The above discussion was mainly concerned with the effects on forest management of changes in the relationships between ethnic groups, brought about by restructuring in the village economy including changes in the government policies about common property, mainly forest. But the restructuring in the economy had also affected individual
households in their collection and consumption of various forest products.
Diversity between ethnic groups had grown in recent decades in their collection and consumption of forest products - a reflection of growing diversity in their livelihood strategies brought about by restructuring in the economy. Even in the few years between the detailed studies of 1989-90 and 1994, the diversity was found to have increased sharply. At the same time, interdependence between ethnic groups through exchange of resources, particularly in land, labour, grass-herbage and tree-fodder, had been
strengthened. We should also note that Gurungs' greater access to off-farm income had led to a decline in their livestock numbers, as discussed in Chapter 4, so that overall pressure on land and forest for animal feed had been reduced. With the increase, as observed in 1994, in the migration of wealthier Gurung and other households to urban areas, they exerted considerably less pressure on the forest for various products, especially fodder.
Even though a growing diversity in resource utilization patterns posed problems for soliciting people's participation for resource management, the process of interdependence and the decline in livestock numbers had been beneficial in reducing pressures on forest resources, from increasing population. There had also been reduction in the consumption of firewood in the village, due mainly to growing difficulty in its collection from the forest. The contribution of the restructuring process in this respect appeared to have been
insignificant, because of the unavailability of alternative fuels. On the other hand, as 'landless' and 'new landless' households were found to generate part of their cash income by selling firewood to 'rich' and 'new rich' households within the village and to outsiders as discussed in Chapter 5, any substantial decline in other cash-income opportunities would probably have led to a greater problem in conservation of the forest. Considering all these facets, it has been argued here that restructuring of the traditional economy of the village has been helpful, so far, in reducing overall pressures on the forest.
Traditionally, fuel wood, tree-fodder and grass-herbage had been the main products villagers obtained from the forest. In the paragraphs which follow the collection and consumption of these products have been discussed in the light of changes brought by restructuring in the village economy.
Fuel for cooking and heating:
•Hse
Restructuring of household economy, to the extent achieved by the end of the 1980s, had helped mainly in diversifying the patterns of collection and consumption of fuel .
"'By fuel was meant all kinds o f fuel including different types o f wood, biomass, commercial fuel like kerosene, and bio-gas. Fuelwood was obtained (from forest or from private land) in two forms - dry or green fuelwood called daura and small fallen branches from bush or shrub called jikra. Fodder residue was included in the second group. In addition to these sources, village households were also found to use agricultural crops
Table 6.3 shows the consumption of fuel and its various sources in 1988-89. From these data, it was evident that an average family consumed 84 bhciri" or 2520 kg of fuel (wood and other plant biomass) in 1988-89, i.e., 381.8 kg per capita per year12. Comparison among ethnic groups revealed that Gurungs consumed more fuelwood than the members of other ethnic groups. But the difference in the fuel consumption of Gurung and Brahmin households was not large. Chettri households consumed slightly less fuel than Brahmins. Occupational Caste households were found to have consumed significantly less fuel. But considering the use of firewood for charcoal-making which has been discussed in a separate section, an Occupational Caste household was found to consume as much fuel as that of a Gurung household.
It was reported by villagers, in 1989-90, in the course of household interviews, that Gurungs' consumption of fuel had been slightly reduced as a result of their access to off- farm income, because access to such income helped them to reduce the numbers of their animals and thus they needed less fuel for cooking animal fe^d (kundo). But on the other hand, access to off-farm income also helped about one-fifth ^Gurung households to purchase fuelwood. Gurungs' practice of brewing alcohol, cooking food over an open hearth and maintaining a fire in the hearth to prevent the bad spirits entering the house, also caused them to consume more fuelwood. Such cultural features were also observed by Bajracharya (1983b) and Fox (1984a).
