Presented by Bimbika Sijapati Basnett of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) at the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, on 21 March 2018 in Washington, DC

1. What is the impact of out-migration for
employment purposes on peoples and
land?
Bimbika Sijapati Basnett, CIFOR
Samata Manandhar, Forest Action Nepal
21st March, 2018;
Land and Poverty
Conference;
World Bank,
Washington DC

2. Outline
• Trends, trajectories, debates, and gaps
• ‘Birds eye view’ and ‘zooming in’
• Research site and context
o Who is going and who is left behind?
o Socially differentiated engagement in migration
o Effects on agriculture and forestry
o Future prospects for left behind
• Policy considerations

3. Overview of migration trends and trajectories
- Largest recipient of foreign remittance as a
percentage of GDP
- Over 1000 men migrate everyday
- Women only 4.5% of workers (DOFE 2014)
- At least 1 migrant worker abroad or a returnee
in half of all households (World Bank 2011)

4. Research on the effects of large-scale migration
• Debate - Contributing to much needed economic growth or asign of
deep-rooted economic and political problems in the country? (World
Bank 2014 and 2016)
• Coinciding with decline in contribution of agriculture to economy (only
60%).
• Debate - Land abandonment or heightened speculation over land?
• Recent research - Socio-ecological landscapes (Chattre et al. 2008),
reduced food production (Tuladhar et al. 2014, Ojha et al. 2016),
Layered effects on poverty reduction (Sunam and McCarthy 2015).
• Effects on women left behind– burden or an opportunity for
empowerment? BUT Gender and generational dimensions? Conflict or
cooperation?

5. Research question and methods
How is large scale migration for
employment purposes contributing
to land and social change?
Research methods – census, survey,
FGD, SII and oral histories
Zooming in
• Social dynamics - two social
groups, historical patron client
relationship, skewed land
ownership, sharecropping,
practice of untouchability.

6. Who goes and who is left behind? Why?
Male-dominated, but
distinct patterns by
ethnicity
Elderly, women and
children are left
behind.
Role of norms, division
of labor, market
asymmetries in gender
exclusion
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Gulf countries
Gulf and lucrative…
Others
International migration by
ethnicity
Dalit Gurung
“Only loose women migrate.”
“There are no decent jobs for women”
“What is the point of women migrating.
Who will look after our homes, our land,
our children and our aging in-laws if we
leave?”
“Men have to work hard as long as they
can”

7. Modes of Incorporation in Migration
Gurung
• Most working age
men have left
• Second generation of
migration,
• Migration –
aspiration and choice.
• Generational conflict
Dalit
• Rising rates of migration
• Destination and
employment
• ‘Fears and hopes of
migration’
• Risks, split households,
education and
prospects for next
generation

8. Effects on agriculture and forestry:
Mediated by gerontocratic structures
Agriculture
• Remittance dependence.
• Limited investment on
agriculture (7th rank, only
33%).
• Increase in food bought
than produced.
• Over 25% of land ‘fallow’
• Chronic labor shortage
• Stickiness of wages and
land
Forestry
• Lowered dependence on
fuelwood but no
substitution
• Marginal private land
• Community forest -
Elderly male domination;
Withdrawal of support for
monitoring, enforcement,

9. Left behind: Future prospects
“All my children have left
the village…they come
during the Dasain
holidays…we feel very
happy when they are
here. But when they
leave, we cannot sleep for
days. Who will take care of
us? How will we survive?”
(Gurung elderly woman, one of the largest owners of
land in the village)
“My husband is
uneducated. If he is able
to get a slightly better job
than the one that he has
right now, maybe my life
will be more bearable. But
I don’t see my life
improving substantially in
the near future”.
(Dalit woman left behind, husband struggling migrant
worker in Qatar, 2 children)

10. Policy considerations:
Moving beyond silos
• Revitalizing rural
• Equipping the left behind women
• Tackling deep-rooted inequalities
• Investing in social protection and care

11. Sita’s Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBrUEITjnGc

12. cifor.org
blog.cifor.org
ForestsTreesAgroforestry.org
THANK YOU
Thank you