48 research outputs found
Representation of Minorities in Research: A View from the Community
No full textAUTHOR AFFILIATION: Sudarshan Pyakurel, Arogya Institute and Bhutanese Nepali Community of Central Ohio, United States, [email protected] media can be accessed here:
http://streaming.osu.edu/knowledgebank/PREA/PREA_Session13C_Pyakurel_20190326.mp
Creating, enhancing, and capturing environmental product values:Medicinal and spice plant trade in the Himalayan foothills
No full textThere is a substantial trade in renewable environmental products, including medicinal and spice plants. Yet, their production networks remain largely unknown. Here, using a global production network approach, we unravel the trade for such products in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, focusing on how values are created, enhanced, and captured. We conducted quantitative interviews with harvesters (n = 25), traders (n = 12), and central wholesalers (n = 2) in 2014–15 and with traders (n = 5) in 2021–22 in Kailali District of Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal. All traders from the district were interviewed in both case years. We found that harvesters created and enhanced value by wild-harvesting, cultivating, and air-drying 10 products from nine species in 2014–15 and 14 products from 13 species in 2021–22. The total annual trade increased from 151 to 340 tons in the period, and the value rose from USD 103,939 to USD 125,800 (in 2021–22 prices). The trade was dominated by the cultivated tejpat leaves (Cinnamomum tamala) and the leaves of kadipatta (Murraya koenigii) in 2021–22. Traders and central wholesalers enhanced value through transport, not processing. Secondary processing in the district was limited, resulting in missed opportunities for added value through processing. Non-firm actors captured value in connection to issuing collection, trade, and export permits. An average of 68 % of volume and 86 % of harvester value were sourced from cultivation, showing the growing importance of these species for supplementary rural income in the lowlands. The process of increased commercialisation reflects similar changes in the neighbouring countries. Finally, we conclude that the global production network approach can be applied to examine the dynamics of South-South trade in renewable environmental products, even in the absence of a lead firm.</p
High altitude organic gold:the production network for <i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> from far-western Nepal
No full textEthnopharmacological relevance Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, a high altitude Himalayan fungus-caterpillar product found in alpine meadows in China, Bhutan, Nepal, and India, has been used in the Traditional Chinese Medicine system for over 2000 years. Heightened demand in China over the past 15 years, coupled with limited production, has led to a price hike and increased economic importance of harvests to rural households throughout the species’ range. There is, however, limited knowledge on the actors and profit distribution in the O. sinensis production network, especially from the distribution areas on the southern flanks of the Himalayas. Filling in this knowledge gap is essential to the identification and design of public interventions. Aim of the study To describe and quantify the O. sinensis production network originating from Darchula District in far-western Nepal. Materials and Methods Data was collected, for fiscal year 2014-15, in spring and summer 2016 using standardized collector (n=56) and trader (n=45) questionnaires in Darchula District, and central wholesaler (n=9) questionnaires in cities of Nepal. All questionnaires contained quantitative and qualitative components focusing on key elements of the production network, i.e. value creation, enhancement, and capture; and network and territorial embeddedness. Results Trade is sustained and significant even at the margins of the distributional range, with 384.1 kg of O. sinensis harvested in and traded from Darchula District in 2014-15, having a collector value of approximately USD 4.7 million and constituting the dominant household-level source of income for collectors. The functioning production network is characterised by conflicts in relation to value creation, a high share of value capture by collectors, limited value enhancement, and a high degree of network and territorial embeddedness. Conclusions O. sinensis income is of major economic importance for rural households at the margin of its distribution range in Nepal. Production networks operated by informal actors establishing trust-based relationships allow responses to cross-border market signals, enabling the flow of rural and remote environmental resources to urban centres of demand. There is scope for public interventions, e.g. to determine the drivers of demand.Ethnopharmacological relevance Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H.Sung, J.M.Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, a high altitude Himalayan fungus-caterpillar product found in alpine meadows in China, Bhutan, Nepal, and India, has been used in the Traditional Chinese Medicine system for over 2000 years. Heightened demand in China over the past 15 years, coupled with limited production, has led to a price hike and increased economic importance of harvests to rural households throughout the species’ range. There is, however, limited knowledge on the actors and profit distribution in the O. sinensis production network, especially from the distribution areas on the southern flanks of the Himalayas. Filling in this knowledge gap is essential to the identification and design of public interventions. Aim of the study To describe and quantify the O. sinensis production network originating from Darchula District in far-western Nepal. Materials and Methods Data was collected, for fiscal year 2014-15, in spring and summer 2016 using standardized collector (n=56) and trader (n=45) questionnaires in Darchula District, and central wholesaler (n=9) questionnaires in cities of Nepal. All questionnaires contained quantitative and qualitative components focusing on key elements of the production network, i.e. value creation, enhancement, and capture; and network and territorial embeddedness. Results Trade is sustained and significant even at the margins of the distributional range, with 384.1 kg of O. sinensis harvested in and traded from Darchula District in 2014-15, having a collector value of approximately USD 4.7 million and constituting the dominant household-level source of income for collectors. The functioning production network is characterised by conflicts in relation to value creation, a high share of value capture by collectors, limited value enhancement, and a high degree of network and territorial embeddedness. Conclusions O. sinensis income is of major economic importance for rural households at the margin of its distribution range in Nepal. Production networks operated by informal actors establishing trust-based relationships allow responses to cross-border market signals, enabling the flow of rural and remote environmental resources to urban centres of demand. There is scope for public interventions, e.g. to determine the drivers of demand
