Bajura’s herders struggle between ballot and pasture

By Sher Bahadur Sarki,Bajura, Feb. 15: Sheep and goat herders in north-eastern Bajura are facing a double difficulty, casting their votes in the upcoming parliamentary election and finding grazing land for their livestock.

Most farmers in Himali Rural Municipality, Jagannath Rural Municipality, Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality and Budhinanda Municipality depend on sheep and goat farming. During the winter months, they take their flocks to lower areas of neighbouring districts such as Achham District and Doti District for grazing.

As the high Himalayan region becomes extremely cold from the last week of October, herders traditionally move their flocks downhill to warmer lowlands. They usually return to their villages only in the second week of April. 

However, this year the House of Representatives election are scheduled for March 5, when most herders will still be away with their animals. Because of heavy snowfall in the highlands, they are currently in the lowlands with their flocks, making it difficult both to return home to vote and to bring the animals back prematurely, as grazing would then become a problem.

Despite the scale of the issue, no political party has yet taken visible steps to address their concerns. A large number of voters from Bajura are presently in various lower areas of Achham and southern Bajura tending their livestock.

Promila Gurung of Budhinanda Municipality said they move to different parts of Achham during winter to escape the cold and find pasture for their animals. “We only return to the village in April. There is no possibility of going back now with our sheep and goats. Candidates are visiting the villages, but we are here with our animals. If they do not understand our problem, how can we go back to vote? It would be easier if someone acknowledged our situation,” she said.

She added that it would be more suitable to hold elections either in September or in April or May, rather than in March.

According to local data, there are around 6,000 sheep and goats in 138 sheds in Himali Rural Municipality, 8,000 in 115 sheds in Swamikartik Khapar, 7,029 in 120 sheds in Jagannath Rural Municipality, and nearly 20,000 in about 300 sheds in Budhinanda Municipality.

Across Bajura district, there are 673 sheds with around 41,029 sheep and goats. Gauri Karki, a technician at the veterinary branch of Himali Rural Municipality, said that although sheep farming was once more widespread in the district, numbers have declined in recent years.