Sustainable mountain development in East Africa in a changing climate

• Developingpolicies andguidelines on theproduction and marketing of these products; and • Building the capacity of farmers to produce quality products that meet prescribed standards and assist them in marketing their produce. Open up mountain areas for development through well planned infrastructure, industry and settlements Although mountain areas remain remote and sensitive to development, their growing populations and rich natural resources mean that they should not be left behind in the process of national development. There is a need for including programmes in the Agenda that focus on opening up some of the mountain areas for development, wherever possible and appropriate. This could include: infrastructure development toopenup remote and inaccessible areas with potential for development; establishing small- scale to medium-scale industries, including cottage industries, based on existing mountain resources; upgrading rural settlements to provide minimum standards including developing townships with public services such as water, electricity, education andhealth facilities.While supplying power to remote and isolated settlement areas may be a challenge, possible solutions include the development of innovative mini-hydropower generating dams on the numerous rapids and waterfalls found along mountain streams and the harnessing of solar power from photo voltaic modules. The construction of infrastructure such as roads may present another big challenge on highly unstable mountain slopes. However, well designed and environmentally-sensitive road construction and maintenance can go a long way to reducing the risk of environmental degradation associated with road construction.

Nyabugogo river valley in Kigali, Rwanda

The mining industry also provides opportunities for development since many mountains contain valuable mineral deposits with the potential for extraction; in areas such as the Rwenzori Mountains, mining of minerals such as copper and cobalt has been taking place for a long time. Exploitation of these resources for development is inevitable; however, mining activities are very disruptive to mountain ecosystems and may have a number of adverse environmental impacts. It is essential, therefore, that carefully designed and executed mining activities, adhere to the principles of the ‘green economy’ approach: the use of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), and the restoration of disturbed landscapes.

Interventions should seek to promote and monitor programmes aimed at opening up mountains for development, including the development of industries, infrastructure and settlements through the following actions: • Mobilizing and sensitizing political leaders, policymakers, investors and other key stakeholders to the importance of developing and implementing development programmes in mountain areas; and • Holding consultations with key actors on how to move forward in pursuing infrastructure development, with a view to facilitating future resource mobilization for new developments.

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