Patterns of change:the dynamics of medicinal plant trade in far-western Nepal
No full textEthnopharmacological relevanceCombined quantitative and qualitative environmental product trade studies, undertaken in the same location over time, are instrumental in identifying plant species with commercial demand and explaining what drives temporal changes. Yet such dynamic studies are rare, including for Himalayan medicinal plants that have been large-scale traded for millennia.Aim of the studyTo (i) investigate changes in medicinal plant trade in the past 17 years, and (ii) identify the main factors driving changes, using a study of Darchula District in far-western Nepal.Materials and MethodsMedicinal plant production network data were collected from March to August 2016, for the fiscal year 2014-15, for Darchula District in far-western Nepal through 167 quantitative (58 harvesters, 38 sub-local traders, 25 local traders, 25 central wholesalers, and 21 regional wholesalers), 61 qualitative (15 sub-local traders, 19 local traders, 15 central wholesalers, and 12 regional wholesalers) interviews, and four focus group discussions. Results were compared to previously unpublished similar data for Darchula District for the year 1997-98, using quantitative and qualitative interviews with 10 local traders, 20 central wholesalers, and 53 regional wholesalers. Data analysis was guided by an analytical framework derived from Global Production Network theory. Quantitative data were used to estimate changes in 12 indicators while the qualitative information allowed identification of the factors driving observed changes in the indicators.ResultsThe volume of medicinal plants traded from Darchula District in the fiscal year 2014-15 was 401 t with a harvester value of USD 5.5 million, representing a 2.3 fold increase in volume and 17.2 fold increase in value compared to 1997-98. Trade in the two observation years comprised 30 air-dried plant products (from 28 identified species as well as lichens and a mineral substance); 12 products were traded in both periods, while seven disappeared, and 11 new products entered the trade. The number of traders increased from 10 to 63, mainly due to the emergence of a single high value product yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), a fungus-caterpillar complex which alone contributed 85% of total trade value. Over the observed time period, harvesters and traders increased their margins at the cost of central wholesalers, indicating that market changes favoured lower tier actors, eroding the previously identified passive central wholesaler oligopsony in Nepal. Important drivers of market changes are: (i) rising incomes in China and India, expressed through demand for new products and increasing per unit prices for a range of products, (ii) expanding infrastructure (roads and telecommunications) towards and into harvesting sites, reducing transport costs and increasing market efficiency, and (iii) government interventions, causing disappearance of some species from trade. These market changes also led to increased cultivation at lower altitudes, and a sharp increase in the number of processor industries in Nepal.ConclusionTrade in medicinal plant products in far-western Nepal in the past two decades has increased substantially, doubling in volume and increasing 17 fold in value. There is a backbone of constantly traded species but also species that disappear from trade and new species that enter. Changes favour harvesters and traders at the benefit of central wholesalers whose previous passive oligopsony is disappearing. The three main drivers of change are rising incomes in China and India, expanding infrastructure, and government interventions in Nepal. Commercial medicinal plant resources are a substantial asset that appears to offer opportunities for economic development in far-western Nepal. The trade, however, may pose sustainability threats that are best understood by combining species-level biophysical, trade, and consumer studies.Ethnopharmacological relevanceCombined quantitative and qualitative environmental product trade studies, undertaken in the same location over time, are instrumental in identifying plant species with commercial demand and explaining what drives temporal changes. Yet such dynamic studies are rare, including for Himalayan medicinal plants that have been large-scale traded for millennia.Aim of the studyTo (i) investigate changes in medicinal plant trade in the past 17 years, and (ii) identify the main factors driving changes, using a study of Darchula District in far-western Nepal.Materials and MethodsMedicinal plant production network data were collected from March to August 2016, for the fiscal year 2014-15, for Darchula District in far-western Nepal through 167 quantitative (58 harvesters, 38 sub-local traders, 25 local traders, 25 central wholesalers, and 21 regional wholesalers), 61 qualitative (15 sub-local traders, 19 local traders, 15 central wholesalers, and 12 regional wholesalers) interviews, and four focus group discussions. Results were compared to previously unpublished similar data for Darchula District for the year 1997-98, using quantitative and qualitative interviews with 10 local traders, 20 central wholesalers, and 53 regional wholesalers. Data analysis was guided by an analytical framework derived from Global Production Network theory. Quantitative