Livelihood Strategies of Indigenous Nationalities in Nepal : A Case of Chepangs <Article>

This paper analyses the livelihood strategies adopted by the Chepangs, a highly marginalized indigenous nationalities of Nepal. Household survey was conducted in Shaktikhor Village Development Committee (VDC) in Chitwan district and Handikhola VDC in Makawanpur district among 120 randomly selected households. Additional information was collected through participatory techniques. Six major livelihood sources were identified viz., farming, wage laboring, forest, handicrafts, skilled non-farm jobs, and remittance. Farming forms the mainstay of livelihood for majority of the households. Skilled non-farm jobs and remittances are comparatively more remunerative livelihood sources, however it forms primary livelihood source for only a few households due to lack of education, assets possession, investment capital and skills. Diversification is adopted as the livelihood strategy by entire households. Combination of farming, wage laboring, and forest is the most dominant strategy although it derives lower income. This implies that the households are constrained from adopting the more remunerative livelihood options. Policies and development efforts should be aimed at improving farming, access to forest resources, and promoting non-farm opportunities for sustainable livelihoods of the Chepangs.