The limits to agriculture
A greater focus on
NTFPs could help
improve livelihoods
in Nepal’s upperHumla
By Rabindra Roy
rsroy81@gmail.com
Dr Rabindra Roy (Nepal) received
his fellowship in 2005 to conduct
PhD research at the School ofEnvironment, Resources andDevelopment, Asian Institute ofTechnology, Thailand. This article
is based on his PhD dissertation
titled Contribution of NTFPs tolivelihood in upper Humla, Nepal.

Rooms with a view: Syaandaa village, Syaandaa VDC, Humla, Nepal. Photo: R. RoyS

ituated in the northwestern corner of Nepal borderingthe Tibet Autonomous Region of China, Humla is oneof the country’s poorest and least developed districts.
It possesses harsh climatic conditions—it is in a rain
shadow—and rugged mountainous terrain. The district
belongs geographically to the Karnaali region andadministratively to the Mid Western Development Region.
It spans an area of 5655 km2, with elevations ranging from1219 m to 7337 m above sea level. Subtropical and arid
vegetation are found on the valley floors and the Tibetan
plateau, respectively (DDC 2004).

Humla has a population of about 41 000 people distributedin 7000 households. The average household size is 5.8people, the population density is 7.21 persons per km2 andthe population growth rate is 1.99% (CBS 2003). The peopleof Humla (known as Humlis) live in compact settlementswith flat-roofed, two-and-half-storied houses built in theTibetan style.
The study was conducted in two village development
committee (VDC)1 areas in upper Humla—Khagaalgaun
and Syaandaa—with the aim of examining the contributionof non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to livelihoods in thetwo VDCs. The Khagaalgaun VDC has a total of 195
households with a population of about 1300 and theSyaandaa VDC has 302 households with a population of1800. Family size per household was 6.8 people inKhagaalgaun and 6.1 in Syaandaa (Roy 2010).

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Nepal is divided administratively into five development regions, 14 zones and
75 districts. It is further divided into 3915 village development committees(VDCs), 58 municipalities and one city. Every VDC is composed of nine wards,
which is the smallest administrative unit in Nepal (CBS 2006).

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Study area
The Khagaalgaun and Syaandaa VDCs have unique
attributes in terms of social groupings. All four villages inthe Khagaalgaun VDC are peopled by the Lama social group,
which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group. The
Chhetri-Thakuri and Dalit social groups dominate all fourvillages of the Syaandaa VDC; they belong to the IndoAryan language group. The language spoken by the Lamasocial group is known as Lama. The language spoken by theChhetri-Thakuri and Dalit is generally called Humlis Khas,
which is similar to Nepalese (the national language ofNepal), although the pronunciation differs. The Lama socialgroup is known locally as bhote and jadaan, and the ChhetriThakuri and Dalit social groups are called topitaale andkhasaan.
Bishop (1990) remarked that very few studies had been
carried out in the Karnaali region and that it was therefore
difficult to find reliable secondary data on the region. To
some extent this statement is still true, and Humla is stillneglected. Government officials posted in Humla tend to feelthat they are being punished (Adhikari 2008), and try to gettransferred to other districts as soon as possible. Thus,development in Humla has lagged behind other parts ofNepal. This neglect was part of the motivation to conduct
this research.

Methods
Quantitative and qualitative information was collected in
June–August 2007 and May–September 2008. Fifty-sevenpercent of all households in the two VDCs were surveyed.
Semi-structured questionnaires were administered at
randomly selected households without replacement.

Questionnaires were pre-tested (10% of the total sample size) and revised
accordingly. This primary data collection was supplemented by social andanthropological tools such as key informant interview, focus group
discussion, informal interaction and participant observation. A herbarium
was collected to identify the scientific names of NTFP species.

