sustainable development in mountain areas: changes and opportunities

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Kathmandu, Nepal

Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas:Change & Opportunities

David Molden

Mountains Matter

• Mountains ecosystems – a global resourceVital for water, food, energy, forests, biodiversity

• Mountains are under pressure• Mountain people offer solutions

The Mountain Agenda: New Challenges since Rio (1992)

• Climate change • Growing concerns - water scarcity, carbon

and forests, energy security, and food security

• Persistent poverty• Globalization – economic growth,

connectivity • Outmigration and feminization of landscape

New Opportunities

• Climate change and disasters have opened the doors to regional cooperation

• Growing market for niche products• Mountains as providers of ecosystem

services• Information technologies

Change offers opportunities

Regional Member Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan

Mountains are of regional and global concern – water, food, energy

www.icimod.org

Impact of Climate Change - Imja Glacier, Nepal

2006

photograph of Imja glacier

(Photo: Giovanni Kappenberger

courtesy of Alton C Byers)

1956

photograph of Imja glacier (Photo: Fritz

Muller; courtesy of Jack

Ives)

Opportunities / needs

• Opportunity – regional cooperation around floods, and water availability

• Flood warning systems• Increase water storage assets• Climate smart landscape management

Watershed management and CC mitigation Mitigation potential vs water consumption

• Mitigation/REDD+ potential Higher in forested watersheds and with afforestation/reforestation potential

However, forests can only take up carbon if they take up water at the same time

negative impacts of reduced runoff in arid zones

trade-offs

Landscape Management for Climate Change

FAO-ICIMOD New Generation Watershed Programme Proceedings

Mountain Poverty

Bangladesh

Afghanistan

Nepal

India

Pakistan

HKH region

Bhutan

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

National average

Mountain region

Poverty higher in the mountains than in the plains, except for India (for Himalayan Hindu Kush)

Specificities Of Mountain Poverty

Access to Basic Facilities Accessibility

HH Composition

Assets and Liabilities Social Status

Afghanistan mountains X X X

Bangladesh mountains X na X

Eastern Bhutan X X X X

Uttarakhand X X X

Himalayan West Bengal X X X

Nepal mountains X X X

Pakistan mountains X X

Inaccessibility & marginality (biophysical and social marginality arising out of lack of access) – mountain specificities – are common determinants of poverty in all countries

Household Income Sources(Source: Poverty Assessment - PVAT, AdaptHimal)

22%

8%

54%

16%

% contribution to HH Income

Agriculture & allied

Forestry (Herbs, MAPs etc)

Business, Trade, labour etc

Remittance

Agricul-ture

Off-Farm in-come

HH having access: 91%Landownership: 82%HH cash crops: 72%Av holding: 0.12 haAv plots: 4

• Land based activities contribution to HH income only 22%

• 54% HH income from off farm; of this, 53% is contributed through wage labour.

• Opportunity?increase returns from land based and enhance off farm options

Opportunities

• Mountain products – agricultural, forest, medicinal crops – have ‘niche’ value, comparative advantage

• Potential of profitably tapping ‘seasonality’ of mountain product availability – ‘off season’ downstream

• Untapped potential for enhancing returns – better management, optimising products, promotion of mountain products

• Value chain approach to build up this sector and increase contribution to HH income

Outmigration

• High rates of labour migration in may mountain areas

• Diversification strategy for mountain livelihoods to reduce vulnerability

• Migration – positive or negative?

Gendered migration in the HimalayasDistribution of labour migrants by gender

Better future for children

Increase in incomes

High social status

Increase in decision making

More freedom

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Reasons for wives being happy with labour migration

Reasons for wives’ unhappiness

Workload increased

Unhappy with in-laws

Separation from husbands

Low income of migrants

Husband developed extra marital affairs

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Key recommendations to increase development impact of remittances and migration in the HKH

1. Foster and manage skilled migration

2. Financial services and financial literacy for rural areas to deal with remittances

3. Address challenges of male-outmigration

In combination with strategies to make rural mountain life more attractive

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

ICIMOD’s Mission

Mission

Enable sustainable mountain development for improved well being through knowledge and regional cooperation.

Regional Member Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan

A Regional Organization www.icimod.org

210 million people in the HKH

1.3 billion people downstream

Regional Programmes

• Landscape transects / ecosystems• River Basins• Cryosphere• Adaptation to change / livelihoods• Regional data base / long term monitoring• Himalayan University Consortium

** interdisciplinary work

Kno

wle

dge

Man

agem

ent

(IK

M) D

ata/ Rem

ote Sensing/ G

IS

ICIMOD Thematic Programs

Water and Hazards (IWHM)

Ecosystem Services (ECES)

Livelihood Options (SLPR)

ICIMOD contributes to:

1. Fill Knowledge Gaps

2. Adapt to Change for Improved Livelihoods

3. Collaborate across Borders

4. Build Capacity

5. Global Awareness and Exchange of Mountain Knowledge

Thank you

Education

Educational background

School attendance

Quality of education

Illness

Health care

Nutrition

Basic goods

Assets

Quality of dwelling

Electricity

Water

Sanitation

Access to facilities

Education HH head Q2

No. of school-going children

Non-food consumption

Distance to next school

Frequency of illnesses

Reserves for health care

Food consumption

Telephone/mobile owned

Quality of walls

Availability of electricity

Impr. source of drinking water

Improved toilet facility

Distance to market centre

Q6

Q4

Q8

Q9

Q51

Q52

Q59

Q11.1

Q12.1

Q14

Q13.1

Q4

Operationalisation of mountain-specific MPI

Poverty

Health

Living standard

Access to basic

facilities

Accessibility

Exposure

Sensitivity

Adaptive capacity

Socio-demographic profile

Entitlement to resources

Livelihood strategies

Social networks

Accessibility

Coping strategies

Wellbeing

Health/sanitation

Food security

Water security

Environmental fragility

Natural shocks

Economic shocks

Perception of climate variability

Climate variability

Dependency ratio Q1

Agricultural land per head

Per head consumption

Remittances per head

No. of institut. which helped

Time to next market centre

No. of adaptation strategies

Drinking water quality

No. of month food suffficient

No. of month water sufficient

Quality of wall material

No. of natural shocks

No. of economic shocks

Perc. change in temperature

Extreme temperature data

Q22

Q54

Q43

Q4

Q48

Q51, Q52

Q19

Q49

Q17

Q11

Q42

Q42

Q48

n.a.

Operationalization of Vulnerability

Vulnerability

System to delineate pockets of poverty & vulnerability (PVAT results)

Vulnerability(within districts)

Food security(within districts)

Vulnerability Districts

9 districts; 4 mtns; 3 hills; 2 terai3600 households

Multiple dimensions for determining pockets of poverty and vulnerability