Land holding patterns and food security in Barbardiya municipality, Bardiya

Abstract

This dissertation examines the association between the land holding patterns and food security in Barbardiya Municipality, Bardiya District. Agriculture constitutes the backbone of the local economy, yet the pattern of land distribution is marked by fragmentation and unequal. The study has three objectives, and the first one is to examine landholding patterns of the Barbardiya Municipality, Bardiya; second objective is to describe the food security situation of the study area, and the last one is to analyses the relationship between land holding pattern and food security. The research was methodologically based on Auguste Comte’s positivistic approach. This approach emphasizing that social science can be objectively measured like a natural science to know social realities. A quantitative research design was employed to gather reliable and valid data. A sample size of 361 households was selected randomly from four wards through structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyses land holding pattern and food security at study area. The livelihood ratio (G-tests) was conducted to determine the relationship between land size, ownership status, and household food security. This method guaranteed that the results were based on observable data and statistical evidence, rather than personal interpretation. The findings indicate significant disparities in land ownership. Although almost all households possessed agricultural land, 52.6% managed less than 5 Kattha, while merely 1.7% owned over 60 Kattha. Land fragmentation was prevalent, characterized by limited participation in rental markets and a significant dependence on sharecropping arrangements. Despite 91.7% of land being irrigated, only 13.3% of households had access to year-round irrigation, highlighting infrastructural disparities. vi Regarding food security, 82.8% of households indicated sufficiency throughout the year; however, many exhibited a lack of dietary diversity, and 18.6% experienced food security for less than three months. Financial limitations and unstable tenure were identified as significant factors contributing to insufficiency. The results indicate a significant association between land holding size, access to irrigation, and household food security, with larger irrigated holdings consistently linked to higher levels of sufficiency in comparison to smallholders and landless families. This study enhances the theory of inequality by illustrating how unequal access to productive resources sustains structural inequality. The findings provide Marx's view of ownership as a basis for exploitation and Weber's focus on the interaction of class, status, and power, while also aligning with Maxwell and Wiebe's entitlement-based model of food security. The study supports Gautam’s (2013) statement that land distribution in Nepal is fundamentally connected to social inequalities, demonstrating how these disparities directly influence household-level food security outcomes.