Issues and Challenges of Implementing Fiscal Federalism Faced Under the Reform of A Federal State in Nepal

After entering the federalism of Nepal, there was a debate about how the budget transfer would be state and local governance for the development of works. In the early days, although the central government would manage the budget, more problems started to appear in the financial transfer process, according to the policy of gradually leaving the responsibility of all the work including infrastructure development and physical construction to the central government. It seems challenging to establish political commitment in the distribution of resources according to the division of powers in the federal system. Instead of transferring resources, the tendency to centralize resources and manage the work of other levels of government by themselves has not gone away. In the top leadership, the tendency to understand federalism as decentralization rather than division of state power between the levels of government prevails. The second challenge of fiscal federalism is the balance, clarity and inter-level cooperation between the levels of government in matters of taxation and revenue. The revenue source at the state level is very low. All levels of government have distributive allocations, high expansion of current expenditure and weak public fiscal accountability. It seems that the allocated efficiency and productivity of public expenditure should be improved. There is no hesitation to rationalize public expenditure by cutting unnecessary expenditure that does not contribute to public services and financial contribution. A balance is needed between the distribution of responsibilities and financial power. For the successful implementation of financial federalism, it is appropriate to give work responsibilities along with spending arrangements. Based on job responsibilities, it is necessary to arrange resources and develop the ability to perform accordingly. A healthy financial system is the backbone for the successful and proper implementation of federalism in any country. There is no choice but to emulate the federalism of Nepal, which is still a milk child, and move forward with the economic, social and cultural development of the country through a transparent, balanced and predictable financial federalism. For that, we should consider the national interest as the motto to prepare a suitable or implementable action plan and move forward

Role of the Nepali Army for Geo-Strategic Importance in the Past Four Centuries

The history of the Nepal army is brave and glorious in the context of the world military. They protect their own motherland and also making independence, integrity, sovereignty for the nation is its motto. The great campaign for the nation’s security, freedom and protection of the nation through movement is the main goal. It has made an incomparable contribution to the nation; war with the British-Nepal, Nepal-Tibet-China and World War also. It has been successfully achieved with skillful leadership of the military in the past four and half centuries. This paper is fully gathering important information of Nepal army for past to present now. It is getting to answer the question: What was the role of the army to protect the nation? What skill full tactics made to British war? Was Nepal’s army leading a symbolic role of national unity? Why is the Nepali army bravery in the world? All evidence is taken using analytical methods, briefly of the army’s history, role and geo-strategic importance, activities of historical expectation, skills used in different wars for national unity and integration. The army was organized in 1744 by the Gorkha state of Prithvi Narayan Shah and it was the first military structure in South Asian countries. The War of British-Nepal has been a proud history since 1814 and also written as golden words by the side of Britain to the Nepali army. It is very useful evidence for all Nepali people and from other countries of the world that the military will be bright in the future

Socio-Economic Status of Women on Tharu’s Community in Nepalese Society

Nepalese society has multi ethnic cultural variations so that the socio-economic status of Tharus’ communities has also poor for comparison of other communities. In Nepali society, women are also left behind. The condition of women in that community living within this structure is even more deplorable. It is very difficult to find a woman as a head of household in this community. Since the head of household makes all the decisions, so that most of the men are the head of household. Similarly, women are suffering from poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, illness and household activities in Nepal. The burning issues of women empowerment on national integration are to expose in economic development. It can help on household condition likewise decision making process is very poor in the whole of south Asia, especially in Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The analysis focuses upon the status of women in terms of their socio-economic status, income pattern and household decision making power in comparison to their male counterparts. The economic contribution of Tharus’ women has poor and traditional. The condition of Woman has lead to family and decision making process has been also backwardness factors. They want easy to access fortheir health facility, education, social participation, income increase, confidence buildup of decision making and policy forming on human rights of family

Climate change impacts on developing countries – evidence from Sri Lanka

Climate Change, though a hot topic, is often viewed through the lens of catastrophic storms and wild-forest fires only. Kanesh Suresh, Clevo Wilson, Shunsuke Managi and Uttam Khanal instead present research evidence that focuses attention on the equally real issues of food security and poverty resulting from long-term impact of a changing climate, particularly in the developing world. Analysing data collected in a region of Sri Lanka, they highlight policy dimensions that, if ignored, have the potential to lead to largescale poverty and hunger, perhaps driving sizeable populations from their land and destabilising current socio-economic structures

Do climate change adaptation practices improve technical efficiency of smallholder farmers? Evidence from Nepal

