Since Korea has become the sole country to transform from a recipient country into a donor country (Choi, 2013), many recipient countries have asked for assistance to do the same. To this end, the Korean government and aid agencies are carrying out rural development projects in recipient countries while simultaneously spreading the spirit of Saemaul Undong (roughly translated as “New Village Movement”), the Korean rural development project of the 1970s. However, these projects are suffering from time and budget limitations, inappropriate analysis methods, and a shortage of competitive researchers. The establishment of a systematic and scientific research tool to overcome these issues would provide the foundation for suitable rural development plans that consider regional conditions and properties.
Both quantitative and qualitative methods can facilitate research in international rural development. While a quantitative emphasizes an analysis of gathering objective data through surveying and explains aspects of a situation, a qualitative method explores participants’ perspectives such as thoughts, feelings, and attitudes through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (Cresswell, 2007). The qualitative method of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis may be used as the research tool for regional environment agricultural analysis as part of a preliminary study in recipient countries.
SWOT analysis has been mainly used in strategic planning as a management technique to establish plans, resolve internal and external problems through an investigation of their internal and external impacts, and create efficient management in national and private businesses or organizations. Strengths and weaknesses are utilized to analyze the internal environments while the categories of opportunities and threats focus on the external environments of them. These days, this tool has been widely utilized in academic fields of business, management, administration, and development. However, it is hard to find research papers containing practical applications of SWOT analysis as it relates to international rural development studies, especially performed in countries outside the researchers’ country. Cha and Youn’s study (2007), one of the few found to utilize SWOT analysis, analyzed general and plantation investment environments using related documents in order to investigate the plantation feasibility in their home country of Lao People’s Democratic Republic in Southeast Asia
This study aims to apply SWOT analysis to international rural development and establish rural development strategies based on the text data drawn from a semi-structured interview with seven agricultural officers of Far Western Region (FWR) of Nepal. These seven were chosen as research participants because they are currently in charge of seven districts in the study area and have sufficient local knowledge of their districts’ agricultural environments and conditions.
The selected study area, FWR is the most remote and topographically difficult region of Nepal (UNFCO, 2011) and has suffered greatly from the geographical limitations to agricultural activities and basic social services. While agricultural households of Nepal comprise about 76% of all households in the country, those of FWR are equal to 90.1% of FWR’s total (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2011). This suggests that agriculture is the most important source of livelihood in FWR. Since its poor agricultural environment and lack of donor country support for its farmers can be linked to a drop into severe poverty, FWR qualifies as a target area for donor countries’ Nepali-based rural development projects. Moreover, as there is no published research related to FWR agriculture, it is hoped that this study will create an interest in the subject for other researchers.
The SWOT analysis can be a practical tool to support systematic decision-making, regardless of the type of business or organization. However, Pickton and Wright (1988) pointed out that researchers need to overcome limitations, including inadequate definition of factors, lack of factor prioritization, and over-subjectivity in the generation of factors. This study thus attempted to define the SWOT categories specifically and accurately prior to interviewing in order to supplement inadequate definitions of SWOT factors, rank factors in each category based on response frequencies of the agricultural officers to overcome a lack of factor prioritization, and reflect the interview results of the respondents who have a good grasp of details on their districts’ agricultural environments in order to minimize their over-subjective view.
This study followed four steps in order to analyze the SWOT categories’ factors and establish rural development strategies. First, seven agricultural officers were interviewed with a semi-constructed question. Second, any collected SWOT factors were succinctly defined and classified into each SWOT category. Third, the factors having at least four frequencies in common among the seven officers were then selected and entered into a table. By following these steps, this study established realizable rural development strategies based on the identification of strengths and weaknesses for internal analysis and the main points that pose opportunities and threats for external analysis.
Study Area and Far-Western Region’s Agriculture
Nepal is composed of five regions (Eastern, Central, Western, Mid-Western, and Far- Western). It is also divided into three ecological zones (mountain, hill, and plains). The chosen study area includes the seven districts within the hill and mountain areas of FWR. Kanchanpur and Kailali, both located in FWR’s plains area, were excluded.
