What Determines the Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in Farmlands and Public Lands? A Case Study from the Terai Region in Nepal

Abstract

While agroforestry has been well acknowledged for its influential role and benefits in integrated resource management in the global south, its adoption in forest-rich countries with existing community conflict situations is under-explored. Through structured questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions, this study explored the context and factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry practices on farmlands and public lands in the Terai region of southern Nepal. Results from logistic regression models revealed that adoption of agroforestry practices on both farmland and public land could contribute to mitigating conflicts between northern and southern communities. In addition, the adoption of agroforestry practices can be explained by socio-demographic and economic factors such as education, ethnicity, well-being, and gender. Strong cooperation between agroforestry initiatives and local institutions such as forest user groups and local governments in educating and empowering local people from lower socio-economic backgrounds is critical for widespread adoption of agroforestry practices in similar resource-use conflict regions.

Keywords

Community forestry; landuse and management; conflict management; northern and southern communities

Published in

Society and Natural Resources
2024, volume: 37, number: 2, pages: 234-250
Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC

SLU Authors

• Low, Matthew

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG10 Reduced inequalities
SDG15 Life on land
SDG16 Peace, justice and strong institutions

UKÄ Subject classification

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2023.2269531

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/126784