Findings
Livelihood activities in upper Humla
In Humla, agriculture combined with trading is the mainstay of livelihoods.
Most cultivated lands, however, are marginal in terms of soil fertility andsituated in difficult terrain (Fürer-Haimendorf 1975). As a result, agricultural
production alone cannot support households year-round. This study
revealed that the total average food-sufficient months in both Khagaalgaun
and Syaandaa VDCs was 7.83 months (235 days) per year. Food deficits aregenerally experienced from mid February to mid June and from mid August
to mid October.
Trade is the other important pillar of livelihoods in upper Humla; it involves
NTFPs, timber, pack-animal transportation, furu 2 trading, and theoperation of small shops. However, the movement of traders has been
inhibited by internal changes in Nepal such as the establishment ofcommunity forestry, which is closing off areas to herders and obstructing thepassage of traders who use sheep and goat caravans (Roy et. al. 2009). Some
residents of Humla also find regular and seasonal employment ingovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Cash income fromthese activities is used to buy food, clothes, medicine and other household
requirements, and to meet expenses associated with children’s education.

NTFP species: a livelihood option
The author collected a wide range of NTFP specimens from settlements andfrom agricultural lands within one-and-a-half hour’s walk of the settlements.
The primary focus of the inventory was to document NTFP species that werebeing used directly in daily lives. Thus, most specimens were collected fromthe aoul3, although some were also collected from the lek4, where livestockis grazed during summer.
The study found that 47 species were used in households in the VDCs forfood, medicine and other purposes. Of these, 22 species were wild edible
plants, 15 species were used as medicine, and ten species were harvested forother uses. Wild edible plants were consumed with daily meals, while
medicinal plants were used in households as required for primary healthcare and were also traded for cash income.

Wild edible plants in daily meals
Humlis eat two meals a day. Lakkad, roti and chino bhaat are the major
foods consumed in regular meals in the study areas. Lakkad, the mostcommonly and regularly consumed food, is made from bitter buckwheat andprepared as a pancake. Roti (flatbread) is made from wheat flour or a
mixture of wheat and millet flour. Humlis eat chino bhaat prepared frompanicum millet (Panicum miliaceum) and cooked as rice bhaat.
The lakkad and roti are supplemented with wild edible plants such as thetender leaves of stinging nettle (Urtica dioca); these are available throughout
the year except between mid May and mid June when the plant is often
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Furu is a wooden bowl used for drinking Tibetan tea and local liquor known as chhyaang.
Aoul is land at lower elevation than the settlement that can be used for agricultural production. Aoul
is warmer than lek.
Lek is land at higher elevation than the settlement that can be used for agricultural production andlivestock grazing.

Honoured: The author (left) receives a ‘Nepal Bidhyabhushan-Ka’
award for his research from Nepal’s president, Dr Ram BaranYadav. Photo: R. Roy

infested with insects, and between mid December and mid
January, when the plants are dry. The period of peakconsumption is between mid March and mid May, whenfood grain supplies are diminished and the household fooddeficit peaks. Humlis mix stinging nettle with bitter
buckwheat flour and cook it in water and prepare soup theycall faando.
Humlis actually prefer stinging nettle to vegetables such as
cauliflower, cabbage, pumpkin and brinjal: they say thatvegetables grown from the hybrid seeds supplied by theDistrict Agricultural Office and some NGOs working in thesector do not taste as good as wild edible plants and theyneed chemical fertilizers and pesticides, while the stinging
nettle is found in the natural environment and is organic.
Additionally, stinging nettle is readily available in nearby
settlements, farmlands and pasturelands.
Dry leaves of baanko (Arisaema flavum) and bhaande
paaltaa (uncultivated bitter buck wheat—Fagopyrumtataricum) are used as curry in winter, when stinging nettle
is less available due to snowfall. Tender leaves of baanko arecollected between mid May and mid July, sun-dried andstored for winter.
Tubers of baanko are used as the main course in meals
between mid August and mid September, when there is lessfood grain in store (the food grain harvested from jethaansi
baali—summer crops—has been consumed by this time
and the winter harvest—kaartike baali—is yet to takeplace). When baanko tubers are consumed in regular meals
the Humlis call it chhaaka taarne, meaning ‘saving foodgrain’.

