Feudalism invokes images of a bygone age in many parts of the world, but in Nepal’s Terai, a similar economic formation grounded in extractive landlord-tenant relations, continues to generate inequalities in land and water rights well into the 21st Century.
With the same access to groundwater as their landlords/landowners, tenant farmers in Nepal could produce more food, according to new research. A report published by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) recommends a number of short-term solutions to support tenant farmers, and states that radical land reforms are needed for sustainable agriculture and irrigation in the long-run.
The Terai plain is Nepal’s breadbasket and home to half of its population, many of whom are tenant farmers for local or absentee landlords. A significant portion of the landlords inherited their estates from elites in the 19th and early 20th century agrarian bureaucracy.
Land reform efforts in the 1960s and 70s were largely ineffective. Today, between two-thirds and three-quarters of rural households in the region farm marginal land with plots often less than 0.5ha in size, rent land as tenants, or work as landless agricultural laborers. Tenants in particular are locked into ‘feudal’ contracts whereby politically-powerful landlords keep half of the crop produced, but provide little in the way of technical support or cost-sharing to the farmers. Some also act as moneylenders to their tenants.
While the region has significant supplies of groundwater, they are relatively untapped by poor and tenant farmers stuck in these feudal systems. The government has supported a shift over the last decade from public irrigation schemes to private, on-farm wells and pumps. Irrigation from groundwater allows ‘on-demand’ water for farmers and reduces the impact of drought on food production, but the cost of pumps and drilling of wells can be prohibitive for many.
Diesel pumps cost around USD 400, and depending on the underlying geology, the price of digging a well can be between USD 180-1,500. Even renting pumps is too expensive for many. Insecure tenure, high rent and fluctuating diesel prices also discourage these farmers from investing.
Fraser Sugden, IWMI researcher and author of the report, said, “Landlords often strategically deny legal papers to their tenants, which means that they could be evicted at any time. When these farmers are struggling to feed their families and face so much uncertainty, the financial risk to dig a well, buy or rent a motor pump is often too great.”
Past legislation has allowed legal tenants to claim land ownership after a certain period of time. To avoid this, many landlords make oral agreements and change tenants every few years, compounding the problem.
Collective ownership of wells and pumps could reduce the financial burden on the individual, says the report, but currently, farmers without legal papers are denied entry into water user-groups. Additionally, there are cases in which wealthy farmers have formed user-groups to take advantage of government subsidies, later taking complete control of the wells and denying access to others.
The short and long of it – recommendations
For short-term solutions, the report recommends that tenants, with or without legal papers, should have access to user-groups of wells and motor pumps. The government should subsidize low-cost motor pumps for these groups, focusing explicitly on tenants and poor farmers. Groups should receive adequate training to operate and maintain the equipment, and have better access to the right kind of credit.
In addition, the application process for water user-groups needs to be simplified, and individuals should have the option to sell or transfer their ‘share’ to other members. User-groups should also appoint an operator to oversee maintenance of the well or pump equipment, finances and fair water distribution.
For long term solutions, providing incentives for absentee farmers to sell their land is more feasible than radical land distribution.
Sugden said, “A massive overhaul of landownership would be difficult in the current context. It would also fail to guarantee long-term equality between farmers. Land quality, pre-existing wealth gaps and climate change would likely increase the gap between rich and poor farmers.”
According to the report, equitable groundwater use will be a continuous challenge in Nepal. Directing policies and programs to support tenants and poor farmers will help in the short-run, but it will not eradicate the root of problem, which is the highly stratified social structure of Nepal and its deeply entrenched inequalities in landownership.
Fraser Sugden is a Researcher – Social Science at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Kathmandu, Nepal.
Sugden, F. 2014. Landlordism, tenants and the groundwater sector: lessons from Tarai-Madhesh, Nepal. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 33p. (IWMI Research Report 162). doi: 10.5337/2015.204
This work was funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
