In the Changthang region of Ladakh, India, pastoralism serves as the cornerstone of both the local economy and the local way of life. However, recent socioeconomic shifts and environmental constraints put this economic structure, which has been expertly adapted to the difficult trans-Himalayan geography, in danger of becoming unsustainable. To...

The earth is warming, and the frequency of extreme weather events have been rapidly growing globally with unprecedented consequences to farming communities. In principle, weather and climate information services (WCIS) can help farmers better manage their activities and farm level outcomes by supporting their decision-making with relevant and usable information...

Euromontana kicks off the year with the publication of its annual booklet of good practices for sustainable mountain development. This publication showcases 10 inspiring initiatives from across Europe (EU and non-EU) collected by Euromontana throughout 2023 to promote initiatives that drive sustainable change in mountain areas. The booklet covers key issues for...

Mountain ecosystems, including rangelands, wetlands, peatlands and both alpine and temperate forests, are unique habitats characterised by complex geography and rich biodiversity. These ecosystems are integral to the cultures and traditions of diverse Indigenous communities, providing essential goods and services such as food, water, climate regulation and cultural aesthetics. Despite their high economic...

Community-based natural resource governance is increasingly valued by the leading international organizations that promote environmental conservation and sustainable development. At the same time, the ecosystems of the northeastern Andalusian mountains are intrinsically related to the long-standing presence of pastoralism and its different communal forms that have favored a very particular...

This article examines how social innovations influence the economic growth orientation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mountain regions. Social innovations can help mountain regions solve local challenges by creating novel ideas to improve the situation. This, in turn, can have various effects on the mountain economy. However, there...

The indigenous tribal communities of the Nilgiri Reserve base their economy on the collection and cultivation of forest products (including coffee), handing down their cultural, agricultural and linguistic traditions from generation to generation. Accompanying the indigenous peoples of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve in asserting their rights and commercializing their promucts, while...

Climate change has adversely affected the agriculture of indigenous farmers. Farmers can lessen agricultural losses by using adaptation strategies to climate change. However, the adaptation process depends on several factors, including barriers. This paper examines the farmers’ opinion toward adaptation barriers and tries to identify how the barriers influence farmers’...

The Family Farming Knowledge Platform (FFKP) Monthly Digest showcases the latest contents uploaded in the FFKP to provide its readers with relevant and up to date information on family farming main themes such as agroecology, smallscale fisheries, pastoralism, indigenous people, and more. For more documents, feel free to search in the...

The Kitarasa Banana is an important element of food culture at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. This banana variety is used to make flour for porridge, to produce a traditional local beer and as mixture with traditional dishes. Nevertheless, Kitarasa producers are decreasing, due to changes in culture, lifestyle, poor...

This video gives an insight into the SWM Programme work with ranchers and community scouts in the Habu Community Conservancy, which is located in the communal livestock grazing areas of western Ngamiland, Botswana. The video introduces Godlop, a community scout benefitting from the SWM Community Conservancy Project, which is supporting...

The event takes place in Mukono Town on May 12 Unlocking community barriers for a profitable and open source agroforestry coffee value chain: this is the leading theme at the 4th Slow Food Uganda Coffee Festival. Slow Food Uganda believes that agroforestry in coffee production is the key to achieving sustainability...

In 1994, UPA began the adventure of publishing a Yearbook of Family Farming. The objective was simple, although ambitious: to collect in an annual work the main data, ideas and proposals of this production model, which in the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers we have defended since our origin. Now,...

Mountains and islands make up 30 percent of the earth's surface area and are home to approximately 1.3 billion people. Mountain and island communities are among the worst hit by climate change, suffering from high rates of poverty and hunger and struggling to cope with natural disasters. The Mountain Partnership Secretariat...

Mountain soils represent a finite, virtually non-renewable resource that provides essential ecosystem services for life on Earth, not only in the mountains but also downstream (FAO and ITPS, 2015). Although the average soil formation rate is not easy to assess, due to the variability of the soil forming factors (Jenny,...

The gouverments in Sweden and Norway have nominated the "Summer farming at fäbod andseter – knowledge, traditions and practices related to grazing of outlying lands and artisan food production” to the UNESCO Representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity There are now only 750 active summer- mountain frams in...

Spring water plays a crucial role in sustaining life in the Himalayas. Yet these vital water sources are drying as a result of natural and anthropogenic factors. In July and August 2020, we conducted phone interviews with leaders from 300 local government units across Nepal to identify the status of...

No se puede discutir que la demanda de “café sostenible” está en su punto más alto. Ahora, más que nunca, tanto las marcas como los consumidores se dan cuenta de la importancia de cultivar, comprar y beber café que sea social y ambientalmente sostenible. Hay una serie de razones complejas que impulsan este...

Traditional mountain landscapes governed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) conserve unique wildlife and agrobiodiversity, and strongly support climate change adaptation and mitigation by protecting ecosystem services, including grasslands that store almost 50% more carbon than forests. But mountain biodiversity and the Indigenous and traditional peoples that sustain it are...

Welcome to the latest edition of IIED’s forests newsletter.We are excited to announce the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) International Conference, share a story from the FFF's work in Nepal and an Integrated Community Forest Management Monitoring and Evaluation Tool developed by IIED in partnership with the Rainforest Alliance.