Tradable NTFPs
The sale of NTFPs is a key livelihood strategy in both VDCs.
People in the study area collect NTFPs in nearby government
forests and pasturelands and sell them to local brokers.
About 72% of households are involved in this business as
primary collectors. The main tradable and economicallyvaluable NTFP species are atis (Delphinium himalayai),

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jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi), kutki (Picrorhiza
scrophulariiflora) and guchchi chyaau (Morchellaconica).
A the time of the survey, primary collectors were selling atis
at the rate of NPR600–800 per kg at village markets.
Jatamansi was priced between NPR60 and NPR100 per kg,
while the price of kutki was fixed at around NPR180–230 invillage markets. Guchchi chyaau was sold at NPR10 perpiece (NPR10 000 per kg). The price was fixed according tomarket demand at Nepalgunj and the quantity available atthe household level. Thus, if a household collected more of
any NTFP it earned more and the household had morebargaining power with local traders. People from both
Khagaalgaun and Syaandaa used only their free time tocollect NTFPs—it was considered as a secondary source ofincome.
Economically valuable NTFPs were found to be depleted
due to over-collection and premature harvesting. Because of
the food deficit, people are under pressure to make moneyfrom NTFP collection. There is competition among primarycollectors to collect more NTFPs, sometimes encouraged by
local traders.

Conclusion
In the upper Humla, Humlis are engaged in agriculture,trade and employment in governmental and nongovernmental organizations to fulfill their basic household
needs. Agriculture alone is incapable of addressing theproblem of food insecurity. The cultivation and trade of
economically valuable NTFPs has considerable potential tomitigate the existing food deficit problem in the two VDCs.
Humlis invest most of their time and labour in agriculture,and government agencies and NGOs working in thedevelopment sector have also given priority to boosting
agricultural production, even though production will always
be limited by the harsh climate and rugged terrain. In thiscontext, this study concludes that the cultivation of
economically valuable NTFPs on otherwise unproductive
private agricultural land has greater potential to improve theprecarious livelihoods of people in Khagaalgaun andSyaandaa, but this development pathway does not yet
receive due attention from development agencies.

Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the generosity of the people in theKhagaalgaun and Syaanda VDCs, upper Humla, for theirkind participation in the household survey as well as inindividual and group discussions. Financial assistance fromITTO, Japan, and the Norway Development Fund is greatlyappreciated.

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NTFP soup: A Lama woman prepares food using stinging nettle, Kermi village,
Khagaalgaun VDC. Photo: R. Roy

References
Adhikari J. 2008. Food crisis in Karnali: a historical and politico-economic
perspective. Martin Chautari, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bishop B. 1990. Karnali under stress: livelihood strategies and seasonal rhythms in achanging Nepal Himalaya. University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
CBS 2003. Statistical year book of Nepal 2003. Central Bureau of Statistics, His
Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
DDC 2004. District profile of Humla. District Development Committee, Simkot, Nepal.
Department of Survey 2001. Topographic map 1994–1998. Government of Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Fürer-Haimendorf, C. 1975. Himalayan traders: life in highland Nepal. John Murray, London,UK.
Roy, R., Schmidt-Vogt, D. and Myrholt, O. 2009. “Humla development initiatives”
for better livelihoods in the face of isolation and conflict. Mountain Research andDevelopment. 29(3): 211–219.
Roy, R. 2010. Contribution of NTFPs [Non-Timber Forest Products] to livelihood inupper Humla, Nepal. PhD dissertation. Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Roy’s work as summarized in this article has been published online; see
https://www.morebooks.de/store/de/book/mountain-livelihoods-in-upperhumla,-nepal/isbn/978-3-8433-6374-7.