Agricultural environments and conditions in these districts are inferior to other regions in Nepal. At 10.3% and 8.7%, respectively, FWR has the lowest proportion of agricultural land households and land area among the five regions, as detailed in Table 1. This illustrates the lack of agricultural households with land and agricultural land areas within FWR as compared to other Nepal regions. These lower proportions may be caused by the remoteness and difficult surface geography mentioned before.Fig .1,2
Livestock and poultry farming are strong income sources and essential parts of the agricultural systems in Nepal. Table 2 shows the proportion of agricultural households with livestock and poultry in FWR as the lowest among the 5 regions, with 13.3% raising cattle, 10.1% tending buffalo, 8.5% dedicated to goats, 4.8% focused on pigs, and 7.1% managing poultry. Agricultural households based on livestock and poultry are concentrated in the eastern, central and western regions. The highest proportion of cattle, pig, and poultry farmers reside in the eastern region, followed by the central and western regions. The central region ranks the highest in buffalo and goat farms.
The usage level of chemical fertilizers among farmers is a valuable indicator to estimate the level of agricultural modernization, along with other indicators such as agricultural mechanization and improved seeds. Table 3 lists the percentage of agricultural households using chemical fertilizers for selected major crops as compared to total households of each region. Fewer farmers in the mid-western and far-western regions report usage than those in the eastern, central, and western regions. Specifically, FWR has the lowest percentage of chemical fertilizer use in paddy rice, summer maize, millet, and winter potato farming than any other region. This implies that agricultural modernization of FWR is relatively slower than other regions.
When comparing FWR’s agricultural production to that of the nation during the 2007/2008 season (Table 4), FWR produced only 8.46% of the nation’s paddy rice crop, 5.38% of the maize crop, and 4.63% of the millet. Although production of wheat and barley registered as a higher percentage of the national production than other food crops, productivity in FWR was still very low. In the case of paddy rice, the most important grain for a Nepalese farmer’s income and consumption, its production in the hill and mountain areas was remarkably lower than in the plains area. Since the hill and mountain regions of FWR are located in the most remote area in Nepal, food availability and accessibility rely heavily on local production. The hill and mountain areas of FWR therefore need to accelerate agricultural modernization to improve crop productivity and resolve the matter of food insecurity.
Baitadi, Achham, Doti, Darchula, Bajhang, Dadeldhura, and Bajura districts in FWR, all within the hill and mountain areas, had a high food deficit in 2009/10, while the two districts in the plains area reported a food surplus, as illustrated in Table 5. The slow agricultural progress in this area suggests that the seven districts are still suffering from a shortage of food. Accham district definitely faced the most serious challenges.
These tables establish that, based on the agricultural environments and conditions, FWR is the poorest among the five regions in Nepal, particularly in the hill and mountain districts. Dependent on agriculture, this area has been using underdeveloped and inappropriate farming processes and technologies and thus can be expected to be the biggest benefactor of support such as rural development services and research from both the Nepal government and donor countries.
SWOT ANALYSIS RESULTS
This study’s SWOT analysis ultimately investigates the positive and negative factors in internal and external agricultural environments. The strengths and weaknesses mean that agricultural systems, services, resources, and experiences are readily available and unavailable in this region, respectively. The opportunities and threats are typically difficult to control and are vulnerable to both positive and negative influences from external forces. Table 6 integrates these factors into a table.
Strengths
An increase in understanding the importance and need for rural development
Six of the officers mentioned an increase in understanding the importance of rural development as one of FWR’s greatest advantages. They explained that this awareness can spread rapidly among farmers. Moreover, they have started to demand agricultural training and financial support from local governments and rural development NGOs. This situation triggered occupying a large part of all NGOs on rural development NGOs. FWR has 1,369 rural development NGOs, representing around 54% of its total 2,551 NGOs (Social Welfare Councila, 2014). It is also expected that this increase in understanding will lead to a strong community desire to form farmer groups and improve crop production.
Abundant natural resources
Six officers insisted that, although FWR includes some of the roughest geography of Nepal regions, the abundance of natural resources is one of the region’s strengths. Thriving forests can support farming efforts by providing a method for tightening soil, controlling soil erosion, and preventing landslides. Additionally, the Seti and Mahakali rivers are major suppliers of agricultural water.
