Population pressure and land resources in Nepal: A revisit, twenty years later

Journal of Developing Areas

Volumn 33, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 245-268

  Shrestha, Nanda R ^a   Conway, Dennis ^b   Bhattarai, Keshav ^b  

^a Florida A and M University   (United States)

^b INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; LAND DEGRADATION; MAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONS; POPULATION PRESSURE;

AGRICULTURAL WORKERS; AGRICULTURE; ARTICLE; ASIA; CARRYING CAPACITY; DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS; DEMOGRAPHY; DEVELOPING COUNTRY; ECONOMIC FACTORS; ECONOMICS; EMPLOYMENT; ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; GEOGRAPHIC FACTORS; GEOGRAPHY; HEALTH CARE MANPOWER; HEALTH CARE PLANNING; HUMAN RESOURCES; LABOR FORCE; LAND SUPPLY; MIGRATION; NATURAL RESOURCES; NEPAL; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; POPULATION; POPULATION DENSITY; POPULATION DYNAMICS; RESEARCH REPORT; RESOURCES; RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION; SOUTHERN ASIA; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION;

AGRICULTURAL WORKERS; ASIA; CARRYING CAPACITY; DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; ECONOMIC FACTORS; ENVIRONMENT; GEOGRAPHIC FACTORS; HUMAN RESOURCES; LABOR FORCE; LAND SUPPLY; MIGRATION; NATURAL RESOURCES; NEPAL; ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION; POPULATION; POPULATION DENSITY; POPULATION DYNAMICS; POPULATION PRESSURE; RESEARCH REPORT; RESOURCES; RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION; SOUTHERN ASIA; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION;

AGRICULTURE; ASIA; CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES; DEMOGRAPHY; DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; ECONOMICS; EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION; EMPLOYMENT; ENVIRONMENT; GEOGRAPHY; HEALTH MANPOWER; HEALTH RESOURCES; NEPAL; ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION; POPULATION; POPULATION DENSITY; POPULATION DYNAMICS; RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY;

NEPAL;