Brahmin and Chettri households continued to keep more animals and thus they needed more fuel for cooking kundo (a mash of water, flour and bran) which was generally given to lactating and working animals. As a result, restructuring of household economy did not affect the fuel consumption of Brahmin and Chettri households. But Occupational Caste households were able to sell a part ofjaiel they collected from the forest, mainly to
Gurungs whose ability to purchase fuel was enhanced by their access to outside income. It was estimated that an Occupational Caste household sold 11.5 bhari of fuel, mainly to Gurungs. Gurung households purchased, on average, 7.0 bhari of fuel in 1988-89. On average, a Brahmin household sold about 4 bhari and a Chettri household sold about 2.5 bhari of fuelwood. These Brahmin and Chettri households which sold fuelwood were the 'new landless' households, as discussed in Chapter 5. These households also sold a small amount of fuelwood to tourists. This clearly suggested that pressure on the forest would increase from landless households, if alternative income-generating activities were not developed.
There were also differences among ethnic groups in the amount of fuel collected from different sources and in the seasonal incidence of collection which can be seen to be linked to the changes in livelihood strategies of ethnic groups. The seasonality of fuelwood
residue mainly maize cob, maize stalk and millet husk. The amount of daura or firewood collected in the year 1988/89 was obtained from the household questionnaire survey, and thus it was certainly subjected to memory bias. To substantiate the information obtained from the questionnaire survey, actual records o f the amount and type of fuel collected by ten households of each Brahmin and Gurung ethnic groups were maintained for a random week o f each month for the year 1989/90. The latter method (the actual recording) provided a slightly higher figure. This result was probably due to the fact that respondentSjWhile reporting fuel collection in a year} tended to forget or underestimate the contribution o f minor sources like agricultural crop residues, weeds or other waste like old fences. Therefore, for the Brahmin and Gurung households the information obtained from the actual recording was considered. But for the Chettri and 'occupational caste' households, the information obtained from the questionnaire survey was taken into account. Thus, the information about fuel collection of the Chettris might have been slightly understated as they also used agricultural crop residue as fuel. This might not be the case with the occupational caste' households as they depended solely on forest for fuel.
" Bhari means headload and one bhari o f fuelwood was equivalent to 30 kg.
i:This level of fuel consumption should be considered low. Mahat el. al. (1987) estimated fuel consumption at 408 kg /person/ year in central Nepal. Some o f the other estimates were 840 kg/person/year (Donovan. 1981) and 831 kg/person/year (Bajracharya, 1983b) in^eastern middle hills region.
collection was clearly evident from monthly data for collection of this fuel by 10 Brahmin (Fig. 6.3) and 10 Gurung households (Fig. 6.4). It can be seen from Fig. 6.3 that
Brahmin households (as compared to Gurung households) collected in 1988-89 a larger part of their fuelwood from private land, mainly because they had grown more trees on their private land, to support animals and, through animals, to provide the manure needs of their subsistence farming system. Since they also collected more tree-fodder from private trees, or from forest, they had more jikra (fodder residue). But Gurung households, on the other hand, collected almost all their fuel from the forest. By the end of the 1980s they collected less jikra than in the past, because they had reduced their herd size and thus required less fodder.
Table 6.3: Lachok-Riban study area: collection of fuel (wood and other plant biomass) from different sources (fuel in bhari per household in 1989/90)
Sources B r a h m i n G u r u n g C hettri O c c u p . c aste All h o u s e h o l d s F o r e s t F u e l w o o d 42.0 82.0 43.8 47.8 55.5 O t hers 6.1 3 . 0 8.5 16.2 7.5 P r i v a t e l a n d F u e l w o o d 30.0 4.0 15.3 1.2 13.8 O t hers 15.5 2.0 10.7 2.3 8.1 Total c o l l e c t e d 93 . 6 91.0 78.3 67.5 84.9 F u e l w o o d sold 4.1 - 2.5 11.5 3 . 9 F u e l w o o d b o u g h t 2.0 7.0 1.5 - 3 . 0 Total c o n s u m e d 91.5 98.0 77.3 56.0 84.0
(excluding the firewood for charcoal; 1 bhari=approx. 30 kg. Others included jikra-small dead branches and fodder residue - and agricultural crops residue). Source: Household survey data 1989-90.
