A Crisis of ‘Stranded Assets’

This paper profiles the ten-household settlement of Yangma, a yak-herding community in Taplejung District at the Nepal/China border, under the dual crises of Covid-19 and climate change. As livelihoods here depend entirely upon cross-border livestock trade with China, pandemic mobility restrictions have severed the village’s sole income stream. Consequently, Yangma’s yak herders have become holders of ‘stranded assets’: resources that lose value before their anticipated useful life due to market forces or legislation changes. During Covid-19, hundreds of livestock (worth $900 each) have become stranded in Yangma, remaining illiquid despite their significant monetary value. Herd sizes have increased with every breeding season, deepening pressure on limited pasture and fodder resources. Climate change has also caused declines in land and water quality, linked to repeated crop failures, and the further weakening of livestock. The community is poised to sell their herds and migrate once the border reopens. However, if new livestock trade restrictions follow in China’s effort to control zoonotic diseases, herders might be prevented from liquidating their assets after borders reopen, becoming ‘stranded’ in Yangma themselves.