Sharing labour to implement contour bunding
Type: Approaches
Creation: 2015-08-19 00:00 Updated: 2017-07-08 19:16
Compilers: Shreedip Sigdel
Reviewers: Fabian Ottiger
Country/ region/ locations where the Approach has been applied
- Country: Nepal
- Further specification of location (e.g. municipality, town, etc.), if relevant: Tanahun, Gorkha District
Description of the SLM Approach
Short description of the Approach
Members of a community can work together to help prevent soil erosion and increase productivity by working collectively to establish contour bunds.
Detailed description of the Approach
Aims / objectives: Over generations, the ethnic minorities of Nepal, who practice fireless shifting cultivation, known as 'gujultyaune', have successfully used contour bunding to control soil erosion, promote water retention, and increase crop production. Contour bunding is a proven sustainable land management practice in areas where the soil productivity of marginal, sloping, and hilly lands is very low. While it is both low cost and simple to implement, it does have the drawback that establishing contour bunds is very labour intensive. When members of a community work together to establish contour bunds the whole village can benefit.
Methods: By working collectively, a community can establish contour bunds that will benefit everyone and not individual farmers alone. The first step is to plan a course of action and to select the sites. Members of the community, who are thoroughly familiar with the landscape that the community inhabits, get together to discuss where the contour bunding will be most successful and benefit the greatest number of farmers. This planning phase is best carried out during the dry season before the rains begin. Once the sites are selected, everyone participates in the slashing of materials on the shifting cultivation lands. After the slashed materials have been allowed to dry for some weeks, the community assembles to gather these into rows that will form the bunds. Every member of the community participates according to their ability.
Stages of implementation: The steps for sharing labour to establish contour bunds in a community which practises shifting cultivation can be summarized as follows:
• The community meets to finalize a plan of action.
• Everyone participates in the slashing of shifting cultivation plots.
• The slashed materials are collected and allowed to dry.
• The slashed materials are formed into rows that will constitute the bunds.
• Everyone participates and eventually, the land between the bunds is prepared for the cultivation of crops.
Photos of the Approach
- 📷 BB Tamang
- 📷 BB Tamang