ABSTRACT

The Bhutanese government initiated a highland development programme in the year 2016 to promote yak farming because the number of yak farming families is declining. However, there are several cross-cutting policies and issues that affect successful implementation of interventions to support yak farming in transition. We studied the challenges and opportunities to sustain yak farming and related trade-offs around problems and solutions through individual and focus group interviews with six stakeholder groups (i.e. herders from two regions, extensionists, park rangers, livestock officials, and forest officials). Overall the herders rated forage availability and yak mortality as the main threats to yak farming, while government officials rated labour availability as the main threats. Most problems and solutions that were identified in the focus group interviews had diverging views among the stakeholder groups. There is clearly a need for a multi-stakeholder dialogue aiming to discuss problems and solutions together. This should take away misleading and disputed claims, and provide understanding about the approach to cope with risks and uncertainty around transhumance yak-based communities. A strong collaboration should lead to appropriate policy, which would reduce challenges and barriers, and simultaneously give opportunities to herders and their children to stay in yak farming in future.

摘要

不丹政府在 2016 年启动了一项高原开发计划，以促进牦牛养殖，因为牦牛养殖家庭的数量正在下降。然而，有几个跨领域的政策和问题会影响干预措施的成功实施，以支持转型中的牦牛养​​殖。我们通过对六个利益相关者群体（即来自两个地区的牧民、推广人员、公园管理员、畜牧官员和森林官员）的个人和焦点小组访谈，研究了维持牦牛养殖的挑战和机遇以及围绕问题和解决方案的相关权衡。总体而言，牧民将草料供应和牦牛死亡率视为牦牛养殖的主要威胁，而政府官员将劳动力供应视为主要威胁。在焦点小组访谈中发现的大多数问题和解决方案在利益相关者群体中都有不同的看法。显然需要进行旨在共同讨论问题和解决方案的多方利益相关者对话。这应该消除误导性和有争议的主张，并提供对如何应对围绕以牦牛为基础的放牧社区的风险和不确定性的方法的理解。强有力的合作应导致适当的政策，这将减少挑战和障碍，同时为牧民及其子女提供未来继续从事牦牛养殖的机会。并提供有关如何应对以牦牛转牧为基础的社区的风险和不确定性的方法的理解。强有力的合作应导致适当的政策，这将减少挑战和障碍，同时为牧民及其子女提供未来继续从事牦牛养殖的机会。并提供有关如何应对以牦牛转牧为基础的社区的风险和不确定性的方法的理解。强有力的合作应导致适当的政策，这将减少挑战和障碍，同时为牧民及其子女提供未来继续从事牦牛养殖的机会。