Scaling up Agroecology in the Himalayas: Towards a Common Roadmap
Timeline:
May 2023 - April 2027
Target Countries:
Bhutan, India, Nepal
Project Facilitation:
IFOAM - Organics International
World Future Council (WFC)
Local Partners
Supported by:
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Through close cooperation with governments in the region, with support from the Agroecology Himalaya Task Force and assistance of local organizations, IFOAM – Organics International and the World Future Council (WFC) are currently facilitating a multistakeholder process in the Himalayan region focused on the development and implementation of a roadmap for agroecology-based food systems. This four-year endeavour is part of the Lighthouse Initiative of the Indo-German Cooperation and is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which both are core partners of this project.
Our world’s food and farming systems currently face multiple challenges ranging from natural resource depletion, climate change, chemical pollution and biodiversity loss to farmers and food workers not earning a decent income, leading to hunger, malnutrition, ill-health, migration and much more. The way we produce, process, distribute, market, consume or waste food can either alleviate or exacerbate these conditions.
"Addressing these problems requires integrated actions taken by all stakeholders at local, national, regional, and global levels, by both public and private actors, and across multiple fronts - not only in agriculture, but also in trade policy, health, environment, gender norms, education, transport and infrastructure”
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
To address the mounting challenges, we need to upscale the role of agroecology in mountain development and worldwide. Policy frameworks should go beyond the production focus and the conventional 'value adding chain' approach and pursue agroecology with a holistic food systems approach to achieve the targets foreseen by the 2030 Agenda.
About the Himalayan Region
The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region spreads over an area of 3,500 kilometres. Vast areas of the Himalayan Region remain predominantly untouched by the disruptive effects of the Green Revolution and traditional agriculture still represents the main occupation.
Mountain agriculture is characterized as an integrated system shaped by the ability of man to value abundant local resources as well as their ability to adapt to hardships caused by the biophysical environment.
Agriculture in the region is largely rainfed, making it prone to the vagaries of the weather and highly vulnerable to climate variability and climate change, even more so as the region is a climate hotspot. These have an escalating adverse impact on farming-based livelihoods, with declining agricultural yields, income, and increasing risks of food and nutrition insecurity.
Currently around 50% of the region’s population faces some form of malnutrition, with women and children suffering the most. The lack of financial resources is making an adequate diet often unaffordable. However, the causes of food and nutrition insecurity in the HKH region are multifaceted and influenced by a range of factors, including - besides high poverty - also natural resource degradation, climate change, low level of market development, uncertain food support, and inadequate policy and institutional support.
Conscious of these conditions and challenges, HKH policymakers have increasingly recognized the need for strengthening sustainable food systems in line with agroecology. While a considerable political commitment has been implemented with varying degrees of intensity, there is the need for a more comprehensive, systemic vision and approach to expand agroecology-based food systems that also addresses the contradictions in public policy not enough to support or even hindering agroecology scaling up potential.
What’s our plan?
To leverage these ongoing governmental efforts, the Agroecology Himalayas Task Force was established in early 2023 with participants from Bhutan, India, and Nepal. Members of the Task Force have the vision to advance the development of a comprehensive Roadmap for Sustainable Food Systems for the Himalayan region. They are committed to making the Himalayan region a global flagship region with a systemic vision of sustainable food systems. The group is open to more experts’ participation in this area. If interested, please write to: Ingrid Fritsche (World Future Council) or Xhona Hysa (IFOAM).
Up to now, based on a series of interviews, a stakeholder workshop and desktop research, a Roadmap Background Report (Scaling up Agroecology in the Himalayas: Food Systems in Bhutan, India and Nepal, June 2023), a detailed Stakeholder Map and a Draft Roadmap have been produced. As a next step, the Agroecology Himalaya Task Force seeks support from all stakeholders, particularly policymakers at various levels, to join in this endeavor to further enhance and finalize the Roadmap for the Himalayas to launch it at a high-level event in autumn 2024. After the Roadmap launch, the Task Force will work with local organizations to develop a medium-term strategy and offer capacity-building for stakeholders to implement key recommendations from the final Roadmap and to increase engagement in food policy processes.
Besides providing financial support to local organizations in Bhutan, India, and Nepal, the World Future Council and IFOAM - Organics International are supporting the Agroecology Himalaya Task Force, amongst others, with:
- Overall coordination
- Support for roadmap development strategy and guidance
- Technical assistance, including policy research and analysis, data analysis, expertise, networking, cross-border exchanges, etc.
- Media and communications strategy, including narrative, branding, tools, as well as coordination of media work
- Capacity-building training courses, materials, and training toolkit for the ToT approach
- Knowledge products
- Fundraising
- Financial management
- Monitoring and evaluation, including a stocktaking report and event in 2027.
A summary of the project can be found here
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Contact us
In case of questions, comments or getting involved in the process, please don’t hesitate to contact us:
Ingrid Fritsche,
Project Manager Scaling up Agroecology,
World Future Council
Ingrid.fritsche@worldfuturecouncil.org
Gábor Figeczky,
Global Policy Senior Manager,
IFOAM – Organics International
g.figeczky@ifoam.bio
Xhona Hysa,
Global Policy Coordinator,
IFOAM – Organics International
x.hysa@ifoam.bio