Support from GO/NGO/INGO
Five officers referred to the support from national and local government (GO), non-government (NGO), and international non-government (INGO) organizations as a factor of strengths. They explained that farmers unable to purchase seeds and agricultural equipment were receiving external support. These organizations are using their budgetary dollars to build small-scale irrigation canals and harvest collection centers, establish group savings and credit practices, and provide improved seeds and fertilizers, as well as offer other agricultural services such as agricultural technique trainings, seminars, and exposure visits in the districts.
Cultivation of cash crops
Four officers revealed that since local products from the hilly area of FWR have a reputation of being both tasty and healthy, they are in demand and preferred in certain markets. Farmers are encouraged to produce not only cereal crops such as paddy, wheat, summer maize, and millet, but also cash crops such as mustard, summer vegetables, winter vegetables, onion, garlic, soybean, and lentil. Table 7 illustrates that FWR agricultural households ranked relatively higher in the cultivation of selected cash crops when compared to other regions. While summer vegetables, winter vegetables, and garlic are more popular in the hills and mountains, other cash crops are more popular in the plains areas (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2011).
Weaknesses
Persistence of traditional farming skills/no modernization
Six officers remarked that farmers still persist in using traditional farming methods. At present, they don’t have the motivation to implement modern farming technologies because they don’t understand the benefits from using these technologies. The low use of chemical fertilizer (see Table 3) proves this factor. However, the increased understanding of the importance and need for rural development among farmers is expected to gradually improve these weaknesses.
Lack of infrastructure
Six officers pointed out that FWR is hindered from agriculture development by a lack of infrastructure, especially irrigation systems. They claimed that since about 80% of the farmers currently depend on rain-fed agriculture, irrigation systems are strongly needed to improve agricultural production. Table 8 displays the status of irrigation development of FWR. Since most of the irrigated lands are concentrated in the plains area, the percentage of irrigated lands of FWR raised a total of 42.2%. On the other hand, the hill and mountain areas in FWR definitely have the least amount of irrigated lands.
Lack of manpower
Since Nepal shares an open border with India, the Nepalese can work there without a visa or work permit. Although the absence of legal documentation makes it difficult to acquire accurate data about the number of Nepalese living and working in India (Thapa, 2013), five officers explained that labor immigration to India is frequent among males of FWR, regardless of age, which directly impacts a manpower shortage in FWR. This drain in the labor force means that the women and children, already traditionally responsible of the household chores, must also take on the added work of farming.
Lack of agricultural land
Five officers stated that most land in FWR consists of high-slope grounds, which are generally unsuitable for farming high-quality agricultural products and high yields. Since these areas have impeded the extension of arable land, the region suffers from a lack of agricultural land. Table 1 supports the participants’ opinions, demonstrating that FWR has the lowest proportion of agricultural land area among the five regions.
Food insecurity
Four officers indicated food insecurity as a deep-seated problem in FWR. As we see in Tables 5 and 6, FWR has struggled with severe food insecurity. The food products are not sufficient for the whole population. Production of milk, meat, and eggs also does not meet the quantitative level needed to nourish the existing population.
Lack of proper government policy and support
Four officers recognized that their government’s investment in agriculture is not enough and that development policies are not properly determined by government organizations. The investment provided from government organizations is not available to the neediest of farmers. Those surveyed also pointed out that useful and updated agriculture technologies are not offered to farmers in a timely manner. Depending on the respondents’ subjective viewpoints and the bias of their understanding of the study’s purpose, some SWOT factors can be either strengths or weaknesses (Newton and Newton, 2013). In this study, the role of GO was found to be a factor in both the strengths and weaknesses categories.
Opportunities
Increasing production and exporting agricultural products
All seven officers felt the future construction of a road to link FWR to China could increase the possibility of agricultural trade with that country. Connecting the many villages of FWR by planned commerce roads is also expected to increase the ability to transport agricultural products from remote areas. Production might also increase if farmers adopt modern technologies. The combination of the road-building program and modern technology’s adoption can be expected to trigger a rapid increase in agricultural production.
Tourism
Six officers believed that tourism would be one of the driving forces to develop FWR’s economy. Although tourism in FWR has been underdeveloped, the region includes such potential attractions as unexplored forests, well-conserved natural environments, and unique and various cultures. Forestry and tourism development would be possible along with agricultural development.