This paper provides one of the first empirical studies that examine the impact of climate change adaptation practices on technical efficiency (TE) among smallholder farmers in Nepal. An adaptation index is used to explore the impact of farmers’ adaptation on TE using the stochastic frontier analysis framework. Data for six districts of Nepal representing all three agro-ecological regions (Terai, Hill and Mountain) were collected from a focus group discussion, a stakeholder workshop and a household survey. The survey shows that about 91% of the farming households have adopted at least one practice to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. Empirical results reveal that adaptation is an important factor explaining efficiency differentials among farming households. Those adopting a greater number of adaptation practices on a larger scale are, on average, are found to be 13% more technically efficient than those adopting fewer practices on smaller scale. The empirical results also show that average TE is only 0.72, indicating that farming households in Nepal could further improve productive efficiency by 28%. Other important factors that explain variations in the productive efficiency across farming households include farmer’s education level, irrigation facilities, market access, and social capital such as farmer’s participations in relevant agricultural organizations and clubs

Smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change and its potential contribution to UN’s sustainable development goals of zero hunger and no poverty

Climate change is likely to worsen poverty, and agriculture-dependent groups and poorest countries are at the greatest risk. Farmers’ have begun developing and implementing climate change adaptations. This study investigates the extent to which climate change adaptations by smallholder farmers have the potential to contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals of no poverty (SDG 1) and zero hunger (SDG 2). To this end, the study measures the impact of such adaptations on food production using farm-level survey data from Nepal. We utilize a matching technique and stochastic production frontier model to examine the productivity and efficiency of farmers. Results reveal that the group of farmers adopting adaptations exhibit higher levels of productivity and technical efficiency in food production as compared to the non-adopters. It is evident from the results that policy makers should encourage farming households in climate change adaptations, which have the potential to enhance farmers’ productivity and efficiency in agriculture, thereby contributing to two of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of eradicating hunger and poverty (SDG’s target indicators 2.3)

Impact of farmers’ climate risk perception and socio-economic attributes on their choice of ICT-based agricultural information services: empirical evidence from Pakistan

In Pakistan, research on information and communication technologies-based agricultural information services (ICTbAIS) have gained significant attention owing to the overwhelming population of smallholder farmers (whose information needs are unable to be met by the conventional extension services) and the increasing incidence of climatic risk. This study is, therefore, conducted in the Punjab province of Pakistan (mixed cropping region) to explore farmers’ use of ICTbAIS and understand the relationship between farmers’ socio-economic attributes, risk perception, and choices of ICTbAIS. A sample of 480 farmers was drawn using a multistage sampling approach, and farmers were interviewed face-to-face. To analyze the dataset, a multivariate Probit (MVP) model was employed. The results show that Television (TV) and mobile-based advisory and mobile-based consultations appeared to be the most used ICTbAIS, followed by radio and internet-based advisory. The estimates of the MVP model showed that farmers’ age, education, farmland, tenancy status, off-farm income, and climate risk perception are significant determinants of their choices of ICTbAIS. Based on our results, we suggest policymakers and extension agencies to improve the content of ICTbAIS and make efforts for the awareness and training of farmers regarding the use of contemporary ICTs

Rice farmers’ perceptions about temperature and rainfall variations, respective adaptation measures, and determinants: implications for sustainable farming systems

In Pakistan, climate change is adversely affecting agricultural production and undermining the food security and subsistence of millions of farm households. Farmers’ understanding of climate change and their adaptation strategies can serve as a useful step to help minimize climate risks. This study explores farmers’ perception of and adaptation strategies to climate change and their determinants in the rice-growing zone of Punjab province, as this region of the country is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. The multistage stratified-random sampling method was used to select 480 farmers from the four rice districts of the region, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression and contingency tables are used to analyze the determinants of farmers’ adopted strategies and adaptation extent (number of adopted strategies). Results show that farmers perceived significant changes in the climate, including the rise in average summer and winter temperatures and the decline in overall precipitation. The study further found that farmers’ adopted adaptation strategies include supplementary irrigation, adjustments in rice cultivation dates, crop diversification, use of climate-smart varieties, better fertilizer management, and farm resizing. Logit model showed that farmers’ age, primary occupation, income, landholding, access to irrigation, credit, climate information, and farm advisory appeared to be the significant determinants of their adaptation decision. The adaptation extent strongly correlates with farmers’ education and access to climate information and credit services. Based on these findings, this study suggests the relevant institutions improve farmers’ access to irrigation water, credit, farm advisory, and climate information to improve their adaptation extent and hence resilience of the rice-farming system