14. Livelihood and Land Use Pattern of Melamchi Basin in the Mountainous Areas of Central Development Region in Nepal

Changes in household livelihood strategies have provided a new research perspective for land utilization changes. This research uses questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, mathematical statistics and other research methods to conduct a systematic investigation of the households and land plots of four typical villages located in the Melamchi basin of the central mountainous areas in Nepal. The study also analyses the different types of households’ livelihood strategies and land use patterns. The results show agriculture-dependent type and non-farming-dependent type are more efficient and livelihood diversity index is higher, so as a result there are relatively lower livelihood risks. Households’ land area, cultivating land structure, labor input and land yield-increasing input are all different. Since different types of households’ perceptions and strategies for livelihood improvement are present, their influences on land use are varied. Non-agricultural livelihood activities will not only reduce the vulnerability and risks of livelihood, but will also reduce the household’s dependency degree and land reclamation ratio, which will promote a change of land ownership and land redistribution and improve agricultural production rate. Given the environmental features in the mountainous areas of Nepal and unfavorable factors hindering the improvement in households’ livelihood, this paper comes up with feasible strategies for improving households’ livelihood and promoting the sustainable utilization of land at both household and regional levels.