Author: Astha Pokharel
Land isn’t just soil to grow crops and earn money but it is connected to life, identity and security of farmers. As land being an integral part that represent the ancestral heritage, cultural belonging and social status that shapes an individual within family and community structures. Farmers grow crops on land and earn money through selling that crops. This leads to livelihood improvement of them and their way of financial status, being slowly normalized.
Land ownership, a critical issue that stood at forefront where farming occupation considered as a toughest livelihood to sustain. Many small holder farmers face challenges accessing land for farming, and someone work at lease land, owned by others, reflecting, concerns on land ownership in Nepal and its proper management is quite an issue. This creates an insecurity such as farmers live with fear of losing land, fear of disputes may arise in mid of sowing season and such uncertainty into low investment, poor motivation to continue farming among present generation, lack of access to credit and eventually, fear of eviction. Hence, without clear rights, farmers can’t control invest or innovate for a longer time and agricultural output suffers a lot. For generations, land has been the primary means of survival, social identity, and inheritance.
Types of Land Ownership (Acharya ,2008):
With land ownership types, historically land types are classified in five types as
- Raikar: Land on which the state levies taxes. Historically, the state was the owner, and individuals held occupancy rights as tenants (“Mohi”).
- Birta: Land granted by the state to individuals to enable them to make a living. This system was abolished in 1959 and converted into Raikar.
- Jagir: Raikar land assigned to government and military employees as their salary. This was abolished in 1951.
- Rakam: Land assigned to individuals (such as carpenters or mail carriers) as remuneration for performing specific manual functions. This system was abolished in 1955.
- Kipat: A form of communal tenure where specific ethnic groups (such as the Limbus) were permitted to own land. It was abolished in 1964.
- Guthi: Land assigned for charitable, religious, or philanthropic institutions. This tenure still exists in various forms, such as Rajguthi (state-administered) and Duniya Guthi (privately operated)
Understanding present land types helps reveal the roots of many farmer’s holds:
1. Private Land
Land that individuals legally own with a title (Lal Purja in Nepal). Owners have the right to use, sell, lease, or mortgage it.
2. State Land
Land owned by the government and used for public purposes or allocated through programs.
3. Guthi Land
A traditional system in Nepal where land is held by religious or community trusts; cultivators often lack full legal ownership even if they have farmed it for generations.
4. Customary & Informal Tenure
Some farmers cultivate land based on traditional practices without formal documentation leaving them legally vulnerable.
Land disputes in Nepal
Alongside financial and economy, land disputes also affect social structure and relationship that exist in society that distort emotional well-being. Many conflicts happen within families during division of ancestral property, converting misunderstanding and arguments into long lasting personal rifts. These land division creates a mistrust among community as well as family members leading to disrupt the cooperative farming activities that now exist. These type of distorted structure in society create an unresolved tension affecting farmers where farmer loose motivation and abandoned farming occupation.
A “land dispute” involves conflicting claims to rights in land by two or more parties, focused on a particular piece of land, which can be addressed within the existing legal framework. Land disputes may or may not reflect some broader conflict over land. International Land Coalition (2019).
USAID describes a “land conflict” involves competing claims to large areas of land by groups, of a breadth and depth not easily resolved within existing law.
The longer the dispute remains, the more agricultural production moves from the fields to the flight. The land administration and court systems of Nepal remain to some extent makeshift in terms of lengthy processes, partial computerization, and uncompleted records. This takes years to complete judicial cases. Farmers have to attend court hearings while facing peak season of agricultural production. Loss of season for crop establishment and harvesting imposes long-term benefits loss on farmers.
On a bigger scale, if land disputes take time for settling, it may hamper Nepal’s food security and rural future. Underinvestment, reduced cultivation, and land abandonment lead to a country that is dependent on importing while having minimum food production. Rural youth migration to look for job opportunities outside the country means that rural areas experience an old farmer in a field and underutilized land.
Land conflict and land issues may be looked upon as technical legal issues. But in the case of Nepal, such issues are the reality of people’s lives and impact their agriculture-related daily practices. Land disputes are thus the issues that need to be resolved for legal changes that ensure sustainable agriculture growth.
Challenges regarding Land Ownership and Management
Legal Challenges: When disputes arise over ownership or boundaries, their effects are not confined to legal offices or court files. They directly influence how farmers work their land, what they choose to grow, and whether they feel confident planning for the future. Although land ownership certificates (lalpurja) are legally important, many farmers continue to cultivate land without clear ownership paper.
