Migration, Remittance, and Adoption of Conservation Practices

Temporary migration and the resulting flow of fund in terms of remittance has been one of the major sources of financing in developing countries. However, little is known about the role of remittance receipt by households on the adoption of environmental-friendly practices in the agricultural production system. We use the three-stage least squares (3-SLS) regression method to analyze the data obtained from face-to-face interview surveys of 338 Nepali households to understand the impact of migration and remittance on the adoption of conservation practices. Our analysis does not show the direct impact of remittance on the number of soil and water conservation practices adoption, but migration has a significant negative effect. Other variables positively affecting the adoption of conservation practices are agriculture as the main source of income, perceived notion that water quality is bad, and better utilization of existing agricultural infrastructures. Income and the perceived notion that productivity quality of soil is bad negatively affect conservation practices adoption. Farm households facing labor shortage resulting from out-migration should be assisted by providing cost-share or incentive payment to adopt readily available, effective, low labor-intensive, and low-cost conservation practices in Nepal or elsewhere in similar remittance-dependent developing countries.