Because of their lack of access to forest located near the village, as discussed in the previous section, Occupational Caste households had to spend more time than others collecting firewood. This certainly reduced the availability of their labour for other income-generating work. It was estimated from Table 6.3 that about 75 per cent of total fuel consumed in the village was derived from the forest. Brahmin, Gurung, Chettri and Occupational Caste households derived, on average, 53.4 per cent, 93.4 per cent, 66.7 per cent and 95.0 per cent, respectively, of their total fuel consumed in 1988/89 from the forest. If only the open-access forest ('high forest' which was far from the village) was taken into account, a different picture would have appeared. It was estimated that the proportion, in percentage terms, of fuelwood derived from the open-access forest ('high forest') was 37.3 per cent in the case of Brahmins, 51.6 per cent in the case of Gurungs and 47.3 per cent in the case of Chettris. Occupational Caste households depended solely on the 'high forest' for fuelwood as they (except a few households located in Riban) did not have access to the managed forest. Since the access to village forest was based on membership of a particular ethnic group, 'new landless' households belonging mainly to Brahmin and Chettri ethnic groups still had a chance to use part of the managed forest close to the village. In this respect then, they retained a traditional advantage over the Occupational Caste.
Difference in the seasonality of fuel collection between Brahmins (Fig. 6.3) and Gurungs (Fig. 6.4) was essentially linked to the availability of labour, due to changes in farming patterns discussed in Chapter 4. Fig. 6.3 shows that Brahmins collected fuelwood from the forest, or from private trees, mainly between mid-January to mid-March. This period coincided with the lean farming season, because by mid-January they had finished harvesting of rice and the sowing of wheat. From mid-March they began to harvest wheat
and prepared land for maize and then for rice. AtcorJu'n^, this two months period was the time available for them to collect fuelwood. But in the case of Gurungs, as Fig. 6.4 shows, the fuelwood collection process started in mid-November and ended near the end of March. This longer period for fuelwood collection had become possible for Gurungs, because their utilization of available labour in farming was not high and as a result they were not hard-pressed for farm work. The fuelwood collection pattern of Chettris closely resembled that followed by Brahmins. But Occupational Caste households, it was
observed, collected fuelwood for a longer span of time than members of other ethnic groups.
Changes in the village and household economy of different ethnic groups did not affect their consumption of alternative commercial fuel mainly because no alternative was available in the village at the end of the 1980s. The possible alternatives to fuelwood in Nepal were electricity, kerosene and bio-gas. The village was not supplied with electricity at the time of this study and thus the question of switching over from fuelwood to electric power had not yet arisen. Similarly, the availability of kerosene was uncertain. It was also relatively more costly than firewood. Since most of the firewood was collected in the lean farming season, the real cost of firewood to villagers was low, because of the low
opportunity cost of labour during that period. And so villagers did not prefer kerosene, despite its advantages, because firewood was still available for collection, albeit at very considerable effort.
In the two-village study area in 1989-90 (also until 1994) the only feasible alternative to fuelwood was bio-gas. Some households were found to have changed over to it. Access to outside income no doubt played an important part in a household's decision to set up a bio-gas plant, but reduction in the number of livestock, particularly cattle, had had negative consequences in this regard. The shortage of labour caused by outside employment was also indirectly related to it.
The Agricultural Development Bank and the Small Farmers' Development Project had promoted bio-gas plants in the study area during the 1980s. Eleven households in Lachok had set up such plants. All had access to outside income, as at least one of their family members was employed in schools located in nearby villages. By mid-1994, demand for bio-gas plants had increased rapidly and more and more households of medium to high income groups had set up bio-gas plants. This was partly in response tOAnew policy of government to subsidise about the half the cost of establishing household plants. The government policy was to give a subsidy of Rs. 10,000 in the Hill and Mountain area and Rs. 7,000 in Terai. But small farmers were still not adopting the bio-gas technology, mainly because of the high initial cost of establishment. Moreover, they also lacked animal
resources. For broadly the same reason, and despite their greater access to outside income, none of the Gurung households in Riban was found to have established such bio-gas plants : the reasons given were that they owned fewer animals and they lacked labour, a result of their involvement in off-farm work. In Riban village most of the animals were raised under a system of open grazing (Chapter 4), so that the Gurung households there lacked ready supplies of manure. In contrast, the stall-feeding system practised mainly by Brahmin and Chettri households helped in the establishment of bio-gas plants, through production of more readily-collectable manure.
