Small Towns and Rural Development: A Study of Urban-Rural Relations in the Hill Region of Nepal

Abstract

The dissertation investigates the nature of urban-rural relations between a small town of Nepal and two of its hinterland villages. It examines three major rural-development functions of small towns, namely; (1) acting as market centers; (2) creating industrial and other non-farm employment; and (3) providing urban services. The linkages between the town and the hinterland are considered from both the town-level perspective and the viewpoint of the villagers. A case study approach which incorporates several field instruments such as document review, functional survey of the town, village household surveys and key informant surveys were used in this study. In the hill context of Nepal, it was found that terrain was a constraint for physical, social and economic linkages between the town and the village. In like manner, ethnicity and caste were important factors in the access to services and off-farm jobs available in the town. In terms of marketing linkages, the small town plays an important role in the distribution of daily essential items such as foodgrains for food-deficit hill and mountain areas, but only a limited role as collection center for village produce. With regard to employment, most jobs available were low paying and lack security of tenure. There was also spatial and ethnic segmentation of labour with respect to access to jobs. The dairy industry had the most beneficial urban-rural linkage in the area. The provision of services such as agricultural credit and fertilizer supply was found to be a region-serving function catering primarily to hinterland villages while schools were predominantly town-serving functions mainly fulfilling the needs of town residents. The factors constraining the villagers' use of urban services were identified. A policy recommendation for an integrated urban-rural area development in the hill region was presented as an outcome of the study.