The livelihoods of preponderant majority of the people in the Hindukush Himalayan Region (HKH) countries (Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, India, China, Myanmar, and Afghanistan) revolve around agriculture. In the HKH countries, while a population of 150 million inhabiting in an area of 3.4 million sq. km gives about 35 people per sq. km, the actual pressure on agricultural land is much higher, thereby availability of cropland is too small to support livelihood of rural households in the mountains.
Management of the marginal lands is getting increasing priority with the increasing population pressure, poverty, soil erosion and degradation, and loss of natural resources for food security, improved livelihood and environmental protection. Diversification of farm activities into high value commercial crops, and processing of agricultural and other natural resource based materials, while adequately maintaining soil, forest and other natural resources, are most logical steps to improving livelihood of mountain people. Mountains provide an excellent avenue of diverse agro-environments, there by niches for horticulture, floriculture, spices and medicinal plants. Poverty, small holding size, food security are the critical challenges in the mountain areas of HKH, and call for a holistic approach to address them for improvement and sustainability.
The paper elucidates the major challenges of the mountain people in the HKH region with particular reference to Nepal, and efforts made through agricultural research and development to improve food security and livelihoods through sustainable management of natural resources.