Household Assets and Agricultural Transition in Chitwan, Nepal

Seung Yong Han, Arizona State University

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of household assets focusing on migration on diverse aspects of agricultural transition in the context of the socioeconomically changing agricultural region, Chitwan, Nepal, over 10 years between 1996 and 2006. Household assets, which consist of four capitals, are considered as main factors as well as moderators affecting the relationship between migration and agricultural transition. The preliminary results of event history model and growth curve model imply that a household would utilize migration as one of the coping strategies when they confront economic instability and environmental degradation. However, households with desperate conditions, such as low water quality or production quality, might have to push them to continue farming no matter what.