data were used to estimate changes in 12 indicators while the qualitative information allowed identification of the factors driving observed changes in the indicators.ResultsThe volume of medicinal plants traded from Darchula District in the fiscal year 2014-15 was 401 t with a harvester value of USD 5.5 million, representing a 2.3 fold increase in volume and 17.2 fold increase in value compared to 1997-98. Trade in the two observation years comprised 30 air-dried plant products (from 28 identified species as well as lichens and a mineral substance); 12 products were traded in both periods, while seven disappeared, and 11 new products entered the trade. The number of traders increased from 10 to 63, mainly due to the emergence of a single high value product yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), a fungus-caterpillar complex which alone contributed 85% of total trade value. Over the observed time period, harvesters and traders increased their margins at the cost of central wholesalers, indicating that market changes favoured lower tier actors, eroding the previously identified passive central wholesaler oligopsony in Nepal. Important drivers of market changes are: (i) rising incomes in China and India, expressed through demand for new products and increasing per unit prices for a range of products, (ii) expanding infrastructure (roads and telecommunications) towards and into harvesting sites, reducing transport costs and increasing market efficiency, and (iii) government interventions, causing disappearance of some species from trade. These market changes also led to increased cultivation at lower altitudes, and a sharp increase in the number of processor industries in Nepal.ConclusionTrade in medicinal plant products in far-western Nepal in the past two decades has increased substantially, doubling in volume and increasing 17 fold in value. There is a backbone of constantly traded species but also species that disappear from trade and new species that enter. Changes favour harvesters and traders at the benefit of central wholesalers whose previous passive oligopsony is disappearing. The three main drivers of change are rising incomes in China and India, expanding infrastructure, and government interventions in Nepal. Commercial medicinal plant resources are a substantial asset that appears to offer opportunities for economic development in far-western Nepal. The trade, however, may pose sustainability threats that are best understood by combining species-level biophysical, trade, and consumer studies
Theorising and analysing the forest-based bioeconomy through a global production network lens
No full textThere is a multiplicity of bioeconomies and transition pathways, many of which are radically different from the biotechnological approach dominating in Western and Northern Europe. While the empirical basis for understanding this diversity is growing, also in the Global South, there is a lack of bioeconomic learning from existing allied theories. This paper applies global production network theory to the forest-based bioeconomy. Specifically, we focus on internationally traded renewable environmental products and identify an analytical framework for empirical investigation of the forest-based bioeconomy. We then apply the approach to the case of commercial medicinal plants in Nepal, using the example of the trade in air-dried bulbs of the Himalayan herbaceous plant Fritillaria cirrhosa in 2014–14 and 2021–22 with empirical data from structured interviews with traders (n = 65 and n = 79 for the two observation years) supplemented with interviews in the first period with harvesters (n = 540), central wholesalers (n = 73), processing industries (n = 79), and regional wholesalers in India and Tibet (n = 78). We find that global production network theory, and the associated array of analytical devices, can inform empirical investigation of the forest-based bioeconomy by operationalising the bioeconomy concept and grounding findings within an established theoretical frame and its associated emerging body of literature. The empirical application also demonstrated the possible policy outcomes from such empirical analyses.</p
Pathway out of poverty for upland communities in Nepal: “high altitude gold” and its development potential
No full textIn this brief the authors summarize results from a study quantifying yarsagumba collectors’ income and discuss possible ways of maintaining and increasing local incomes from yarsagumba trade. Filling in this knowledge gap is essential to support yarsagumba-related development initiatives in high altitude regions of Nepal.In this brief the authors summarize results from a study quantifying yarsagumba collectors’ income and discuss possible ways of maintaining and increasing local incomes from yarsagumba trade. Filling in this knowledge gap is essential to support yarsagumba-related development initiatives in high altitude regions of Nepal
Global production networks and medicinal plants: Upstream actor dynamics in Nepal
No full textKnowledge of spatial and temporal actor dynamics in global production networks (GPNs) based on renewable natural resources remains rudimentary. This article contributes to reducing this knowledge gap by showing how upstream actors shape the territorial embeddedness and value dynamics (creation, enhancement, and capture of value) of GPNs. Empirically, we present a fine-grained analysis of the upstream section of the global production network for commercial medicinal plants harvested in and traded from Nepal. In particular, the paper investigates the within-group and between-group dynamics of key actors (traders and wholesalers). Empirical data was generated through 257 quantitative and 121 qualitative interviews with harvesters, sub-local traders, local traders, central wholesalers and regional wholesalers, supplemented with focus-group discussions. Analysis focuses on three key areas of interaction: infrastructural and ecological variations; territorial embeddedness and development; and institutional power and network reconfiguration. The findings help to understand the role of upstream actors in reconfiguring GPNs and enhancing the explanatory power of the GPN approach by adding organizational supply-side insights, thereby facilitating identification of pro-poor interventions.</p
