Abstract This study investigates agricultural land use change in Chitwan, Nuwakot and Lamjung districts of Nepal during 1990 –2017 in relation to rural outmigration. Agriculture in Nepal is characterized by subsistence farming, low productivity, limited access to markets, constraints of terrain, poor economic returns, and vulnerability to natural hazards now exacerbated by climate change. These challenging circumstances are further compounded by several physical, environmental and socioeconomic challenges, including from labour outmigration. Outmigration has steadily increased over the past two decades, and a remittance economy has fuelled urbanization processes as well as transformations in the rural economy. Data was collected from three selected districts, representing two different agro-ecological zones - the mountains and plains (Terai). We use an interdisciplinary approach integrating macro scale and longitudinal geospatial analysis with quantitative econometric causal analysis and participatory qualitative methods. Results show that agricultural land abandonment is higher in mountain areas than in the Terai. The effect of outmigration on agricultural land abandonment also has an important gender dimension: internal outmigration of women has a significant positive effect on agricultural land abandonment. This shows that when men outmigrate, women continue farming leading to feminization of agriculture, but when women migrate in significant numbers, there are only older parents left who are often unable to continue farming. Similarly, and contrary to the general narrative and previous studies, international migration (of both men and women) did not show any significant impact on agricultural land abandonment.

中文翻译：

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了解尼泊尔甘达基盆地的农村移民和农业用地变化

摘要 本研究调查了 1990 年至 2017 年尼泊尔奇旺、努瓦科特和拉姆戎地区与农村人口迁徙相关的农业用地变化。尼泊尔农业的特点是自给农业、生产力低下、进入市场的机会有限、地形限制、经济回报差以及易受气候变化加剧的自然灾害影响。这些具有挑战性的情况因包括劳动力外流在内的若干物理、环境和社会经济挑战而进一步复杂化。过去 20 年，外迁人口稳步增加，汇款经济推动了城市化进程和农村经济转型。从三个选定的地区收集数据，代表两个不同的农业生态区 - 山脉和平原 (Terai)。我们使用跨学科方法，将宏观尺度和纵向地理空间分析与定量计量经济学因果分析和参与式定性方法相结合。结果表明，山区的农业用地废弃率高于德赖。外迁对农地遗弃的影响也具有重要的性别维度：女性内迁对农地遗弃有显着的正向影响。这表明，当男性外出时，女性继续务农导致农业女性化，但当女性大量迁移时，只剩下年长的父母往往无法继续务农。同样，与一般叙述和以前的研究相反，