Publications

COP 14 Event Agenda

12.09.2019

Land degradation, climate change and increasing human-induced pressures such as population growth and unsustainable agricultural management practices are affecting the health of mountain ecosystems, their agricultural productivity and natural resources, with disastrous effects on local peoples’ livelihoods. In many mountain areas of developing countries, rates of vulnerability to food insecurity are high, underscoring the challenge of achieving the Zero Hunger Target by 2030.

The ability to identify these critical conditions and to analyze the impact of the main mountain stressors on vulnerability to food insecurity is the basis for policies and interventions that can build the resilience of mountain peoples.

In this context, UNCCD and MPS/FAO have combined resources and expertise to estimate changes in vulnerability to food security in mountains between 2012 and 2017 by analyzing the impact of land degradation, climatic variability and other mountain stressors on food production and availability in rural areas. This analysis is tightly linked to a previous study made by FAO in 2015 on the same subject, which estimated vulnerability based on food production. The new study extends the 2015 approach by analyzing the impact of key stressors of environmental and livelihood vulnerability in mountains.

The event will present the methodology, key findings and conclusions of the analysis. The emphasis will be on how available data (e.g. satellite remote sensing) and ongoing programmes, such as the UNCCD Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), help defining methodologies and procedures to effectively detect where environmental degradation is so intense to jeopardize the livelihood of local mountain populations.

 FAO side event Agenda.pdf