International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Kathmandu, Nepal

Food Security in the HKH Region in

Water and Energy Constrained

World

Paper presented by Golam Rasul, Theme Leader, Livelihoods

at ICIMOD workshop on HIMAP on 15 October 2014.

Outline

1. State of the Food Security

2. Drivers of change

3. Opportunities

4. Challenges

5. Emerging issues

6. Key questions

1. State of the Food Security

Mountain Food Security is

Complex & Diverse

Mountain food security &

Livelihoods

Management of rangeland, forests &

water resources

Livestock

& fisheries

Field crops, fruits &

vegetables

Off-farm income

Reduced pressure on agriculture

Food, cash

Fuel wood, fodder, timber

Meat, wool, milk cash and service

Manure/ nutrients

Fodder, shed & water

Cash for inputs Cash for inputs

Cash for food & non-food items

Animal power

Nutrient conservation & irrigation

Background

• Land use: 63% pasture, 21%

forest, 11% protected area only 5%

agricultural land

• Livelihoods- HH Income - 48% from

farm, 28% off-farm, 11%

remittances, 13% from other sources

• Agriculture largely subsistence

• 30 million people depends on

livestock & pasture in the HKH

region

Food Security • Food insecurity & poverty is

widespread

– 40% HH are still under the threat of

food insecurity & malnutrition

• - Food deficiency- 65 to 80 %

households food deficient -

• Generally own food production last

for 5 to 6 months

Food security

Pakistan:

• National: 48% food insecure

• In Mountains: 57%

India: Dietary Energy (Kcal/day/capita)

• National average = 2135

• In mountains = 2095

Nepal: (per capita food deficit/surplus)

• - Deficit - Mountain 37 , hill 23 kg

• - surplus - Terai 24 kg

Multidimensional Poverty

Index, India

0.400.47

0.19

0.49 0.49

0.24

Headcount Intensity MPI

Non-mountain areas Mountain areas

Source: DHS, Government of India

Water & Energy poverty

• Poor access to irrigation & safe

drinking water

– Only 37% HH in

Manipur, India, has the access to

safe drinking water.

– Agriculture largely rain-fed - low irrigation

coverage 4.4 % in Nepal, 9% in India

• Huge energy deficit

– About 90% rural HH use biomass for coking

– 60% energy consumption comes from

biomass.

– Per HH use 17 ton fuel wood annually.

2. Drivers of change

Fragility

Vulnerability

Marginality

InaccessibilityAdaptation mechanism

Diversity

Niches

Mountain specificities

Food & Livelihoods Security in a changing context

• Subsistence system => commercial• Increase in efficiency & productivity• High value & Niche products, Non-farm• Increased mobility-migration, remittances

• Human poverty• Livelihood insecurity• Food insecurity• Gender & social inequity

•3. Opportunities

12

Opportunities

• Globalization and liberalization – opened up

market for mountain niche products

• Subsistence agriculture moving towards

commercialization

• Opportunities created for livelihood

diversification – tourism, remittances, micro-

enterprises

Trends in Agriculture

• Transition from Subsistence to cash crop:

Horticulture, NTFPs, medicinal

plants, potato, zinger, agroforestry, vegetables,

spices, nuts,…

Potato has

emerged as

important cash

crop in Bhutan &

Nepal in

mountain farmers

seed potato crop

Potato field in Bhutan Cardamom in India

Apple in India & PakistanPineapple in Bangladesh

Grapes, Apricots in Afghanistan 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Assam Himachal Pradesh Jammu &Kashmir All India

1990-91

2000-01

2005-06

Increase % of area under horticulture in India

Horticulture crops are 3 times

more profitable (Rs.48,164/ha

than the field crops

(Rs.16,619/ha) [Sikkim, India]

Trends in Agriculture

Trends in Agriculture in HKH

Region

• Diversification of high value cash

crops: mushroom, Matsutake

farming and Cordyceps collection in

hills & mountains Bhutan & Nepal

MatsutakeMushroom Medicinal plants

Beekeeping

Growing non-farm sector

• Non-farm based rural employment is emerging

slowly

• Tourism - In Nepal, tourism contributes 3.5 %

GDP, generated employment for 0.4 million

• Remittance receiving Households-

54% in Upper Indus

74% in Koshi

58% Eastern Brahmaputra

21% Salween & Mekong

•4. Future Challenges

Demand on land for hydropower

• Energy is driving land & water use

• Energy demand is growing 3-5% annually

• Future of nuclear energy after Fukushima

• Demand for Hydropower & Bioenergy is

growing

Hydropower in Indian Himalayan

Region

• GOI aims to build

292 hydropower in

IHR by 2030

• In 12th plan, about

100 hydropower

schemes are

planned in IHR

States No of

scheme

s

MW

Himachal Pradesh 15 2457

Jammu & Kashmir 8 3923

Uttarakhand 24 6858

Darjeeling (West

Bengal state)

3 240

Sikkim 11 2455

Arunachal Pradesh 26 9579

Assam 1 150

Manipur 2 1566

Meghalaya 2 504

Hydropower in Pakistan

• Pakistan has about 60, 000 MW hydropower

potential

• Government is encouraging private investment to

promote hydropower

Identified hydropower sites in

KPK

Identified hydropower site in

Gilgit-Baltistan

Demand on land for biofuel

• Demand for land for bioenergy is growing

– India- targeted 20% biodesel blending to produce 13 million

tons of biodiesel annually from 11 million hectares of

land.

– Pakistan- 10% ethanol blending by 2020

– Increase ethanol production from 0.2 million tons in 2006 to 4.3

million tons in 2020-

• Biofuel production will have serious implications on land &

water

5. Emerging issues

• Hydropower & biofuel may change the landscape of HKH

region

• Growing trade-offs food, energy & water

• Increased vulnerabilities & risks of food security

• Increased globalization may erode mountain biodiversity

• Outmigration- feminization of agriculture, shortage of

agricultural labor, the abandonment of agricultural land

• Degradation of land, water, ecosystems

• Policies, institutions, technologies insensitive to mountain

contexts- unequal exchange & resource flow

6. Key questions

• How food, water & energy needs of mountain

communities could best be met?

• How to balance land demand for food, water &

energy?

• How to manage their trade-offs & exploit synergies?

• How mountain people can be part of & receive fair

benefits from the development of land, water, &

energy resources in the HKH region?

•