Natural and socio-economic factors affecting food security in the Himalayas

Tiwari, Prakash C.; Joshi, Brijendra Kumar

doi:10.1007/s12571-012-0178-z

Cited by 89 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Mountain farmers in the HKH region are highly vulnerable to food insecurity because of the lower agricultural productivity, biophysical constraints, poor infrastructure, inadequate access to markets, and high cost of food transportation (Rasul 2011;Tiwari and Joshi 2012). In the Koshi River Basin, as elsewhere, these factors are now compounded by the adverse effects of climate change on all sectors and particularly agriculture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region are highly vulnerable to food insecurity as a result of low agricultural productivity, a subsistence economy, terrain constraints, poor infrastructure, limited access to markets, physical isolation, vulnerability to natural hazards, and the high cost of food production and transportation (Tiwari and Joshi 2012;Giribabu 2013;Rasul et al 2014). The rising impacts of climate change have further added to the challenge of food insecurity (Hussain et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate change-induced hazards and local adaptations in agriculture: a study from Koshi River Basin, Nepal

et al. 2018

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Changes in climate, associated hazards, local adaptations in agriculture, and socioeconomic factors affecting adaptation were investigated using data from a large survey of 2310 households (HHs) in the Koshi River Basin (KRB), Nepal. More than 80% of HHs had perceived changes in climate in the 10 years preceding the survey, and 20-40% had perceived increases in the occurrence of droughts, dry spells, floods, and livestock diseases. Around 36-45% of crop-growing HHs perceived a decline in the production of staple crops such as paddy, wheat, maize, and millets, which was mainly attributed to climate change and related hazards. The decline in local food production meant that HH dependence on external sources for food had increased. Only 32% of HHs had taken some form of adaptive actions in agriculture to address these challenges; actions included not planting certain crops, introducing new crops, changing farming practices, not rearing certain livestock species, and investing in irrigation. The factors affecting the likelihood of a household undertaking adaptive actions included literacy of the head of household, household size, size of owned agricultural land, diversification of income sources, and insurance. Based on these findings, the study has suggested some approaches in the KRB which could contribute to building agricultural resilience to climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change-induced hazards and local adaptations in agriculture: a study from Koshi River Basin, Nepal

et al. 2018

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“…Mountain people, particularly in the HKH region, are highly vulnerable to food insecurity because of their low productivity, subsistence economies, constraints of terrain and climate, poor infrastructure, limited access to markets, physical isolation, vulnerability to natural hazards and high cost of food production and transportation (Rasul 2011;Tiwari and Joshi 2012;Ward et al 2012, Huddleston et al 2003, FAO 2008. The natural resource base in the HKH region, particularly soil nutrients, water and biomass, has been steadily depleted over recent years, resulting in a significant decline in food production (Tiwari 2000;Andersen et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household food security in the face of climate change in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region

et al. 2016

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This study attempts to understand local people's perceptions of climate change, its impacts on agriculture and household food security, and local adaptation strategies in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, using data from 8083 households (HHs) from four river sub-basins (SBs), i.e. Upper Indus (Pakistan), Eastern Brahmaputra (India), Koshi (Nepal) and Salween and Mekong (China). The majority of households in SBs, in recent years, have perceived that there have been more frequent incidences of floods, landslides, droughts, livestock diseases and crop pests, and have attributed these to climate change. These changes have led to low agricultural production and income, particularly in Eastern Brahmaputra (EB) where a substantial proportion of HHs reported a decline in the production of almost all staple and cash crops, resulting in very low farm income. Consequently, households' dependency on external food items supplied from plain areas has increased, particularly in the Upper Indus (UI) and EB. After hazards, households face transitory food insecurity owing to damage to their local food systems and livelihood sources, and constrained food supply from other areas. To cope with these, HHs in SBs make changes in their farming practices and livestock management. In EB, 11 % of HHs took on new off-farm activities within the SB and in SM, 23 % of HHs chose outmigration as an adaptation strategy. Lastly, the study proposes policy instruments for attaining sustainable food security, based on agro-ecological potential and opportunities for increasing agricultural resilience and diversity of livelihoods.

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“…As such, climate change in these regions affects many of the ecosystem services such as regional hydrology 6 , carbon cycle 7,8 , agriculture [9][10][11] , animal husbandry 12 , biodiversity 13 , agro-based industry, etc. The Himalayan regions are also subjected to higher anthropogenic pressures 14 , as this mountain system houses one of the most densely populated regions. However, research on the impact of climate change on hydrometeorological and ecohydrological processes in the Himalayan regions is still in its infancy 2,14 , compared to other ecosystems of the world.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The Himalayan regions are also subjected to higher anthropogenic pressures 14 , as this mountain system houses one of the most densely populated regions. However, research on the impact of climate change on hydrometeorological and ecohydrological processes in the Himalayan regions is still in its infancy 2,14 , compared to other ecosystems of the world.…”

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confidence: 99%

Perennial to Ephemeral Transformation of a Lesser Himalayan Watershed

Rawat¹,

Govind²,

Rawat³

et al. 2016

Current Science

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Under a changing climate, the Sub-Himalayan ecosystems are likely to experience marked transformations in hydrological, biogeochemical and biophysical processes. To explore this, we have been observing various hydrometeorological parameters in a completely rain-fed sub-Himalayan watershed (Salla Rauetella Watershed) since 1991. We noted a changing trend for some of the hydrometeorological parameters over the 22-yr period. While the annual air temperature has increased significantly, the annual rainfall also shows an increasing trend with a higher probability of increased rainfall intensity. The run-off data show a peculiar trend that the watershed has been transforming itself from a perennial to an ephemeral system, despite an increasing trend of rainfall magnitudes. This is primarily attributed to the increasing trends of rainfall intensities exceeding the infiltration capacities of the soil which trigger large but high-intensity run-off events with dry spells in other periods, which makes the river ephemeral. We infer a likely dynamic change in the run-off-generation mechanism which warrants the need for a more precise and rigorous observationcum-measurement strategy of ecohydrological processes in Himalayan ecosystems, supported with modelling and remote sensing approaches. This will help identify the optimal headwater treatment measures for augmenting groundwater to sustain the rainfed streams of the Himalaya under a changing climate.

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Natural and socio-economic factors affecting food security in the Himalayas

Cited by 89 publications

References 11 publications

Climate change-induced hazards and local adaptations in agriculture: a study from Koshi River Basin, Nepal

Climate change-induced hazards and local adaptations in agriculture: a study from Koshi River Basin, Nepal

Household food security in the face of climate change in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region

Perennial to Ephemeral Transformation of a Lesser Himalayan Watershed

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