12. Understanding and Tackling Poverty and Vulnerability in Mountain Livelihoods in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

The HKH has undergone a significant transformation in recent decades with respect to land use change, cropping systems, and access to markets. Farmers across the region have been gradually shifting from subsistence to high-value agriculture (Singh et al. 2011). A number of factors have been contributing to this shift, including a growing recognition of niches for high-value crops, such as fruits, vegetables, and spices like ginger, turmeric, and cardamom (Tulachan 2001; Chand et al. 2008; Adhikari 2014). The shift to high-value crops has also been facilitated by other factors, such as improved road networks providing market access for previously isolated communities, growth of remittance inflows, expansion of cooperatives, increased presence of NGOs, and targeted government activities (Kreutzmann 2006; Yi et al. 2007, 2008; Wangchuk and Siebert 2013; Khattri 2012).

Recently, high-value crops have been introduced into crop rotations, especially in the lower-elevation areas with access to markets, technology, and irrigation. In China, high-value cash crops provide farmers four times as much income as rice (Chen 2011). In Nepal, export earnings from the top three high-value crops (lentil, tea, and cardamom) exceed the value of cereal and dairy imports (CBS 2011). Tea, coffee, cardamom, ginger, and turmeric have evolved as important cash crops in part of the hills of Nepal (Pandey et al. 2009; Khattri 2012).

In Bhutan, traditional crops such as buckwheat, sweet potatoes, millet, wheat, naked barley, and green beans have been replaced with potatoes. Intensively cultivated potato fields are heavily fertilized with agrochemicals, and handheld traditional farming tools are substituted with small tractors (Wangchuk and Siebert 2013). A study revealed that the majority of households in the Bumthang village of Bhutan derive most of their income from the sale of potatoes, which is then used for purchasing imported rice from India (Dorji 2011). In northern Pakistan, cash crops such as potatoes and fruits (including almonds, apricots, grapes, and cherries) have been gradually introduced since the 1980s. Along with cash crops, greater connectivity (the construction of the Karakoram Highway, for example) has also greatly improved trade and income in the area (Kreutzmann 2006; Gioli et al. 2014b). A similar phenomenon has been reported in Tibet, where farmers with access to roads grow significantly more cash crops and fewer subsistence food crops, as compared to communities that are not connected to roads (Salick et al. 2005). Despite repeated crop failure, a majority of households in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalaya, continue intensive cultivation of potatoes with the hope of generating and diversifying household income, as on-farm income generation is considered vitally important (Dame and Nusser 2011).

There are several success stories associated with high-value crops. National and provincial governments in the HKH are exploring options for scaling up the successes. Two outstanding stories include vegetable and apple farming in Himachal Pradesh, India and Ningnan County, China.¹ After switching from subsistence crops to high-value crops, their income and quality of life have significantly increased. The sustainability of these emerging agricultural activities—and their competitiveness in the context of a market economy—depends upon effective management of natural resources and technological and social innovation customized to site-specific needs of smallholder farmers. The substitution of subsistence farming by high-value crops has a potential negative impact on livelihoods, as this may lead to the destruction of pasture land in the mountain areas.

While the development of high-value agriculture is crucial in addressing poverty and enhancing livelihoods options, farmers and their supporting institutions should not be complacent, as specialized agriculture is historically known to create vulnerabilities. Livelihood scholars have long viewed diversity as a central determinant of livelihood security (Chambers and Conway 1992). Traditional multiple cropping technologies, tailor-fit to a locality, could be refined and exploited to adapt against the potential threats of global environmental change and to ensure food security (Altieri 1999; Katwal n.d.). Replacing a diverse set of site-specific agricultural practices with intensive, market-driven mono-cropping (such as potatoes) tends to reduce household food self-sufficiency and increase social and ecological risk, and may reduce the wellbeing of rural households in the long run (Yi et al. 2008; Zimmerer 2010).

It is also important to note that farmers’ decisions to improve their livelihoods can have negative outcomes—not only locally, through transformations of ecology and social relations, but also globally, through market channels (Adger et al. 2003). Markets in the future will be increasingly homogenized towards global requirements and demands. Food production, distribution, and marketing chains are changing along with improvements in infrastructure, communications, and vertical business structures, integration into the world market, and the rapid rise of supermarkets. New distribution channels, dominated by larger firms including supermarket retailers, will impose high performance demands on their producers and people involved in value chains. Rising energy costs will drive up the costs of fertilizers, irrigation, mechanization, and, thus, food. Systems of agriculture and their resource requirements in the HKH need to be efficient, not heavily reliant on external sources of fertilizer and water. As taught by the tragic 2008 melamine-in-milk episode in Asia, there is a need for strong regulation and governance to avoid inadvertent inclusion of unmonitored agents in agriculture.

