Humla is a very remote district of Mid-West Nepal in the north-west corner of the country bordering Tibet. It is the country?s second largest district and ranges in altitude from 1,500-7,300 metres. The district centre is Simikot (2,950m), 10 days walk from the nearest motor road in Nepal and 6-7 days walk from the road head over the Tibetan border at Sera (near Hilsa). In a composite index of development, Humla district ranked 4th from worst off.1 In recent years the area has suffered from severe food deficits and occasionally disease epidemics. Gender issues are a major concern - in a ranking of the 75 districts of Nepal, Humla scores lowest in terms of women?s empowerment. Due to its lack of infrastructure, lack of communications, severe cold mountain climate and difficult walking conditions Humla is a very difficult and unpopular place to work, both for Nepali people and many development workers (whatever their origin). It is the most despised ?punishment post? for government workers who are being disciplined or demoted for any reason. Due to the mountainous terrain, only 1% of land is available for agriculture and the average land holding size is 0.52 hectares per household. More than 50% of the land is at a slope of more than 30 degrees. Much of north Humla is snow covered or extremely cold for 5 months of the year. 24% of land cover is high altitude pasture, which accounts for the importance of livestock in the farming system, particularly yaks and local yak-cow cross. Due to the formation of Community Forestry User Groups in the districts to the south, where sheep were traditionally over-wintered, Humli shepherds are unable to find pasture during winter migratory periods and sheep farming is in decline. Also the import of iodised salt from India has replaced Tibetan salt, though trade in smaller quantities still continues. To tackle development in this area is therefore an enormous challenge. Being one of the remotest areas with very deep narrow valleys and high Himalayan peaks, trails in Humla used to be amongst the most treacherous in the country. Since 1993 when SNV carried out trail improvement, bridge building and other infrastructure development, conditions have improved. Prior to the improvement of the Hilsa-Simikot trail by SNV, sheep were the main pack animals used for transportation of salt from Tibet to the mid and lower hills south of Humla. Now the main trail between Simikot and Hilsa is trafficked by numerous mules, yaks, yak-cow crosses, horses, donkeys, as well as sheep and people. The trail is in good condition and suitable for trekking tourism.
In the context of the broad developmental changes in Humla district, tourism accounts for only a small proportion of economic and social growth. Due to the monopoly held by richer actors within Humla, benefits are concentrated amongst the better off rather than the very poor or poorest. Tourism development is concentrated along the Simikot ? Hilsa trail, all of it above 2500m and subject to cold, snowy conditions for 5-6 months of the year. Low numbers of tourists (785 in 1999, 594 in 2000 and an average of 626 per year over four years 1996-2000) mean that the contribution of tourism is small relative to the more accessible areas of the country (e.g. Annapurna region etc). However, if tourism revenue could be captured within Humla, instead of with outside trekking agencies, the potential benefits to Humla people is great, especially in view of the lack of alternative to improve people?s livelihoods in the region.
Pro Poor Tourism PPT Working Paper No. 3 http://www.propoortourism.org (CRT, IIED and ODI, 2001)
