Promoting Agriculture, Health, and Alternative Livelihoods (PAHAL) in Nepal

The Feinstein International Center is one of the international partners on Mercy Corps’ Promoting Agriculture, Health, and Alternative Livelihoods (PAHAL) in Nepal. This USAID-funded five-year project (2014-2019) aims to improve food security, resilience, and livelihoods for poor and marginalized communities in select areas of rural Nepal. Our quantitative and qualitative research is designed to better understand the determinants of resilience and food security and to inform and improve the programming of Mercy Corps and other national and international actors.

“The effects of male out-migration on household food security in rural Nepal” by Jeeyon Janet Kim, Elizabeth Stites, Patrick Webb, Mark A. Constas, and Daniel Maxwell

This article, In Food Security, May 2019, examines the effects of male out-migration on household food security, especially for the women who stayed behind. The authors find that migration offers neither substantial nor sustainable improvements to the quantity or quality of foods consumed by households, but is allowing households to “live in hope.” Drawing on caste- and gender-specific findings, the article highlights the need to look beyond the financial aspects of migration when examining its effects on food security.

• The effects of male out-migration on household food security in rural Nepal