Livelihood practices of the people of the HKH fall into three categories (Wu et al. 2016):

Livestock-based livelihoods (such as the rearing of yak, horse, sheep, and goat) are common in high-altitude areas of the HKH (Berhanu et al. 2007). Access to common-pool resources, such as pasture and water, is fundamental to sustaining this form of livelihood. In the midhills of the HKH, the dominant form of livelihood is the combined practice of rain-fed agriculture (typically maize, wheat, barley, and potatoes) for household consumption and of extensive livestock rearing. Migratory mountain pastoralism, which has been the prevalent form of livestock-keeping in the mountain areas around the Tibetan Plateau, has been undergoing drastic changes in terms of spatial and temporal migration patterns, livestock management objectives, and the relationship between crop cultivation and livestock (Yi et al. 2007, 2008).

The practice of sedentary mixed crop-livestock (see Box 12.1) is a dominant form of livelihood in the lower part of the HKH, where traditional agricultural practices like multiple cropping, crop diversification, and conservation-tillage farming are prevalent. Multiple cropping is effective in maintaining agricultural production even under unfavourable climatic conditions. Different crops respond to climatic stressors differently, owing to minimum fluctuation in production and production systems. Conservation farming strives to achieve high, sustained agricultural production, while conserving soil and preserving the local environment. The recognition of the multiple functionalities (including recreation and conservation) of rangelands and other ecosystems in the HKH has also created opportunities for livelihood diversification of pastoral communities. In China, pastoralists in the Tibetan Plateau have been receiving cash stipends for using rangeland resources more sustainably (Yi and Ismail 2011).

Livestock is one of the fastest growing agricultural subsectors in the HKH. Although large ruminants such as cows, buffalo, and yaks make up the majority of the livestock population in the mountains, yak numbers are decreasing in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, while increasing in China (Wu et al. 2016). While elite and higher caste farmers raise large ruminants, poorer and disadvantaged ethnic groups tend to raise smaller animals such as goats, pigs, and poultry (Gurung et al. 2005). For poorer households, these smaller animals are considered important because they require a low initial investment and minimal or no input, and offer a quick return on investment on a continuous basis (Brithal and Taneja 2006; Ali 2007; Gerber et al. 2010; Khan and Ashfaq 2010).

Most goats are raised on marginal land and are a crucial source of livelihood for landless (and nearly landless) farmers and for households headed by women. Goats are a valuable commodity and are considered a source of foreign exchange (APHCA and ILRI 2006). In India, over 70% of rural households own livestock, and the majority of livestock-owning households keep sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry due to land scarcity, but also for commercial prospects (Ali 2007). According to the Livestock Census (GoP 2006), among all the domestic livestock in Pakistan, goat had the highest growth rate of 3.98% per year. Pakistan ranks third in Asia in terms of small ruminant population, with an overall annual growth rate of 4%, the highest in Asia (Khan and Ashfaq 2010). In India, between 1992 and 2003, the poultry population increased by an annual growth rate of 5.9%, whereas the pig and ruminant populations showed only marginal increases (Gerber et al. 2010). The growth in livestock population was driven by rapidly increasing demand for livestock products, population growth, urbanisation, and increasing incomes in developing countries (Delgado 2005; Thornton 2010).

Appropriately designed livelihood diversification can add value to local economies and increase economic opportunities. For example, milk and meat processing, niche-based high-value crops, or sustainable harvest of herbal and medicinal plants can significantly complement livelihood options for the people of the HKH. In high-altitude areas of Bhutan, China, and Nepal the collection of rangeland products, mostly medicinal plants, has been an important source of household income in recent years. From 1999 to 2007, the average annual contribution of income from yarsagumba (cordyceps sinensis) to agricultural-sector revenue in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China was 10.84% (Wang et al. 2012).

The genetic resources of traditional crops—often referred to as neglected and underutilized food crops (NUFCs) and recently labeled as future smart food (FAO 2017)—are vital for sustainable agriculture (Eyzaguirre et al. 1999; Bhagmal 2007; Padulosi et al. 2011). NUFCs not only play a fundamental role in income generation (Mwangi and Kimathi 2006; Adhikari et al. 2017) and nutrition and food security (Frison et al. 2006; Padulosi et al. 2011; Apeteri 2012; Adhikari et al. 2017), but also hold significant potential for climate-change adaptation (Jarvis et al. 2014).