Land reuse for farming
Since, as mentioned above, FWR’s terrain is dominated by hills and mountains, a considerable amount of undeveloped lands can be found. Five officers believed these lands could be turned into farming opportunities. Reusing these areas and bringing them under cultivation will help secure a high level of agricultural production. In particular, promoting the use of the abandoned lands around homes for gardens is an effective way to improve nutritional status within the family and community. USAID introduced programs promoting home gardening to increase the consumption of nutritious vegetables, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) provided 1.13 million USD for the Home Gardening Project in four districts of FWR during the period 2009~2013 (Gonsalves, 2013; Feed the Future, 2011).
Water resources for electricity and irrigation
Thanks to the Seti and Mahakali rivers and the monsoon climate, four officers remarked that FWR possessed the potential for hydroelectricity and proper irrigation. However, FWR has eight of the total 78 small hydropower plants found in Nepal, and of the 43 hydropower plant projects under construction throughout Nepal through 2014, not one was located in the Mid- and Far-Western Regions(Nepal Electricity Authority, 2014). Fortunately, China plans to move forward with the 750 MW West Seti Hydro Project, slated to complete construction on a hydropower plant by 2019; the region can expect to derive multiple benefits from the project, such as a stable supply of irrigation and drinking water (China Daily, 2014).
Threats
Lack of accessibility for transporting goods to market
All officers felt goods transportation was the biggest threat factor. They felt that, even if farmers produce marketable goods, the lack of proper road linkage means no convenient access to the markets located in the relatively prosperous areas of FWR. As detailed in Table 9, FWR has the least amount of paved roads among the five regions, making the timely transportation of goods to market difficult. Additionally, this factor makes it difficult for people living in remote areas to purchase enough food and cooking fuel from local markets, and the lack of accessible roads leads to isolation, one of the interlocking dimensions of poverty (Dennis, 1998).
Imports from India and China
Six officers explained that India has been a source of agricultural technologies, materials, and inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, as well as vegetables, fruit, and food. Recently, there has also been an increase in imports from China. The Tibet Autonomous Region of China has emerged as one of Nepal’s top trade partners. The bilateral trade value rose suddenly to 945 million USD in 2011 from 235 million USD in 2000 (Jha, 2013). According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre of Nepal (2015), Nepal’s exports to China equaled 21.4 million USD, while its imports from China accounted for 732.5 million USD in 2013. Nepal’s exports to China fell drastically short compared to its imports from the same country. Table 10 showed that it is no exaggeration to state that the agriculture of Nepal is completely dependent on the imports of its neighboring countries. Notably, India is a leading exporter to Nepal, providing 53% of its vegetables and other food, 56% of its fertilizer, 62% of its hand tools, and 91% of its agricultural machinery. Moreover, FWR is expected to depend on these countries more than other regions in Nepal do due to the geographical adjacency and the difficulty in receiving domestic products related to agriculture from the capitals or other large cities.
Lack of fuel and electricity
Although FWR has abundant water resources, six officers mention that there is a shortage of facilities generating electricity at present (see section 4, water resources for electricity and irrigation in Opportunity category). Some farmers have suffered from the lack of fuel available to operate modern agricultural machinery. During the harvest season, in particular, farmers need additional fuel and electricity, both of which are not available. In 2010, the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) lifted the price of fuel twice in response to increased international oil prices (World Food Program, 2010). As a result of the increase in transportation costs affected by the increased fuel price, a lack of fuel supply hit the regional market.
Natural and geographical difficulty
Six officers stated that the geographical features of high hills, mountains, and steep agricultural lands make it difficult for farmers to farm effectively. As shown in Table 1, the agricultural land of FWR constitutes the least amount in the country at 8.7% of the total agricultural land area of Nepal. Like other regions, heavy rainfalls, droughts, landslides, climate change, and other natural disasters have been risky for farmers. Additionally, the officers expressed that recently wild animals like pigs and monkeys inhabiting high hills, mountains, and steep terrains destroy growing crops.
Political instability
Although the 10-year civil war with the Maoists ended, political instability still remains within the region, making it one of the key factors preventing economic and agricultural development at both regional and national levels. Five officers worried that the impact of political instability will prevent the creation of the substantive policy farmers really need.
CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS
FWR is the poorest region in Nepal and keenly needs aid from donor countries like Korea to emerge from poverty and develop its regional economy. By creating rural development strategies based on SWOT analysis results, we can help the region cope with its hardship. The inflow of financial aid and material support from donor countries obviously would improve FWR’s regional economy. Since agriculture is the main industry in FWR, agricultural and rural development is a more realistic and effective way to improve the economic development of its remote areas than other industries. Economic development can then help solve the chronic malnutrition caused by food insecurity, and the quality of a farmer’s life will correspondingly improve. However, some factors found require a macroscopic and long-term approach and tremendous cost; others prove to be political or other situations in which it is impossible for donor countries to intervene. . These results make it hard to establish realizable international rural development strategies when considering FWR’s specific environments. Hence, this study suggests three reasonable and synthetic strategies: support of agricultural organizations, reduction of overseas dependency, and focus on income generation.
Support of Agricultural Organizations
A rise in awareness of the importance and need for rural development among farmers would help spread the spirit of Korea’s Samauel Undong [New Village Movement], which inspired diligence, self-reliance, and cooperation through farmers’ groups. Korea would focus on creating the circumstances that would lead Nepali farmers to voluntarily form farmers’ groups or agricultural cooperatives. To do so, Korea not only needs to allocate financial and technical assistance and human resource support to establish groups at the initial stage, but also would need to help consolidate the farmers’ capacity to decide policies independently. This would allow the farmers’ group to play a vital role in the production and sale of crops, as well as provide basic services in health, education, and vocational training for the members. Korea can also consider supporting the existing NGOs working in agriculture and rural development in FWR. Between 1977 and 2010, the Nepali government oversaw the registration of 30,284 NGOs, with 18,625 being ones that specialized in agricultural and rural development. This number comprises over 60% of total NGOs in the country (Social Welfare Councilb, 2014). These NGOs are spread throughout the regions, as illustrated in Table 11.
Considering the size of the Nepal agricultural economy, there are too many NGOs. Even though the number of NGOs in FWR is less than that in other regions, many are at work in very specific areas. When Korea looks for an NGO to collaborate in a rural development project, this situation would make it difficult to determine which organizations understands the spirit of Samauel Undong concerning rural development projects. Before selecting NGO partners, Korea needs to intensively research qualifications, capacities, and achievements.
Reduction of Overseas Dependency
Since its agricultural products, technologies, and inputs rely heavily on neighboring countries like India and China, FWR needs to make an effort to reduce foreign trade dependency. The most realistic and direct way to redress this imbalance is to increase the output of agricultural products. This action can also contribute toward settling the chronic food insecurity of FWR and open the possibility of exporting agricultural products to India and China. In order to increase crop yields, infrastructure is fundamental and prerequisite. Donor countries can consider vigorously promoting the construction of multi-purpose channels for irrigation and electricity in areas near rivers and providing solar pump systems and technologies to build small-scale irrigation canals and reservoirs in the highland areas.
The supply of modern agricultural technologies is also essential. Since farmers have a tendency to persist with traditional farming methods, Korea first needs to advocate the acceptance of modern technologies through educative and enlightening programs, then proceed with activities related to modern technology diffusion, such as the development of superior quality seeds, the promotion of advanced cultivation methods, and the support of agricultural laboratories.
As FWR is mostly covered by hills and mountains, it suffers from a lack of agricultural lands. Since scaling up available farmlands is directly connected with a rise in crop yield, FWR needs to reclaim the wasteland scattered throughout the region. Korea is able to operate a reclamation program designed to enlarge farmlands. In support of this program, it can provide advanced drainage systems, land reclamation equipment, and the manufacturing technology for organic fertilizer to make barren soil fertile.
Income Generation
Presently, FWR does not have any sufficient sources of income outside of crop farming. Obviously, selling processed goods from raw agricultural materials helps generate income. Selling value-added products has been highlighted as an effective way for income generation in developing countries. FWR has potentially value-added plants such as herbs and soap-nuts that can be made into processed goods. For example, soap-nut, called Ritha in Nepal, is a locally-grown plant with a big seed and is very popular among local villagers as a substitute for soap. If Korea provides processing technologies to value-added goods, offers financial support to make a processing plant for farmers group or cooperatives, and helps explore marketing channels, it will be contributing a major dynamic to increasing off-farm incomes and promoting regional economic development.
