source waste segregation – from a pre-intervention survey with data from two rounds of post-intervention surveys. Results from analysing household panel data indicate that the intervention increased neighbourhood cleanliness and motivated the treated households to dispose their waste properly through waste collectors. The intervention, however, did not increase household waste segregation at source, which is possibly because of municipal waste collectors mixing segregated and non-segregated waste during collection. At-source segregation, a pre-requisite for efficiently managing municipal solid waste, may improve if municipalities arrange to collect and manage degradable and non-degradable waste separately.