sustainable development in mountain areas: changes and opportunities
TRANSCRIPT
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