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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Resilience in the midst of a pandemic: A study of a livelihoods program in rural Nepal

Abstract

dc:description

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the vulnerable rural poor through direct shocks to health and disruptions to rural livelihoods. We use household level panel data from Nepal to examine the coping strategies used in the first 18 months of the pandemic, with focus on the four months of government mandated national lockdown. Households were more likely to turn to coping strategies during the national lockdown, most frequently taking on a loan, selling livestock or using savings. Previous randomized implementation of a Heifer International productive asset transfer and training program allows us to examine the long term effect of these types of programs on resilience. Program beneficiaries are more likely to sell livestock and less likely to take on loans during the national lockdown than non-beneficiaries. As beneficiaries are more likely to have any and more savings than non-beneficiaries, the program participation moves households towards sustainable and less onerous coping strategies.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
M.S.
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Agricultural & Applied Econ
Grantor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Year dc:date
2022

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Ekstrom, Kierstin
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Janzen, Sarah
  • Michelson, Hope
  • Winter-Nelson, Alex

Subjects

dc:subject × 26

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright 2022 Kierstin Ekstrom
Language dc:language
en, eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115424

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Base URL
www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Ekstrom, Kierstin. Resilience in the midst of a pandemic: A study of a livelihoods program in rural Nepal. Thesis thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022. https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115424