Informal inheritance practice: Nepal’s farming system is mostly comprised of small and fragmented landholdings shaped by informal inheritance practices and incomplete land reforms. For say, many families in Nepal follow the tradition of oral partition of land, known as “Ansha Banda.” In this tradition, after the death of a father or the growth of children, the land is physically partitioned, often marked with stones, trees, and ridges (Kulo and Kanla), but the deed to the property, called “Lalpurja,” remains in the name of the deceased grandfather or father. Years after, if a family member wishes to sell his share of the land, he finds that he does not own it, resulting in family conflicts that can continue for decades.
Gender dynamics as a challenge in Land ownership
Historically, land types were closely ties to power, caste, class and gender. Land Ownership often favored men and elites’ group. Women, non-expert and indigenous communities had use rights but now ownership. Hence, land disputes affect gender dynamics. Land ownership issues also seen in gender dynamics where women are restricted to secure land rights before joint landownership policy came in 2011. We know that widespread male migration for work abroad, women are now mostly responsible for farming. Therefore, enhancing women’s land rights in particular can be a crucial factor for improving gender relations. Women who have secure land tenure are more economically empowered, have a stronger social and political influence, and are encouraged to make more egalitarian decisions in their homes and communities. Women who own land might be viewed as farmers and rights holders in addition to laborers.
There is much uncertainty in land ownership that quietly reshapes everyday farming decision. Farmers who are involved in land disputes often do not show interest to continue farming either by showing reluctant to invest on irrigation systems, farm buildings, orchards, or soil improvement measures that require long-term commitment(Maiko & Kollie, 2021). If land conflict prevails over longer time, they prefer to cultivate short term crop with low investment and quick returns, even if those crops are less profitable or less suitable for land. These seems that how land disputes reduce agricultural productivity and weaken local food systems.
How Joint Land ownership policy came into action?
Around 1000 women from 50 districts across Nepal came to Kathmandu in 2011 for a strike with various demand, on which joint land ownership was one of them. Hence, Government gives an eye to that issue and think positively with inclusion of joint land ownership in 2011 policy plan. The land in the husband’s name could now be transferred to joint husband and wife by paying only Rs. 100. To make the implementation easier, ministry of land reform and management in 2017, endosered a guideline to issue joint land ownership certificates. (CSRC Nepal. Retrieved from https://csrcnepal.org/project/joint-land-ownership-jlo/)
Conclusion
The ownership of land in Nepal is inextricably linked to the culture and very survival of the people, but it is also fraught with the complexities of the past and practices such as oral partitioning. The divergence between land boundaries and ownership is a cycle of insecurity that deters agricultural development, sustains generational family feuds, and undermines the food security of the nation. Although measures such as Joint Land Ownership represent a major step forward in gender equality, the lack of progress in judicial and administrative reforms keeps farmers in state of uncertainty. In the end, when the disputes leave the fields and enter the files of the courts, agricultural development slows down and the younger generation is forced to look elsewhere for opportunities. Addressing these challenges is not only a legal requirement but a pre-requisite for the socio-economic rebirth of rural Nepal.
References:
- Acharya, B. R. (2008). Land Tenure and Land Registration in Nepal. FIG Working Week 2008, Stockholm.
- Mahesh Chandra Regmi – Land Tenure and taxation in Nepal
- CSRC Nepal. (n.d.). Joint Land Ownership (JLO). Community Self Reliance Centre, Nepal. Retrieved from https://csrcnepal.org/project/joint-land-ownership-jlo/
- Maiko, A. E., & Kollie, G. B. (2021). The impact of land conflict on landproductivity: Evidence from Liberia.https://publication.aercafricalibrary.org/handle/123456789/2832
Author Introduction
Astha Pokharel is an early career researcher, currently pursuing soil Science from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science. Her academic journey includes the proposal writing runner up, NAPA Research Mini-Grant, five months long PMAMP internship in her dissertation period. She had contributed her skills and expertise as a Research Assistant at Nepal Agriculture Research Council. She worked in data collection, drafting proposal, research findings and report writing. Formerly, she worked at Daayitwa Nepal Public Policy fellowship and also awarded with Chandra Gurung Memorial Scholarship from WWF. Recently, she completed UC Davis Nepal study Abroad program where she brings her research expertise in ground level. She is driven by a passion for sustainable agricultural development and a desire to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of vulnerable communities.
The views and opinions expressed in the piece above are solely those of the original author(s) and contributor(s). They do not necessarily represent the views of Governance Monitoring Centre Nepal and/or Centre for Social Change.