Background and Justification

In Nepal, 38 per cent of the GDP is derived from agriculture and 66 per cent of the population is employed in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector creates employment not only for families that own land but also for the landless. These include women and rural youth, which are the primary workers in farm activities. However, the livelihood needs of different categories of people, i.e. rural youth, women, landless and marginal farmers, which are dependent on agriculture, are not adequately met by this sector primarily because it can provide only a subsistence source of income.

Due to the changing socio-political context of the country and environmental degradation, many livelihood options have been disrupted and new livelihood options are emerging, involving migration, forestry and high-value horticulture. At the same time, migration of rural youth has been increasing due to political instability, conflicts and lack of opportunity. As a result, with mainly women and the aged being left behind to undertake agricultural activities, it is pertinent to conduct a study to understand the situation, identify problems and recommend policy measures that could be adopted to enhance livelihoods and farm and off-farm employment for the rural youth, women, landless and marginal farmers.

The study will explore the following factors to recommend policy reforms:

• What are new livelihood opportunities for the youth, women, landless and marginal farmers?
• Who is able to access them and who is excluded and how?
• What do they need to capture these opportunities?

Objectives
The underlying objectives which form the basis for this work are to undertake a thorough review, formulate and recommend policies that are pro-poor, while the specific objectives will be to formulate policies that enhance:

• livelihoods of the youth, women, the landless and marginal farmers, and
• farm and off-farm employment for the youth, women, the landless and marginal farmers.

Methodology and Tools
The analysis will be based on both secondary and primary sources of information, and will include the following methods:

Information Gathering
(a) Secondary information will be generated from review of publications and other reports on acts, policies, strategies, guidelines, and implementation of policies and programmes related to livelihoods and employment of the rural youth, women, the landless and marginal farmers.
(b) Primary information will be generated using qualitative data gathering methods that include case studies, focus group interviews and key informant interviews. The case studies depicting success and failure stories and best practices of livelihood and employment interventions will be recorded. Focus group discussions (FGDs) will be held with the target groups, such as women, the youth, the landless and marginal farmers.

Selection of districts for the field study
Altogether nine districts will be selected for the field study. These will be composed of two districts each in the Tarai, Hill and Mountain Regions with geographical spread to represent east, west and the centre. A listing of the districts by poverty, data on women, the youth, the landless and marginal farmer compositions will be gathered and analysed for the selection of study districts.

At least one FGD with each group in each district will be conducted. i.e. a total of at least 18 FGDs will be conducted.

Tools
Checklists will be developed for the case study recording, FGDs and key informant interviews. These will vary as to the information that is to be sought from the four different groups.

Consultative Meetings/Workshops with Stakeholders
In order to consolidate the findings from the review and analysis of documents, relevant stakeholders will be invited for consultation. Tools developed for information gathering will also be shared for discussion and feedback. The consultation will involve the following stakeholders:

• Government partners (national level): National Planning Commission (NPC), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Local Development (MoLD), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC), Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW)
• Government partners (district level): District Development Committees (DDCs), District Agriculture Development Offices (DADOs), Women Development Offices (WDO)
• Civil society: Local NGOs, youth clubs, forest groups, farmers’ groups, women groups, organizations of ethnic and indigenous groups.

Another workshop will also be organized to share the findings with the relevant stakeholders once the draft report is ready. This will provide an opportunity to verify the findings and get more feedback and inputs from the stakeholders