OJSS Home

2025 - Volume 9 - Number 1

Role of Family Structure and Livelihood Strategies in Shaping Migration Decisions among Kham Magars in Rukum East, Nepal

Dipak Raj Rai * ORCID: 0000-0002-1681-1524
Kathmandu University, School of Education, Lalitpur, NEPAL

Open Journal for Sociological Studies, 2025, 9(1), 15-26 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojss.0901.02015d
Received: 14 November 2024 ▪ Revised: 27 April 2025 ▪ Accepted: 1 July 2025

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

ABSTRACT:
This article explores the role of family structure and livelihood strategies in shaping decisions for selecting migration types and destinations among rural families. This ethnographic study was conducted among the Kham Magar indigenous community in Rukum East district of western Nepal. Information was obtained through in-depth interviews, participant observation and living with the people in their context. The study reveals that family dynamics, such as household size, income levels, and resource availability, influence the decision to select the type and destination of migration. Families that are economically constrained but have a larger size adopt seasonal and labor migration to Indian and Nepali cities, while families with financial resources send members to Malaysia, Gulf countries or even Europe. Smaller and low-income families involve more in the pastoral and seasonal labor migration during the lean agricultural season. Livelihood diversification, driven by economic needs and environmental factors, further shapes family migration patterns. Migration decisions are largely made collectively, often influenced by collaborative discussions among family members. Additionally, community perceptions further shape migration choices, with returning migrants gaining social status depending on the destination and financial success. The findings highlight the complex role of family needs, socioeconomic conditions, and community perceptions in determining migration outcomes, offering a nuanced understanding of migration as both an economic necessity and a social aspiration for rural families.

KEY WORDS: family structure, livelihood strategies, migration decisions, Kham Magars, Nepal.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:

Dipak Raj Rai, Kathmandu University, School of Education, Lalitpur, NEPAL.

REFERENCES:

Abizu, S. O. (2018). Migration as a livelihood diversification strategy of poor rural household in Edo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 8(8), 79–85. https://doi.org/10.30845/ijhss.v8n8p9

Ahmadzadeh, H. (2017). The Lahuré: The origins, inaccuracies and impact of the British Gurkha construction. South Asia Journal. http://southasiajournal.net/the-lahure-the-origins-inaccuracies-and-impact-of-the-british-gurkha-construction/#_edn5.

Ayele, L., & Degefa, T. (2022). Translocal vulnerability of temporary rural–rural labor migrant-sending households in Quarit district, Northwestern Ethiopia. Comparative Migration Studies, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00303-2

Biswas, B., & Mallick, B. (2021). Livelihood diversification as key to long-term non-migration: Evidence from coastal Bangladesh. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(6), 8924–8948. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-01005-4

Black, R., Bellagamba, A., Botta, E., Ceesay, E., Cissokho, D., Engeler, M., Lenoël, A., Oelgemöller, C., Riccio, B., Sakho, P., Somparé, A. W., Vitturini, E., & Zingari, G. N. (2022). Migration drivers and migration choice: interrogating responses to migration and development interventions in West Africa. Comparative Migration Studies, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-022-00283-3

Czaika, M., Bijak, J., & Prike, T. (2021). Migration decision-making and its key dimensions. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 697(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162211052233

Fengbo, C., Lucas, H., Bloom, G., & Shijun, D. (2016). Household structure, left-behind elderly, and rural migration in China. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 48(3), 279–297. https://doi.org/10.1017/aae.2016.16

Haberfeld, Y., Menaria, R. K., Sahoo, B. B., & Vyas, R. N. (1999). Seasonal migration of rural labor in India. Population Research and Policy Review, 18(5), 473–489.

Hauck, M., Artykbaeva, G. T., Zozulya, T. N., & Dulamsuren, C. (2016). Pastoral livestock husbandry and rural livelihoods in the forest-steppe of east Kazakhstan. Journal of Arid Environments, 133, 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.05.009

Hill Kulu and Nadja Milewski. (2007). Family change and migration in the life course : An introduction. Demographic Research, 17(July-December), 567–590. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26347964

Lauby, J., & Stark, O. (1988). Individual migration as a family strategy: Young women in the Philippines. Population Studies, 42(3), 473–486. https://doi.org/10.1080/0032472031000143596

Luthra, R., Platt, L., & Salamońska, J. (2018). Types of migration: The motivations, composition, and early integration patterns of “New Migrants” in Europe. International Migration Review, 52(2), 368–403. https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918318781586

Pahari, A. (1991). Ties that bind: Gurkhas in history. Himal South Asian. https://www.himalmag.com/ties-that-bind-gurkhas-in-history/.

Shonchoy, A. S. (2015). Seasonal migration and microcredit during agricultural lean seasons: Evidence from northwest Bangladesh. Developing Economies, 53(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12063

Sunam, R., & Adhikari, J. (2016). How does transnational labour migration shape food security and food sovereignty? Evidence from Nepal. Anthropological Forum, 26(3), 248–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/00664677.2016.1197819

Tao, S., & Shi, G. (2023). A coupled and coordinated analysis in livelihoods of poverty alleviation migrants from a just transition perspective. A Coupled and Coordinated Analysis in Livelihoods of Poverty Alleviation Migrants from a Just Transition Perspective, 7: 1060401.

Tegegne, A. D., & Penker, M. (2016). Determinants of rural out-migration in Ethiopia: Who stays and who goes? Demographic Research, 35(1), 1011–1044. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2016.35.34

Wondimagegnhu, B. A., & Fantahun, L. (2023). Taking high-stakes venture to make ends meet? Determinants and impacts of international migration of Ethiopians to the Middle East. Comparative Migration Studies, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-023-00338-z