EID: 0033369083     PISSN: 0022037X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. For a detailed regional description, see Pradyumna P. Karan and Hiroshi Ishii, Nepal: Development and Change in a Landlocked Himalayan Kingdom (Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 1994); and John J. Metz, "A Reassessment of the Causes and Severity of Nepal's Environmental Crisis," World Development 19, no. 7 (1991): 805-20.
2. For a detailed regional description, see Pradyumna P. Karan and Hiroshi Ishii, Nepal: Development and Change in a Landlocked Himalayan Kingdom (Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 1994); and John J. Metz, "A Reassessment of the Causes and Severity of Nepal's Environmental Crisis," World Development 19, no. 7 (1991): 805-20.
3. CEDA (Center for Economic Development and Administration), Proceedings of Seminar on Population and Development (Kathmandu: CEDA, 1974).
4. See Karan and Ishii, Nepal: Development and Change.
5. Nanda R. Shrestha, "A Preliminary Report on Population Pressure and Land Resources in Nepal," Journal of Developing Areas 16 (January 1982): 197-212.
6. P. Sen Gupta, "Population and Resource Development in India," in Geography and a Crowding World, ed. Wilbur Zelinsky, Leszek A. Kosinski, and R. Mansell Prothero (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970): 424-41.
7. The concept of carrying capacity (or critical population density) is defined here as the maximum density of population that can be supported on a given area of land under the existing mode of primary production technology, without depleting the long-term stability of its sustainability and fertility: that is, where energy in = energy out.
8. See Nanda R. Shrestha and Dennis Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier of Nepal: An Emerging Human and Environmental Crisis," International Journal of Population Geography 2 (1996): 313-31; and Arun Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action among Village Forest Management Institutions in the Indian Himalayas," Himalayan Research Bulletin 16, nos. 1-2 (1996): 19-28. Also see John J. Metz, "A Framework for Classifying Subsistence Production Types of Nepal," Human Ecology 17, no. 2 (1989): 147-76.
9. See Nanda R. Shrestha and Dennis Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier of Nepal: An Emerging Human and Environmental Crisis," International Journal of Population Geography 2 (1996): 313-31; and Arun Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action among Village Forest Management Institutions in the Indian Himalayas," Himalayan Research Bulletin 16, nos. 1-2 (1996): 19-28. Also see John J. Metz, "A Framework for Classifying Subsistence Production Types of Nepal," Human Ecology 17, no. 2 (1989): 147-76.
10. See Nanda R. Shrestha and Dennis Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier of Nepal: An Emerging Human and Environmental Crisis," International Journal of Population Geography 2 (1996): 313-31; and Arun Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action among Village Forest Management Institutions in the Indian Himalayas," Himalayan Research Bulletin 16, nos. 1-2 (1996): 19-28. Also see John J. Metz, "A Framework for Classifying Subsistence Production Types of Nepal," Human Ecology 17, no. 2 (1989): 147-76.
11. Michael J. Watts and Hans G. Bohle, "The Space of Vulnerability: The Causal Structure of Hunger and Famine," Progress in Human Geography 17 (March 1993): 43-67.
12. See S. R. Devkota, "Environment Management Systems in Nepal," Ecological Economics Bulletin 3 (1998).
13. For a detailed discussion, see Krishna Ghimire, Forest or Farm? The Politics of Poverty and Land Hunger in Nepal (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992); and Nanda R. Shrestha, Landlessness and Migration in Nepal (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990).
14. For a detailed discussion, see Krishna Ghimire, Forest or Farm? The Politics of Poverty and Land Hunger in Nepal (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992); and Nanda R. Shrestha, Landlessness and Migration in Nepal (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990).
15. APROSC (Agricultural Project Services Center), Nepal: Agricultural Perspective Plan (Kathmandu: APROSC, 1995).
16. CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics), Statistical Year Book (Kathmandu: CBS, 1997).
17. Also see Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action"; Ramachandra Guha, "Mahatma Gandhi and the Environmental Movement in India," Capitalism, Nature, Socialism: A Journal of Socialist Ecology 6, no. 3 ( 1997): 47-61; and Shrestha and Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier."
18. Also see Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action"; Ramachandra Guha, "Mahatma Gandhi and the Environmental Movement in India," Capitalism, Nature, Socialism: A Journal of Socialist Ecology 6, no. 3 ( 1997): 47-61; and Shrestha and Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier."
19. CBS, Statistical Year Book.
20. Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action"; Guha, "Mahatma Gandhi and the Environmental Movement" ; and Shrestha and Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier."
21. Agrawal, "Successful Collective Action"; Guha, "Mahatma Gandhi and the Environmental Movement" ; and Shrestha and Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai Frontier."
22. R. B. Chhetri and T. R. Panday, User Group Forestry in Far-Western Region of Nepal (Kathmandu: International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, 1992); and K. R. Kanel, Policy Reform and Local Understanding in Community Forestry: A Case Study of Rapti (Kathmandu: USAID/Nepal, 1997).
23. R. B. Chhetri and T. R. Panday, User Group Forestry in Far-Western Region of Nepal (Kathmandu: International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, 1992); and K. R. Kanel, Policy Reform and Local Understanding in Community Forestry: A Case Study of Rapti (Kathmandu: USAID/Nepal, 1997).
24. Dennis Conway and Nanda R. Shrestha, "Urban Growth and Urbanization in Least-Developed Countries: The Experience of Nepal, 1952-71," Asian Profile 8, no. 5 (1980): 477-94.
25. CBS, Statistical Year Book.
26. Even though the districts of Kathmandu and Patan are a lot more urbanized now than they were in 1971, we decided not to exclude them from this study. As it turned out, their inclusion had little impact on the overall findings. After all, this study utilizes districts as the interregional unit of analysis.
27. Nanda R. Shrestha, Raja Velu, and Dennis Conway, "Frontier Migration and Upward Mobility: The Case of Nepal," Economic Development and Cultural Change 41 (July 1993).
28. See Shrestha, Landlessness and Migration in Nepal.
29. Dennis Conway and Nanda R. Shrestha, "Causes and Consequences of Rural-to-Rural Migration in Nepal" (Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1981).
30. Some argue that because of the porous border between Nepal and India, Indian migrants add to the number of people moving into the Tarai. There is no question that the Tarai attracts Indian migrants. Border crossings occur both ways, however, as large numbers of Nepali migrants cross into India. Given this transitional situation, we have decided not to dwell on this issue. In addition, it is generally believed that the numbers of migrants crossing the border from both sides approximate each other, thus nullifying their effects.
31. See David Seddon, Nepal: A State of Poverty (New Delhi: Vikas Publishers, 1987); and World Bank, Nepal: Poverty and Incomes (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1991).
32. See David Seddon, Nepal: A State of Poverty (New Delhi: Vikas Publishers, 1987); and World Bank, Nepal: Poverty and Incomes (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1991).
33. Josue de Castro, The Geopolitics of Hunger (New York: Monthly Review, 1977); Mahmood Mamdani, The Myth of Population Control (New York: Monthly Review, 1972); Nanda R. Shrestha and John Patterson, "Population and Poverty in Dependent States: Latin America Considered," Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography 22 (1990); and Lakshman S. Yapa, "The Poverty Discourse and the Poor in Sri Lanka," Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 23 (1998): 95-115.
34. Josue de Castro, The Geopolitics of Hunger (New York: Monthly Review, 1977); Mahmood Mamdani, The Myth of Population Control (New York: Monthly Review, 1972); Nanda R. Shrestha and John Patterson, "Population and Poverty in Dependent States: Latin America Considered," Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography 22 (1990); and Lakshman S. Yapa, "The Poverty Discourse and the Poor in Sri Lanka," Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 23 (1998): 95-115.
35. Josue de Castro, The Geopolitics of Hunger (New York: Monthly Review, 1977); Mahmood Mamdani, The Myth of Population Control (New York: Monthly Review, 1972); Nanda R. Shrestha and John Patterson, "Population and Poverty in Dependent States: Latin America Considered," Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography 22 (1990); and Lakshman S. Yapa, "The Poverty Discourse and the Poor in Sri Lanka," Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 23 (1998): 95-115.
36. Josue de Castro, The Geopolitics of Hunger (New York: Monthly Review, 1977); Mahmood Mamdani, The Myth of Population Control (New York: Monthly Review, 1972); Nanda R. Shrestha and John Patterson, "Population and Poverty in Dependent States: Latin America Considered," Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography 22 (1990); and Lakshman S. Yapa, "The Poverty Discourse and the Poor in Sri Lanka," Transactions, Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 23 (1998): 95-115.
37. Shrestha, Velu, and Conway, "Frontier Migration and Upward Mobility."
38. For a detailed discussion, see Shrestha and Conway, "Ecopolitical Battles at the Tarai."
39. For a detailed discussion, see Nanda R. Shrestha, In the Name of Development: A Reflection on Nepal (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1997).
40. Bihari K. Shrestha, "Rural Development Projects: Programmed to Forget the Poor," Himal 5 (March-April 1992).
41. See Shrestha, In the Name of Development.
42. Barrington Moore, Jr., Authority and Inequality under Capitalism and Socialism (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987).