Environmental policy and administrative management

The proposed project VDCs Sarikhet, Namtar and Kalikatar are located in the Manahari and East Rapti river Basins. The climatic condition is hot tropical to temperate as the temperature sometimes reaches up to 420C. The total number of HHs in the project VDCs is 3045 with population 19701 (CBS, 2001). Major caste groups include Tamag and Chepang. The land area is prone to water induced disasters such as flood, erosion and landslides due to unplanned land use such as shifting cultivation and agriculture practices in slopping land. Poverty is also rampant and development interventions are in nascent stage. The livelihood of majority of the population depends upon agriculture/livestock (70.6%) followed by seasonal labor (15.3%), services (7.3%) and business (6.6%). It shows that most people depend upon agriculture and livestock to run their livelihood. In an average, only 23% HHs have year round food sufficiency and 18% HHs have food shortage for 2 months every year (Plan Nepal, 2012). Food insufficiency problem is escalating among farmers who reside along the riverbank because of increasing trend of water disasters. In search of alternative employment many people, mostly youth, are forced to go to nearby cities within Nepal and India, leaving women and elderly at home alone. This also leads to erosion of local knowledge. Thus the project aims to enhance local livelihood by introducing appropriate farming technology such as slopping area land technology (SALT), agroforestry with proper irrigation system and promote NTFP in the slopping land. The project also aims to document knowledge and establish document sharing practices.

Nepal