Back to news
31 Jul 2015 | KSL

Transhumance herding: Not a pastoral romance anymore

2 mins Read

70% Complete

With each passing year new realities are creeping into remote parts of Nepal leading to change in lifestyles, food habits, customs, and often eliminating time-honored traditions.

The district of Bajhang is no exception; its transhumance herders say they are at a cusp of a new development.

Herder Kalu Bohra of Baanschowki has been a reluctant witness to changes coming to his community. In the past, almost every household in Baanschowki had sheep and goats but almost half of these households don’t raise livestock anymore. Until not so long ago when Bajhang was not accessible by road, people depended on these herders and their animals for transporting food from as far as Doti and Dadeldhura and rock salt from Taaklakot, China.

However, as roads were built the mode of transportation naturally changed, and people’s dependency on herders gradually declined. Bigger animals like mules are now preferred to smaller animals like sheep and goats. Mules carry heavier goods and cover longer distances.

Chandra Bohra, another transhumance herder, says the emergence of community forestry user groups (CFUGs) along migratory routes is also a reason why people like him are now discontinuing herding. These user groups have denied traditional forest use rights to herders, resulting in conflicts and loss of livelihood for herders. Herders say they pay taxes to the VDC, CFUGs, and local thugs. Often their animals are also stolen.

With the arrival of modern amenities, herding is no more an attractive option and is seen as sheer drudgery. A herder for four years, Ganesh Bohra, says he is not interested in herding anymore. He says herders spend days and nights looking after the animals in poor living conditions, have to often quarrel with local communities, and their earnings are barely sufficient to sustain their families.

“I will instead join my friends to collect Yarsagumba which can fetch me rupees 150,000 to 200,000 in a couple of months, which is sufficient for my family for a year,” said Ganesh Bohra.

Our interviews indicated that the number of herders had been declining over the years for several reasons: lack of grazing land, conflicts with local communities, and availability of new means of transport and alternative livelihood options. All these factors discouraged the younger generation to take up transhumance herding.

Despite ecological and cultural significance, the future of transhumance herders seems uncertain due to demographic, socio-economic, institutional, and geo-political changes as well as unfavorable policies and climatic factors. In Bajhang’s context, transhumance herding is vital for food security of herders. However, no effort seems to have been made to reduce the drudgery of the herders or provide them with other livelihood options.

Under Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI) effort is underway to explore possibilities of creating institutional arrangements between CFUGs and herders that may benefit both the parties.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Contents

Continue exploring this topic

26 Feb 2016 News
Sustainable Management of Local Varieties in Kailash

[caption id="attachment_8590" align="aligncenter" width="560"] A women’s group displays their crop diversity during the ...

11 Feb 2020 Atmosphere Initiative
Reliable data generation through improved air quality monitoring skills within the HKH

Rising emissions of air pollutants from urban, industrial, and rural sources have been steadily affecting the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) ...

Leveraging Collaboration for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Koshi Basin

Scientists, practitioners, and decision makers working in the Koshi Basin reached consensus on the need to further strengthen regional collaboration ...

29 Mar 2016 Gender in Koshi
Mainstreaming Gender and Livelihoods into Water Management

Linking livelihoods and gender issues in the Koshi river basin can improve water resource management, was the key message of ...

11 Oct 2024 Press releases
PAKISTAN SECURES $10M IN CLIMATE FINANCE FOR NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH IN THE INDUS

Women in the Hunza Valley planting sea buckthorn (Photo: Kanwal Waqar) Kathmandu, ...

4 Apr 2018 News
ICIMOD Regional Board Member Ding Zhongli Elected Vice Chairperson of China National People’s Congress Standing Committee

Born in 1957, Ding is a Chinese geologist and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He ...

11 Aug 2015 News
Experts stress need for collaboration to protect the natural heritage of earthquake-affected areas of Nepal

Over 50 experts and conservation practitioners from the region stressed the need for greater collaboration to overcome the socio-ecological impacts ...

16 Sep 2015 HKPL
Collaboration important for Wakhan National Park

ICIMOD and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of Afghanistan (MAIL) jointly organised a one-day meeting 5 August 2015 to explore ...