Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Agriculture, food and nutrition Agricultural legislation underpins sustainable farming in most of the HKH countries. Local, short- term impacts such as flash floods and unexpected drought seasons have adverse impacts on this sector. In addition, the projected increases in temperature and precipitation are expected to produce long-term impacts such as loss of livelihoods and worsening nutritional security. It is therefore unsurprising that Afghanistan’s National Agricultural Development Framework emphasizes the importance of environmental sustainability, while India’s National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture aims to enhance food security, and focuses on new technologies and practices in cultivation and crop genotyping. India is also leading a National Food Security Mission (launched in October 2007), which is continuing during the country’s twelfth Five-Year Plan, with new targets of an additional production of 25 million tons of food grains (10 million tons of rice, 8 million tons of wheat, 4 million tons of pulses and 3 million tons of coarse cereals). Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal all indirectly mention food security in their constitutions, either through the duty of the State to ensure the nutrition and health of its citizens, or as one of their fundamental rights. Although all the countries have regulations on food quality and hygiene, only Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Pakistan have proper strategies to enforce these regulations.

Strawberry farming in Bhutan

68