Despite widely reported trends of agricultural land abandonment across many parts of the globe, this land use change phenomenon is relatively new in the context of Nepal. In recent years, rural farming communities in the hill region are gradually reducing the intensity of farming, leading to underutilisation and abandonment of agricultural lands. Adopting a mixed methods research approach, this study investigated the extent of agricultural land abandonment, its underlying causal drivers and perceived impacts in the hill agro-ecological region of Nepal. A structured survey of 374 households and six focus group discussions were carried out in three districts. The study revealed that around 40% of agricultural lands in the hill agro-ecological region have been abandoned and 60% of farmers have left at least one parcel of agricultural land abandoned. It was found that biophysical drivers (distance from homestead to parcel, slope of the parcel, land fragmentation, land quality and irrigation availability) and socio-demographic drivers (family size, higher education of the household members, domestic migration and out-migration) were responsible for agricultural land abandonment. Negative impacts of land abandonment were observed on the rural landscape, human-made farm structures, socio-economic systems, local food production and food security. In line with global studies, this research suggest that marginal land quality, demographic changes and rising alternative economic opportunities elsewhere contribute to farmland abandonment. This study also discusses land management approaches and policy implications to address the issue of agricultural land abandonment.

尽管在全球许多地方都广泛报道了放弃农业用地的趋势，但在尼泊尔的背景下，这种土地利用变化现象相对较新。近年来，丘陵地区的农村农业社区正在逐渐减少耕种强度，导致土地利用不足和废弃。本研究采用混合方法研究方法，调查了尼泊尔丘陵农业生态区放弃农业用地的程度，其潜在的因果驱动因素和可感知的影响。在三个地区对374户家庭进行了结构化调查，并进行了六次焦点小组讨论。该研究表明，丘陵农业生态区约有40％的农田被废弃，60％的农民至少留下了一块农田。已发现生物物理驱动因素（从宅基地到地块的距离，地块的坡度，土地破碎，土地质量和灌溉可用性）和社会人口统计学的驱动因素（家庭规模，家庭成员的受高等教育程度，家庭移民和迁出移民）负责农业土地的废弃。观察到土地遗弃对乡村景观，人造农场结构，社会经济系统，当地粮食生产和粮食安全产生了负面影响。与全球研究一致，这项研究表明边际土地质量，人口变化和其他地方日益增长的替代经济机会助长了农田的放弃。这项研究还讨论了土地管理方法和政策含义，以解决农业用地废弃的问题。