Some NUFCs are also of great medical importance. For instance, in remote mountain areas, jamun (syzygium cumini) is used to treat diabetes. Likewise, in Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan, local people have realized the importance of sea buckthorn for nutritional and medicinal purposes and have expanded the cultivation of this crop (Adhikari et al. 2017).

Among many other traditional crops, millets have been cultivated successfully for millennia, indicating resilience to a variety of conditions and some intrinsic potential for continuous production (Apetrei 2012). Finger millet is a particularly rich source of calcium and iron (Singh and Raghuvanshi 2012). By introducing finger millet into the daily diet of mountain people, common problems in the HKH can be addressed, such as the disorders of bone and teeth caused by calcium deficiency and anaemia caused by iron deficiency. This highlights the importance of NUFCs—not only for food security but also for nutrition (see Chap. 9). With respect to seasonality, buckwheat is preferred in the mountains for its fast rate of growth and its weed resistance (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education n.d.; ICIMOD and GRID Arendal 2014).

NUFCs can make a significant contribution to sustainable nutrition security in the mountains if they are mainstreamed into agriculture, food, and nutrition-security policies and programmes and integrated into local food systems (Adhikari et al. 2017). While not yet a priority for governments in the HKH, the protection and promotion of traditional farming practices and NUFCs (in situ and in vitro) present great opportunities to take advantage of mountain specificities, rather than unsuccessfully seeking to replicate the agricultural intensification approaches designed for the plains.

Most HKH countries tend to present mixed rural-urban livelihoods rather than those displaying pure rural or pure urban characteristics. A household may well be physically located in a rural area, but it’s likely that it relies on an assortment of livelihoods with urban, rural, and, often, transnational components. This fusion, known as desakota, is widespread in the HKH (The Desakota Team 2008). Young people migrate seasonally to adjoining towns seeking wage employment while maintaining ties with their homes. Labour migration is integral to the portfolio of livelihoods that households rely on to deal with everyday struggles and to shield against various economic, environmental, and social risks (Hoermann et al. 2010; Karki 2012; Gioli et al. 2014a; Banerjee et al. 2016).

Circular labour migration at national, regional, and international scales is particularly widely practiced, mostly by young males who migrate for temporary periods (from months to decades) and send back remittances to their countries of origin (see Chap. 15). Given the lack of access to formal risk-mitigation mechanisms in the region, remittances can be described as a “household sponsored insurance system” (Yang and Choi 2007) and as a substitute for social security (Schrieder and Knerr 2000). Moreover, remittance inflows are untouched by perturbations at the local level and thereby constitute a vital channel of income during and after environmental and political crises (Monsutti 2008; Le De et al. 2013).

Labour migration stimulates flow and exchange of not only financial resources but also ideas and capabilities (social remittances), which influence and often challenge traditional structures at home (IOM 2005). Migration generates financial and human capital, which, if leveraged for development, is a proven driver of poverty reduction. Social remittances can play a particularly important role in development (Hoermann et al. 2010). Three countries in the HKH receive more than 10% of their GDP from remittances: Bangladesh (11.6%), Afghanistan (16.3%), and Nepal (28.5%) (IFAD 2013). However, remittance economies and overreliance on labour migration are not a sustainable strategy for development. Labour migration is also an extremely costly strategy, which comes at high financial costs (including permits and travel) and high human costs, especially when people migrate to areas where the rights of workers are not guaranteed, such as the Gulf States.

With the exception of China, labour migration is a highly gendered phenomenon in the HKH, predominantly undertaken by young males. However, women’s labour migration is on the rise, with women constituting 13% of the migrant stock in Nepal (CBS 2014; Gioli et al. 2017). While men are absent, women and children take on household responsibilities, including both the productive and domestic roles in tending to livestock and agriculture fields, in addition to taking on work outside the home as labourers (Synnott 2012). The general increase in the workloads of women (resulting from migration and other factors) impinges upon their caregiving roles (Gioli et al. 2014a), exposing women and children to greater threat from water-borne disease (Halvorson 2002). In recounting gendered experiences of change in Baltistan, Azhar-Hewitt (2011) similarly observes the transformation of women’s workloads, noting that access to resources and liberties afforded to women in traditional societies are sometimes being denied based upon notions of religiosity and appropriate gender roles, imported in the course of labour migration (see Chap. 14).

Stories of changing gender roles echo across the HKH. In Afghanistan, irrigation water management too becomes a domain with increasing female participation and the intersection of poverty and gender render some women’s livelihoods exceptionally vulnerable on account of inability to pay for the petrol for the water pump or community sanction disallowing a woman her share of water (McCarthy and Mustafa 2014).

