Rural Livelihoods at Risk: A Case of Devghat Gaunpalika in the Western Hills, Nepal

Abstract

People's livelihood determines by a variety of factors- availability of assets, opportunities, and restrictions created by the environment, and people's evaluation of these factors. The present paper aims to analyze adversities of rural livelihoods focusing on the case of Devghat Gaunpalika of Tanahun district, Nepal. This article is based on primary data/information acquired from a field survey conducted during December 2017 through group discussion, key informant interview, and field observation. People in the Devghat area perform farm and off-farm activities to eke out wide shorts of their livelihood needs. However, livelihood in this area is at risk owing to combination of adversities such as food insufficiency, shortage of facilities and services, low level of educational attainment, lower household income, and others. Three-fourth of the households adopted agriculture as their main occupation to fulfil their household needs. Household income is low. About of 62 percent households earn below NRs 5000 per month. Twenty-five percent of the population earns their livelihood by working as wage-based labors. A low level of educational attainment and poor coping capacity also indicate local livelihoods at risk.