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A case study of cash cropping in Nepal: Poverty alleviation or inequity?

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  • Sandra Brown
  • George Kennedy

Abstract

Agricultural commercialization as a mechanism to alleviate rural poverty raises concerns about small land-holders, non-adopters, and inequity in the distribution of benefits within transforming economies. Farm gross margins were calculated to assess the economic status and impact of cash cropping on the economic well-being of agrarian households in the Mid-hills of Nepal. On an individual crop basis, tomatoes and potatoes were the most profitable. On a per farm basis, 50 of the households with positive farm gross margins grew at least one vegetable crop, while only 25 of households with negative farm gross margins included vegetable crops in their rotation. Farmers have been hesitant to produce primarily for the market given the rudimentary infrastructure and high variability in prices. Farmers reported selling more crops, but when corrected for inflation, gross revenues declined over time. The costs and benefits of developing markets have been unevenly distributed with small holders unable to capitalize on market opportunities, and wealthier farmers engaging in input intensive cash cropping. Farms growing vegetables had an average gross margin of US$137 per year compared to US$12 per year for farms growing only staple crops. However, the area under production is small, and while vegetable production is likely to continue increasing, sensitivity analysis and scenarios suggest high variability and limited short-term impact on poverty alleviation. Copyright Springer 2005

Suggested Citation

  • Sandra Brown & George Kennedy, 2005. "A case study of cash cropping in Nepal: Poverty alleviation or inequity?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(1), pages 105-116, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:22:y:2005:i:1:p:105-116
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-004-7234-z
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:ags:phajad:199096 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kishor Atreya & Fred Johnsen & Bishal Sitaula, 2012. "Health and environmental costs of pesticide use in vegetable farming in Nepal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 477-493, August.
    3. Jonathan Brooks & Alan Matthews, 2015. "Trade Dimensions of Food Security," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 77, OECD Publishing.
    4. Shrestha, Rudra Bahadur & Huang, Wen- Chi & Pradhan, Upasana, 2017. "Evaluating The Technical Efficiency Of Smallholder Vegetable Farms In Diverse Agroecological Regions Of Nepal," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 5(1), January.
    5. Kishor Atreya, 2007. "Farmers’ willingness to pay for community integrated pest management training in Nepal," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(3), pages 399-409, September.
    6. Shanta Paudel Khatiwada & Wei Deng & Bikash Paudel & Janak Raj Khatiwada & Jifei Zhang & Jiangjun Wan, 2018. "A Gender Analysis of Changing Livelihood Activities in the Rural Areas of Central Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    7. Matthys, Marie-Luise & Acharya, Sushant & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2021. "“Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    8. Kishor Atreya & Bishal Sitaula & Roshan Bajracharya, 2013. "Distribution of health costs of pesticide use by household economy," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 827-839, June.
    9. Buddhi Raj Ghimire & Koji Kotani, 2015. "A counterfactual experiment on the effectiveness of plastic ponds for smallholder farmers: A case of Nepalese vegetable farming," Working Papers SDES-2015-18, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised May 2015.
    10. Andrea Karin Barrueto & Juerg Merz & Thomas Kohler & Thomas Hammer, 2018. "What Prompts Agricultural Innovation in Rural Nepal: A Study Using the Example of Macadamia and Walnut Trees as Novel Cash Crops," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-16, February.
    11. Raut, Nani & Sitaula, Bishal Kumar & Bajracharya, Roshan Man, 2011. "A Discourse on Agricultural Intensification in the Mid-Hills of Nepal," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, June.

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