In addition, farmers have usually selected mixed-crop systems with wheat and mustard to avoid the risks associated with complete crop failure after harvesting paddy rice. Although blossomed mustard provides the most suitable environment for bee farming - a good source of income generation for farmers because honey is expensive and scarce in the markets - the endeavor has not been developed. If Korea educates the farmers on beekeeping technology, it could be another good opportunity for farmers to generate high income.
Limitations
This study was conducted to establish international rural development strategies for FWR in Nepal using SWOT analysis. It can be an appropriate alternative when there is no quantitative data to analyze. Since this study utilized SWOT analysis as a qualitative method, the results may be not generalizable to all Nepal regions. Unfortunately, this study also did not combine a quantitative and more powerful numerical method such as Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to better overcome the “lack of factor prioritization” issue. Although the participants possessed rich local knowledge and were representative of their regions, this study may need to extend to NGO agricultural officers or to those with international organizations working in the areas in order to ensure qualitative research generalization. However, this study is meaningful in that SWOT analysis was applied to the field of international rural development, FWR agricultural circumstances were introduced, and rural development strategies for FWR were suggested.
적 요
최근 ‘새마을운동’이라는 이름으로 동시다발적으로 진행되 는 농촌개발사업의 양적인 증가는 사전조사 목적으로 수행되 는 수혜국가 지역의 농업환경을 자세히 분석하는 것에 소홀해 질 가능성이 있다. 현시점에서 체계적인 지역농업환경 분석이 필요하다. 본 연구는 네팔 극서부지역의 농업담당 공무원 7명 을 대상으로 반구조화된 설문을 이용하여 SWOT 요인을 도 출하여 분석하였다. SWOT 분석 결과를 토대로 다음과 같이 3가지 농촌개발전략을 제안하였다.
첫째, 효율적 농촌개발을 위해 농민조직의 구성이다. 이를 위해 자본 ·기술· 인적자원의 지원과 농민 스스로 의사결정을 할 수 있는 능력을 키워줄 수 있는 교육이 필요하다. 또한, 지역에서 활동하는 기존의 농업 관련 NGO에 대한 지원도 고 려할 수 있다.
둘째, 연구지역은 농산물 뿐만 아니라 농업자재를 인도와 중 국으로부터의 수입에 의존하고 있어 농업 생산성 증대를 통한 해외의존도를 낮추는 전략이 필요하다. 전기를 생산할 수 있 는 복합관개수리 건설, 고지대 지역의 용수공급을 위해 태양 에너지를 이용한 양수시스템 보급, 저수지 건설과 같은 농업 인프라 구축, 현대농업기술 및 우량종자의 보급, 농업연구시설 의 지원, 농업용지 확대를 위한 개간 및 농지 비옥화 작업등 이 시행 가능할 것이다.
셋째, 지역에 생산되는 허브나 soap-nut과 같은 식물자원을 가공품으로 생산할 수 있는 기술보급과 가공품 판매에 의한 부가가치 창출 및 양봉과 같은 농외소득을 통해 농가소득 증 대전략이다.
본 연구는 질적연구방법의 하나인 SWOT 분석하였다. 질적 연구방법의 단점으로 지적되는 연구 결과의 일반화는 어렵지 만, 양적 자료가 없는 상태에서 연구접근방법은 적절하다고 생 각된다. 네팔 극서부지역의 농업담당자로 7명의 연구 참여자 는 대표성을 갖기에 충분하지만, 추가로 비정부기구(NGO)와 국제기구 농업담당자로 확대할 필요성이 있다. SWOT 분석이 가지고 있는 우선순위를 결정하기 어려운 단점을 보완하기 위 해 계층분석과정 (Analytical Hierarchy Process)와 같은 양적 연구 도구를 함께 활용하지 못한 점이 아쉬움으로 남는다. 하 지만 해외에서 진행되는 농촌개발분야에 SWOT 분석의 활용 과 연구지역의 농업 상황과 농촌개발전략을 제안한 점에서 연 구의 의의를 찾는다.
