The Importance of ‘Where’ in Revitalization Strategies for Nepal — Part 4

Articles | Indra Sharan KC, Paul Lundberg

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath may have a transformational impact on the Nepali economy. Both government and non-state actors have recognized the important role of digital data technology in Nepal’s future economy. However, much of the accessible data remains scattered, generalized, and often inaccurate. This series discusses how a three-pronged approach can contribute to an inclusive recovery in Nepal: 1) Improve government willingness to openly share digital data with citizens, 2) build a location centered information base to support market systems development, 3) foster the creation and maintenance of a shared data ecosystem involving citizens and local governments.

Throughout this series, we kept returning to the question of what can be done to help individual farmers. This fourth piece adds more details to our introduction to affordable drone mapping technology presented at the end of Part 3. Following an introduction to the government’s property tax system, this article describes a private exercise to map a farm village in Nepal using drone imaging technology. Conclusions are drawn on the use of the information generated to aid in rural economic revitalization. This technology can be used easily and cheaply by citizen scientists to help Nepali farmers create a detailed information base about their property that can be used to improve their understanding of land capacity and income generation potential. At the end, we suggest how this technology can be incorporated into other ongoing programs.

Published Date: October 21, 2020