Village Land Rights[1]
As a VSO volunteer I’ve been working, since July 2012, at Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), a
Nepali NGO engaged in 53 Districts in the areas of land and agrarian reform,
livelihoods and women’s empowerment. The
organisation implements a ground up philosophy, i.e. approximately 2400 Village
Land Rights Forums (VLRFs) feed into
District Land Rights Forums (DLRFs), feeding into the National Land Rights
Forum (NLRF) in Chitwan. CSRC’s base is in
Kathmandu, but the real action occurs at the village and district levels and
staff are constantly in the field.
Most recently I had the opportunity to visit with some land
rights activists in Pravas, Palpa District.
The two women that I visited , and who hosted me along with their
families, are the staff of the Palpa DLRF, working with approximately 22
VLRFs.
I set out from Kathmandu with some other CSRC staff, a first
major stop occurring in Rupandehi District where we attended a peaceful sit-in
of at least 50 people, of all ages, who had recently been evicted from forestry
land which they had inhabited for a number of generations. It was a cool, overcast day and the people
were sitting on a plastic tarp, many seemingly without very warm
coverings. As one member of our group
spoke to the people in tones of solidarity, I wondered if they would be able to
go back to their homes and land. Unaware
as to why these people were evicted, it was difficult to draw any
conclusions. But, in a country where
there are many landless and tenant farmers, what really is the rationale for
making people homeless? Maybe the land
was being occupied illegally, and setting some precedent would impact many, but
if someone has occupied land for generations and has made it productive, why
not let it be and/or assist people in making their occupation legal, possibly
through a long term lease? The bigger
question is where will these people go and will they be able to start over,
will some be forced to immigrate for their livelihoods in order to maintain and
provide for their families?
We had to leave and headed to Butwal where I would be
dropped off in order to take a bus to Pravas with my colleagues heading to Surkhet
for some further work regarding women vis-à-vis land rights.
Arriving in Pravas I was initially greeted by a women who
lived at the bus stop. The Land Rights
Activists soon arrived and we went to their one room office where district
strategies are formulated. After this we
walked to the home of one of the activists. For three days I was able to
experience rural Nepal and what it was like to daily drink fresh buffalo milk,
eat food cooked over a mud, wood stove fire, take a somewhat warm bath in an
outhouse, sleep in a frigid room without glass on the windows and enjoy the
hospitality of the friendly people in this country. I even met a priest in the front yard of the
other activist who tried to sell us a stone.
On the second day of my visit the two activists and I walked
for about an hour past a football field, the Lumbini Medical College Teaching Hospital
and through some lush “jungle” to the site of the Kunsare VLRF. We were greeted by five men and a map of the
village was produced showing the location of all 70 families. Over the course of the 2.5 hour meeting, the
group of people huddled on the porch of the venue grew to about 35, of which 20
were women. People came and left but anyone could join in the
conversation. Everyone listened attentively
and spoke freely regarding the land issues of this particular village. There seemed to be quite a bit of sharing as
to how to take issues forward.
Although my Nepali language skills are questionable, the
feeling I had is that through the VLRF, people were being given a forum to
voice their opinions, truly providing
opportunities to become empowered and make consensual decisions. Many organisations speak of empowering others
in their vision and mission statements, but in reality sufficient opportunities
may not be provided. Given that women do
provide much of the agricultural effort in Nepal, it was very comforting to see
so many women in attendance , not just listening but giving their opinions.
From what I’ve been able to garner through reading and
talking to people in the land rights movement, there is a long road ahead and
major changes need to occur at all levels of society. But I do marvel at how this movement seems to
be “walking the talk” and not just paying lip service to those most impacted as
they seem to be the ones truly driving things.
Someday things may even get to the point of there being very few
landless/tenant farmers and people truly feeling that they have alternatives,
other than having to immigrate for their livelihoods and in order to take care
of their families. Jaye Jamin!
[1]
This only reflects the views of the author and does not in any way reflect
those of the organisations mentioned.
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