2. Firewood for charcoal:
Occupational Caste households in the study area needed charcoal to make or repair utensils and agricultural tools. Since most of these households did not have access to remunerative off-farm income, they had still continued their traditional practices of repairing and making iron tools and equipment. This work also generated off-farm income for these households.
Forest Private land --- Others (Jikra) --- Total c 2 0 - / J ^
Fig. 6.3: The mean monthly quantities (bhari) of fuel collected by 10 Brahmin households of the Lachok-Riban study area from different sources in 1988/89[a bhari (head load) of fuel wood was roughly equivalent to 30 kg].
— - Forest --- Pnvate land --- Others (Jikra) --- Total
Fig. 6.4: The mean monthly quantities (bhari) of fuel collected by 10 Gurung households of Lachok-Riban study area from different sources in 1988/89[a bhari (head load) of fuelwood was roughly equivalent to 30 kg].
Fig 6.5: Collection of fuelwood from the forest. Women were especially responsible for the collection of fuel. Children, especially girls, also participated. A bundle of firewood carried by an adult woman (or man) was considered to be 1.0 bhari [30 kg] (Pokhara, February, 1987).
Because of the growing influence of the market in providing agricultural tools and equipment and other household utensils now imported from Indian factories, the role of Occupational Caste had been reduced to that of repairing these tools, implements or utensils. In 1988/89 20 of the 37 Occupational Caste households in the two-village study area were engaged in the profession of making and repairing iron tools and equipment. A detailed survey revealed that, in the year 1988-89, they made 85 kuto (a small tool used for weeding), 170 kodalo (used for digging), 108 plough shears, 177 sickles and 27 frying pans. These tools were important to villagers as they were needed in farming and for general purposes. Moreover, it was still cheaper to repair these implements locally than to buy new ones in the Pokhara market. Using scrap metal, village blacksmiths often made utensils and implements more cheaply. Furthermore, an advantage to many local villagers was that the blacksmith households could be paid in either grain, or cash. In
1988/89, these 20 families earned 36.8 muri of grain and Rs. 20, 310 of cash from smithing, and the income so derived (8.2 per cent of mean household income) was of considerable importance for them. And so, charcoal-related work was also an important source of income for Occupational Caste households. By 1989 the number of households
engaged in this occupation had declined, mainly due to the greater scarcity of charcoal. One respondent at that time ventured to buy black coal from the market, but found it unsuitable for village conditions because of the higher cost and the lack of familiarity with coal as a fuel. In 1988-89, these 20 families produced in total 317 muri of charcoal and to prepare this amount of charcoal 1024 bhari, i.e., 30,720 kg firewood was required. With
3 n
the assumption of 1.0 rrf /ha/year (about 700 kg) as the growth rate of forest, it was estimated that 44 ha of forest was required solely for charcoal production. Five years later, in 1994, the situation had not changed : because of the lack of alternatives, their
dependence on charcoal seems likely to continue.
Fodder and animal feed
In the study area it was observed that part of the tree-fodder and grass-herbage used as animal feed was also derived from the forest. In recent years several authors have emphasised that demand for these products has been causing qualitative deterioration of forests in Nepal (Mahat et. al., 1986a; Ives, 1987; Ives et. al., 1989). On the other hand, as already discussed, the changes in household economy brought about by different ethnic groups in the study area have helped in reducing the collection of animal feed from the forest.
The restructuring of the household economy of different ethnic groups affected mainly the amount of animal feed they collected from different sources (forest and private land). Differences are shown in Table 6.4, based on data collected from the questionnaire survey14 in 1989-90. This information was substantiated in the case of Brahmins and