The Agricultural and Resource Economics will be holding two seminars on this day:

Presenter: Tafesse Estifanos, ARE PhD Candidate

Title: Estimating impact of Ethiopian protected areas on rural households’ livelihoods

Abstract: Protected areas (PAs) serve as cornerstones for biodiversity conservation and the supply of ecosystem services. In developing countries, PAs are often located in rural areas that have high poverty rates. As PAs restrict agricultural land use and the extractive use of natural resources, there have been concerns about their potential impact on nearby local people. This study evaluates the impact of PAs on livelihoods, as measured by total household income (THI) and livestock income (LI) of rural residents. We use a quasi-experimental design survey to gather socioeconomic and biophysical data from households living within, adjacent to and outside the PAs and employ matching methods to isolate the impact of PA. Our finding suggests that there is no evidence that the establishment of PAs adversely affects local livelihoods. Instead, we find that households within PAs and in adjacent areas have higher incomes. Understanding the heterogeneity in the effect of PAs on livelihoods can help in designing well-targeted policy interventions that improve conservation goals while also addressing livelihood concerns of resource-dependent local communities.

Presenter: Dinesh Babu Thapa Magar, ARE PhD student (PhD proposal presentation)

Title: Overseas Labour Migration: Its Determinants and Impacts on Smallholder Farm-Households in Nepal

Abstract: Agriculture is central to the livelihoods of the majority of people and the economy of Nepal. However, overseas labour migration particularly the youth has been significantly escalated in recent decades and Nepal is now rapidly emerging as a remittance-based economy. An unprecedented level of remittance inflows led by overseas labour migration has contributed to poverty reduction significantly, but, the factors influencing overseas and return migration and its effects on various aspects of agriculture sector and smallholder farm-households is not yet adequately understood. Likewise, there is a dearth of studies on the reintegration aspects of return migrants in Nepal. Therefore, this study is aimed at understanding the migration-remittance-agricultural development nexus and reintegration of return migrants in Nepal. More precisely, this study has the objectives of assessing the determinants of migration decisions and destination choices, analysing overseas and return migration impacts on various agricultural outcomes (particularly on crop and livestock production, land use, labour use, agricultural inputs use, improved agricultural technology adoption and farm technical efficiency) as well as productive investments, and assessing occupational choice of return migrants in Nepal. The study will be conducted in two purposively selected districts; one representing the Terai and another representing the hill agro-ecology. Primary data will be collected through household surveys in a total of 540 sample households and 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) in the community. Probit, two-stage least squares with instrumental variables, three-stage least square techniques, stochastic frontier approach and multinomial logit model will be used to analyse the quantitative data, while text analysis will be used to analyse qualitative data. The study findings will contribute to understanding the migration-remittance-agriculture dynamics as well as shape appropriate strategies for maximizing the development impact of migration in Nepal.

UWA School of Agriculture and Environment Events

SAgE Networking Morning Tea

Agriculture Seminar Series 11 December

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