IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/asiaps/v12y2025i3ne70024.html

Social Identity and Crisis Resilience in Agriculture: Caste, Gender, and Migration in Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Muzna Alvi
  • Prapti Barooah
  • Smriti Saini
  • Avinash Kishore

Abstract

Capacity to weather economic shocks is often mediated by social identity, which in turn determines access to social, economic and physical capital. We study the repercussions of a large economic shock on access to agriculture inputs, agricultural extension, output markets, and the consequent effects on income and livelihoods in rural Nepal. We focus on heterogeneity by caste, gender, and household migration status, using panel survey data from 2300 maize farmers. We observe prolonged effects of the 2020 pandemic induced lockdowns on the incomes of farmers, driven in part by reduced remittances. The shock intensified inequalities in agriculture, especially for female farmers and farmers from disadvantaged caste groups. As the economic impacts of multiple crises continue, policy measures to support the agriculture sector should target disadvantaged farmers, while simultaneously implementing long term strategies to shield the agriculture sector from future shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Muzna Alvi & Prapti Barooah & Smriti Saini & Avinash Kishore, 2025. "Social Identity and Crisis Resilience in Agriculture: Caste, Gender, and Migration in Nepal," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:12:y:2025:i:3:n:e70024
    DOI: 10.1002/app5.70024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/app5.70024
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/app5.70024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jenny C. Aker, 2011. "Dial “A” for Agriculture: A Review of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries - Working Paper 269," Working Papers 269, Center for Global Development.
    2. Adhikari, Jagannath & Timsina, Jagadish & Khadka, Sarba Raj & Ghale, Yamuna & Ojha, Hemant, 2021. "COVID-19 impacts on agriculture and food systems in Nepal: Implications for SDGs," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Soumya Balasubramanya & David Stifel & Muzna Alvi & Claudia Ringler, 2022. "The role of social identity in improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health services: Evidence from Nepal," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(4), July.
    4. Jenny C. Aker, 2011. "Dial “A” for agriculture: a review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(6), pages 631-647, November.
    5. Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak & Maira Emy Reimão, 2020. "Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration in Asia," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 37(1), pages 1-42, March.
    6. Alvi, Muzna & Barooah, Prapti & Gupta, Shweta & Saini, Smriti, 2021. "Women's access to agriculture extension amidst COVID-19: Insights from Gujarat, India and Dang, Nepal," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Sunil Mitra Kumar & Ragupathy Venkatachalam, 2019. "Caste and Credit: A Woeful Tale?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(8), pages 1816-1833, August.
    8. Aryal, Jeetendra P. & Holden, Stein T., 2011. "Caste Discrimination, Land Reforms and Land Market Performance in Nepal," CLTS Working Papers 1/11, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    9. Barooah, Prapti & Alvi, Muzna & Ringler, Claudia & Pathak, Vishal, 2023. "Gender, agriculture policies, and climate-smart agriculture in India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    10. Randell, Heather & Jiang, Chengsheng & Liang, Xin-Zhong & Murtugudde, Raghu & Sapkota, Amir, 2021. "Food insecurity and compound environmental shocks in Nepal: Implications for a changing climate," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. Dipesh Chapagain & Sanita Dhaubanjar & Luna Bharati, 2021. "Unpacking future climate extremes and their sectoral implications in western Nepal," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 1-23, September.
    12. Thapa Magar, Dinesh Babu & Pun, Sirish & Pandit, Ram & Rola-Rubzen, Maria Fay, 2021. "Pathways for building resilience to COVID-19 pandemic and revitalizing the Nepalese agriculture sector," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    13. Vijesh V Krishna & Lagesh M Aravalath & Surjit Vikraman, 2019. "Does caste determine farmer access to quality information?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nikam, Vinayak & Ashok, Arathy & Pal, Suresh, 2022. "Farmers' information needs, access and its impact: Evidence from different cotton producing regions in the Maharashtra state of India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    2. Stephens, Emma & Timsina, Jagadish & Martin, Guillaume & van Wijk, Mark & Klerkx, Laurens & Reidsma, Pytrik & Snow, Val, 2022. "The immediate impact of the first waves of the global COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural systems worldwide: Reflections on the COVID-19 special issue for agricultural systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    3. Emmanuel Olatunbosun Benjamin & Oreoluwa Ola & Hannes Lang & Gertrud Buchenrieder, 2021. "Public-private cooperation and agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review of Nigerian growth enhancement scheme and e-voucher program," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 129-140, February.
    4. World Bank, 2020. "Sudan Agriculture Value Chain Analysis," World Bank Publications - Reports 34103, The World Bank Group.
    5. George W. Norton & Jeffrey Alwang, 2020. "Changes in Agricultural Extension and Implications for Farmer Adoption of New Practices," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 8-20, March.
    6. Hang Thu Nguyen-Phung & Miki Kohara & Secil Er, 2024. "The impact of ICT development on female employment and household’s well-being in Vietnam," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 951-978, December.
    7. Chris Knudson & Zack Guido, 2019. "The missing middle of climate services: layering multiway, two-way, and one-way modes of communicating seasonal climate forecasts," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 171-187, November.
    8. repec:pcz:journl:v:6:y:2012:i:1:p:151-161 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Anderson Jock R. & Birner Regina & Nagarajan Latha & Naseem Anwar & Pray Carl E., 2021. "Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 3-14, May.
    10. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can mobile phones improve gender equality and nutrition? Panel data evidence from farm households in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-103.
    11. Kondylis, Florence & Mueller, Valerie, 2012. "Seeing is Believing? Evidence from a Demonstration Plot Experiment in Mozambique," Mozambique Working Paper 1, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Wantchekon, Leonard & Riaz, Zara, 2019. "Mobile technology and food access," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 344-356.
    13. Barooah, Prapti & Alvi, Muzna & Ringler, Claudia & Pathak, Vishal, 2023. "Gender, agriculture policies, and climate-smart agriculture in India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    14. Kamiche Zegarra, J. & Bravo-Ureta, B., 2018. "Are users of market information efficient? A stochastic production frontier model corrected by sample selection," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275870, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Nikolaos E. Petridis & Georgios Digkas & Leonidas Anastasakis, 2020. "Factors affecting innovation and imitation of ICT in the agrifood sector," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 294(1), pages 501-514, November.
    16. Landmann, D. & Feil, J.-H. & Lagerkvist, C.J. & Otter, V., 2018. "Designing capacity development activities of small-scale farmers in developing countries based on discrete choice experiments," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277738, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Hazrana, Jaweriah & Mishra, Ashok K., 2024. "Effect of input subsidies and extension services: Evidence from rice productivity in Bangladesh," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Ragasa, Catherine & Ma, Ning & Hami, Emmanuel, 2024. "Farmer groups as ICT Hubs: Findings from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Malawi," IFPRI discussion papers 2261, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Catherine Larochelle & Jeffrey Alwang & Elli Travis & Victor Hugo Barrera & Juan Manuel Dominguez Andrade, 2019. "Did You Really Get the Message? Using Text Reminders to Stimulate Adoption of Agricultural Technologies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 548-564, April.
    20. Melia, Elvis, 2019. "The impact of information and communication technologies on jobs in Africa: a literature review," IDOS Discussion Papers 3/2019, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    21. Morgan, Stephen N. & Mason, Nicole M. & Maredia, Mywish K., 2020. "Lead-farmer extension and smallholder valuation of new agricultural technologies in Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:12:y:2025:i:3:n:e70024. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=2050-2680 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.