In the hills of Nepal, most farming households were found willing to neglect farming altogether if alternative sources of income were available to them (Maharjan et al. 2013). Additionally, farmers preferred livestock to crops as a supplement to household income. The share of women in the agriculture sector in Nepal has been 12.6% higher than that of men, and the participation of women in the agricultural labour force increased from 36% in 1981 to 45% in 1991 to 48% in 2001 (FAO 2010).

The loss of agricultural workforce has also increased the phenomenon of land abandonment in the HKH. Farmers in southeastern Nepal are moving toward the non-farm sector due to low returns on investment (Adhikari and Hobley 2012). This has further intensified migration leading to de-intensification of agricultural lands, a trend that is beginning to emerge in other parts of the HKH as well. In Uttarakhand, India, 47% of respondents identified decreasing agricultural productivity as a major reason for migration (Hoermann et al. 2010; Tiwari and Joshi 2016; Mamgain 2004). With men outmigrating in significant numbers, the bulk of the workload and responsibility falls upon women. Much discussion has taken place on the transformational potential of these shifting roles (see Chap. 14). For instance, a study in northern Pakistan showed that positive gender transformative processes are more likely to be intergenerational and driven by increased access to education for girls (Gioli et al. 2014a).

Within the wider context of searching for livelihood diversification options, some mountain communities have found opportunities in the recreation and tourism industries. The appeal of recreation in the mountains has long been recognized institutionally, for instance, through the designation of national parks. Tourism has played a significant role in transforming mountain communities around the world, by diversifying local economies, generating employment opportunities, and bringing development to these societies. As the sector builds on natural and cultural heritage values, it can bring the additional benefit of positively impacting conservation.

Mountain specificities that are generally considered constraints to development—including poor accessibility, fragility, and marginality—can be transformed into economic opportunities for tourism (Jodha 1992; Sharma 2000; Nepal and Chipeniuk 2005; Kruk 2010). Tourism intersects with and stimulates a wide range of other sectors in the supply chain, especially agriculture, infrastructure, communications, construction, and handicrafts. Tourism also stimulates a new market for local produce, especially high-value crops. As a complementary livelihood option, the development of tourism will not only generate socioeconomic benefits for the region, but may also address wider social and sociocultural concerns (Kruk 2010). Thus, the tourism industry is being strongly pursued and supported by the HKH governments through their National Development Strategies. For example, in 2016 the Government of Nepal launched the National Tourism Strategy 2016–2025, which envisages a fivefold increase in tourist arrivals by 2025 and includes conservation of cultural heritage and a zero-carbon target as important development goals.

Tourism is not a new phenomenon in the HKH (Karki et al. 2012). Several HKH countries have experienced and benefitted from tourism since the 1970s. Though some countries (such as Bhutan and China) have restricted access to tourists for various political reasons, and others (including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal) have seen tourism diminish for periods of time due to political unrest and conflict, the region has generally experienced a strong increase in tourism over the past years. In the HKH countries,² tourism has become the largest service sector, generating much-needed foreign exchange earnings—currently contributing 2–4% of GDP—and generating 2.8–9.6% of total (direct and indirect) employment. The tourism industry also involves 0.9–8.3% of total investment in these countries. Globally, tourism is predicted to continue increasing steadily over the next 10 years, with major new markets on the rise, particularly in Asia (including locations in India and China). While international tourism is sizable and steadily increasing with economic growth in Asia, intraregional tourism markets represent the greatest opportunities for growth. Due to the growing middle class resulting from increasing wealth and better access to credit, regional markets are showing exponential growth. Political liberalization and border-crossing agreements between neighbouring countries (as with Bhutan and India) are also making regional travel easier.

The revival and strengthening of cultural heritage is considered beneficial to tourism (Ganesh and Madhavi 2007; Isaac 2012). In the HKH, old hospitality traditions have been the basis for lodging and other tourist services (such as the concept of teahouses in Nepal), inspiring a special Himalayan mountain-oriented accommodation sector (Odell and Lama 1998).

Tapping the growth of the tourism market within a framework of sustainable development could be an effective mechanism for both enhancing local livelihoods and conserving heritage. However, many challenges remain in realizing such a vision, given the complex cultural, topographical, and political HKH landscape. Therefore, tourism development in the HKH should be approached in a holistic and comprehensive manner to ensure long-term sustainable growth and the resilience of mountain people. Ecotourism, in particular, has the potential to drive sustainable tourism development while providing opportunities for the development of disadvantaged, marginalized, and rural areas, thereby alleviating poverty and stimulating economic development and social wellbeing (Isaac 2012).