Patterns of rural household system organization in relation to farming system under different environmental conditions in Nepal

Date

9-1990

Abstract

This study sought to explore and operationalize the structural characteristics of small farmer households (HHs), their farming environment, HH system components, and the way farming was organized within the HH system under different environment. Data gathered from 204 HHs belonging to the mountain and the Tarai agroecozones of Central Nepal, were analyzed using content analysis, differential indexes and simple descriptive statistics.

Basically HH existed as consanguinous group of medium size, generally less balanced and dominated by younger members. Most of the HHs were-bi-apexially governed with vertically extended family structure. The need to function as basic social institution forced the HH to farm on small fragmented land under various tenurial arrangements. HH pursued farming within complex bio-physical and socio-cultural environment that emitted influence through resource regulation. The accessibility to and/or availability of normal flow and/or fund of resources in the environment that facilitated farming was opportunity; such environment was favorable. The inaccessibility to and/or abnormally excessive or deficient resource availability that impeded farming was constraint; such environment was unfavorable. The overall HH farming environment was favorable but was more so to the mountain than to the Tarai HHs.

HH had to undertake need satisfying actions under the interactive modes of the environment. The higher the opportunity and the lesser the constraints in the environment, the more favorable it was for farming and vice versa. HH had to balance the two opposing influences to carry on actions. This condition forced the HH to organize its total actions into several components, including farming, as specific institutionalized provisions for satisfying the specific needs. Thus, farming was the sub-system of the HH system.

While pursuing farming amidst the mutually antagonistic forces of environment, HH placed high value on the stable and sustainable productivity of the system. The value shaped the overall HH policy and farming norms, thereby governed the way the farming was organized. Farming was organized structurally and processually. Structurally, it was organized by horizontal cum vertical combination of sectorally diverse and functionally crucial multiple multipurpose crops and livestock. The sectoral diversity and intensity of cropping, and diversity, numerical size and vertical integration of bovine animals, increased with decrease in altitude. The diversity and the combination patterns therein reflected the extent of balanced organization of the system through geniculately maneuvering the capric environment in satisfying needs by HHs.

The farming system was processually organized by dynamic integration of organized works, resources and technologies to result into the mutually reinforcing assemblage of crop and livestock farming processes. Works were organized by grouping into operational components and dividing responsibilities among all age and sex groups of working HH members. Thus, farmers acted as an organized group, and farming was an organized action. Performance of works involved resource organization that involved acquiring, combining and fitting resources to the works. Furthermore, the processual course for advancing action toward the goal, through gainfully interacting with the environment involved, the systematic combination of techniques-technology organization.

Results showed that the HH farming systems were organized productively cum protectively. The former reflected the formative binding of diverse strategies for maximizing the spatially varied and temporally fluctuating environmental opportunities, and the latter the built-in mechanisms for minimizing corresponding constraints. The intensity of protective provisions increased with decrease in environmental favorability. Thus, farming system in the mountain HH was more protectively organized than in the Tarai HH. The protective organization pattern was characterized by complex mix of risk adjustment strategies which were instrumental for stably sustaining the current low farm productivity. Should the organization of farming system be fairly balanced through productive technological reorganization without disrupting the existing protective institutional foundation, the small farmer HHs are likely to stabilize higher sustainable farm productivity.

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Master of Science in Community Development

College

Graduate School (GS)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Pura T. Depositario

Co-adviser

Jaime B. Valera, Glenn L. Denning

Committee Member

Obdulia F. Sison, Gelia T. Castillo

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

LG 996 1990 C59 B58 v.1

DOI

https://www.ukdr.uplb.edu.ph/cgi/ir_submit.cgi?context=etd-grad&edbypass=1

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS