Central Department of Population Studies

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Vol. X, Population and Development in Nepal, July 2002

Nepal's Population Trend: Towards The Lowlands
Harka Gurung
No Abstract

Population And Sustainable Development In Nepal: Socio-Demographic And Policy Perspectives
Bal Kumar KC and Prakash Dev Pant
This paper addresses the question of sustainable development within the Nepalese context. It broadly examines social and demographic perspectives of the country and provides conceptual policy perspectives derived from the basic principles of ICPD+5. It attempts to represent various policy perspectives in conceptual framework.

Implications Of Mountain Specificities For Population And Development
Pitamber Sharma
The Land Resources Mapping Project (Kenting, 1986) divides Nepal into five physiographic zones: Tarai (less than 300m), Siwalik including the inner Tarai (300 to 1,500m), middle mountains (700m in low valleys to 2,500m in the highest peaks), high mountains (2,000m in river valleys to above 4,000m) and high Himal (3,000m and beyond). Tarai accounts for 14.4 per cent and Siwalik including Inner Tarai 12.7 per cent of the total land area of Nepal. Middle mountains (29.5%), high mountains (19.7%) and high Himal (23.7%), which together might be considered the mountain region in Nepal, comprise 72.9 per cent or nearly three-fourths of the country's total area.

This note is an attempt to look at the objective conditions obtained in mountain areas and their implications for population processes. A particular framework called the mountain perspective framework (Jodha, 1992) is used for purposes of analysis and some tentative policy relevant conclusions are drawn.

Interrelationship Between Population And Development: Evidence From Nepal
Laxmi Bilas Acharya
Purpose of this paper is to discuss theoretical interrelationship between population and development. The paper has highlighted that demographic factors, demographic outcomes, socio-economic-factors, and socio-economic outcomes have circular relationship. Data from Nepal are used to seek evidence of such relationship. Very few studies are done to analyze the relationship between these factors in Nepal. However, some macro level information gathered from various sources provides the evidence of such relationship in Nepal. The finding has some important policy implication.

Population And Development Integration In Nepal: Some Problems And Issues
Sunil Acharya
The paper briefly examines population and development trends in the past years that necessitated the planners in developing countries to take integrated approach to population planning. The paper also looks at the recommendations of international conferences and forums regarding the approach to integration. The paper then reviews the past population policies of Nepal and some of the problems and issues observed in the context of population and development integration.

Population, Development And Poverty In Nepal: An Integrated Approach Of Analysis
Devendra Chhetry
Available statistics demonstrate that the regional disparity in poverty is immense in Nepal, and, in particular, poverty in Nepal appears to be a rural phenomenon. Large household size, high child dependency ratio and high fertility level are the demographic characteristics of the poor households. Likewise, mass illiteracy and heavy dependency on agriculture for both employment and income generation are the socio-economic characteristics of the poor. Against this socio-economic background of the poor at the micro level, economic growth at the macro level heavily depends upon the non-agricultural sector, especially after the economic reforms. Economic reforms have offered opportunities to the people, but the poor failed to take advantage out of these opportunities because of mass illiteracy among poor. If this conflicting trend between the micro level socio-economic behaviours and the macro level economic growth continues to persist, poverty reduction in Nepal will remain almost impossible.

Applicability Of Kerala Model Of Population And Social Development In Nepal
Keshab Prasad Adhikari
Peculiar cases of social development exhibited that poverty alleviation and human resource development is possible even in the absence of desired economic growth. Such cases drew attention of international community to analyze comparability and contrasting features of a specific country context. Kerala model of development in India is acknowledged as sustainable model for the twenty-first century and can be replicated to the developing countries. Kerala is a successful case in illuminating illiteracy of its people, securing better health and longevity and better quality of life even within the context of state's economic growth lagging behind India's national average. Even in the absence of economic growth, it is a successful case of poverty alleviation in totality. This paper seeks to explore some similarities and differences of Kerala and Nepal in terms of location, history, social, cultural, economic and gender dimension in development and opens a debate on replicability of Kerala model for social development and poverty alleviation in Nepal.

Labour Migrants In The Kathmandu Valley: A Demographic Analysis Of Carpet Workers
Elvira Graner
Until today, the Nepalese economy is primarily based on agriculture. At the same time, wage labour is of increasing importance to households not only in urban but also in rural areas of the country. Due to the lack of labour opportunities in many regions labour migration has been a coping mechanism for a long time, most of all to India. When carpet production evolved as a labour market with a high demand for workers during the late 1980s, Kathmandu became a new destination, particularly for lowly educated rural migrants. On the other hand, during the mid 1990s a substantial recession severely curtailed employment and income opportunities for this labour force, leading to a loss in real wages from this labour market. In order to analyze these processes, an empirical study was carried out by the author from 1997 to 1999, interviewing carpet workers as well as businessmen and women, and conducting a village study on out-migration in Jhapa district of eastern Nepal.

Concentration Or Diversification: Geography Of Ethnic Diversification In Nepal
Bhim Prasad Subedi
Whereas discussion on native areas of various caste and ethnic groups in Nepal has obtained scholarly attention, ethnic diversification in the country has obtained less attention in the literature than it deserves. This paper presents the level of ethnic diversification in Nepal using districts as the unit of analysis. At the outset it presents the usual areas of concentration of major ethnic groups in the past and portrays the contemporary distribution of caste and ethnic groups at the district level. The extent of ethnic diversification is discussed using index of diversification. This paper argues that in discussing the pattern of distribution of ethnic groups, conventional focus on native areas and areas of concentration ignore the apparent ethnic diversification and its extent in the given area. In the multi-ethnic country such as Nepal that is characterized by rapid growth of population, ethnic diversification over space is an inevitable result of internal mobility and increased exposure of various groups with the outside world. Such an ethnic diversification in Nepal largely correlates with positive indicators of social development in the society.

Contraceptive Prevalence And Fertility Patterns In Nepal
Ram Sharan Pathak
Based on secondary data/information, this paper examines the relationship between contraceptive use and fertility level and concludes that the expected established relationship between contraceptive prevalence and fertility level was not clear before a decade ago. However, the paper ascertains that fertility has declined over the last decade due to increased use of contraceptives along with change in method mix in favour of temporary methods.

A Review Of Trafficking Problems With Reference To Nepal
Bidhan Acharya
This paper discusses the problems associated with trafficking in Nepal. It attempts to interpret trafficking within the context of social, cultural, economic and political framework in Nepal.

Plateauing Of Total Fertility Rate In Bangladesh: An Exploratory Analysis
Nashid Kamal and Rafiqul Huda Chaudhury
The paper examines the factors affecting plateauing fertility in Bangladesh utilizing data mostly collected by Demographic and Health Surveys based on national probability samples. Between 1975 and 1994, Bangladesh experienced a sharp decline in fertility from a TFR of 6.3 to 3.4. During the same time frame, the CPR increased steeply from 8 to 47 per cent. Between 1994 and 1999, the TFR has hovered around 3.3, although the CPR has increased to around 54 per cent. This apparent paradox of increasing CPR alongside little or no change in TFR may be attributed, among other factors, to decline in the use of efficient methods; rise in contraceptive discontinuation rates and the apparent increase in inefficient use of the pill and unchanged desired number of children and son preference. The findings point out to the need for strengthened programme performance coupled with progress towards gender equality and equity within the family, as well as in reproductive health decisions to bring about further changes in fertility levels.