On a cliffside, about 2 000 metres high in the Himalayan mountains of Bhutan, a woman weaves on a backstrap loom while chanting into the wind – a centuries-old spiritual craft of storytelling. In the village of Goenpa Kabab thrives a Buddhist, matriarchal community where women take immense pride in...

The morning light washes over Norbu Gyeltshen's terraced fields with a soft, deliberate glow, catching the pale seed heads of quinoa that rise among the maize and chili. When Norbu and his wife, Pema Sedon, first planted the crop in their little town of Bartsham in eastern Bhutan, it was...

As Bhutan seeks to revitalise its agriculture sector and improve access to water amidst growing climate challenges, renewable energy-powered lift irrigation presents a viable and context-appropriate solution. The project implemented in Thosne Khola, Nepal, offers valuable lessons on how such systems can be effectively utilised for both irrigation and drinking...

As the impacts of climate change grow more severe, countries are pursuing adaptation efforts to safeguard communities, strengthen food systems and build long-term climate resilience. Nature-based solutions are a critical part of these efforts. They use the power of ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, farmlands and coastal habitats, to diminish climate risks,...

Climate change is expected to bring a raft of changes to Bhutan, including long-term impacts such as rising average temperatures, reduced dry-season precipitation coupled with increased wet-season precipitation, intensified rainfall events, erratic rainfall patterns, and altered monsoon timings. Additionally, the country faces heightened risks of hydro-meteorological and geological disasters, including...

This special issue of Nomadic Peoples, Vol. 29, Issue 1 on 'Pastoral resilience and transformation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya' examines how pastoralism in the HKH region has evolved over the last three to four decades. It sheds light on the vulnerabilities and resilience of pastoral societies in the context of the...

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, spanning 4.3 million square kilometres across eight countries, is home to vast rangelands that support diverse ecosystems and human communities. These rangelands, covering about 60% of the region, are integral to four global biodiversity hotspots and provide essential ecosystem services to over 1.3 billion...

Mountain pastoralism is at risk of extinction due to changing socio-economic contexts. Though animal husbandry in mountainous area is one of the oldest economically valuable traditions and practices, herders are gradually shifting towards other occupations due to higher opportunities for income generation. High mortality rate of livestock is one of...

Understanding the relationship between adverse weather conditions and crop productivity is the backbone of risk assessments on food security. It is paramount in countries like Bhutan, which has a limited number of impact assessment studies in agriculture. The work presented here highlights agricultural production trends under a changing climate and...

Global Organic Agricultural Innovations covers major innovations and research in organic agriculture from 18 countries and areas around the world. This edition showcases the diversity and robustness of the growth of organic agriculture around the world. More than seventy innovators and researchers contribute to this edition which covers themes from climate...

W ildfires have raged across the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya this year. The Indian state of Uttarakhand lost over 1,500 hectares of forest while Nepal saw hundreds of forest fires in March and over a thousand in April. As frightening and destructive as these fires have been, for over 10,000 years, everywhere from the Central...

This document summarizes the results of a pilot true cost accounting study to measure environmental and socioeconomic hidden costs associated with Irish potato and rice production in Bhutan, Burkina Faso, and Malawi. The results indicate that socioeconomic hidden costs are the largest, with excessive working hours and living income gap...

A brief history and the potential for cultural preservation and rangeland management with the restoration of rights of highlanders, harnessing digital tools. 

Après avoir développé un cadre conceptuel et une méthode d’analyse des systèmes alimentaires dans les années 2020-22, le Cirad et la FAO élargissent leur collaboration à Agrinatura autour du projet SASi-SPi financé par l’Union Européenne, pour catalyser la transition vers des systèmes alimentaires durables et inclusifs. Les moyens pour atteindre...

The Country Gender Assessment (CGA) was undertaken to analyse the agricultural and rural sector of Bhutan from a gender mainstreaming perspective in areas where the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) assists in realizing rural women’s rights and potential. The agricultural sector is the major source of...

Multi-stakeholder processes and stakeholder empowerment in the Himalayan Region focused on the development and implementation of comprehensive roadmaps for agroecological food systems in Bhutan, India and Nepal. The Himalayan Agroecology Initiative is a strategic endeavour that works closely with governments and with the support of a broad group of stakeholders, to...

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...

The Food System Profile provides a summary of the main food system issues in Bhutan and highlights potential solutions for their sustainable and inclusive transformation. The result of a systemic analysis and stakeholders consultation, it is part of a large-scale assessment supported by the European Union, FAO and CIRAD in...

Goal & Objectives The project will aim to alleviate the poverty of rural communities and promote sustainable forest management.   To promote nature-based and inclusive solutions to improve local community livelihoods and contribute to climate change adaptation through the development of country-specific, scalable and replicable community-based NTFP Enterprise (CBNE) models and Capacity...

This policy brief discusses how feebate policies could upscale organic agriculture and food self-sufficiency in Bhutan, specifically looking at rice production. The simulations show that a feebate (fee and rebate) policy coupled with promotion and training in agroecological farming methods could incentivize widespread adoption of agroecology, achieving both 100 percent organic production and greater self-sufficiency for rice in Bhutan.