Farmers in the HKH region are facing a challenge: how to find ways of increasing the total value (and volume) of products to meet the needs and expectations of the present and expected future population, whilst avoiding environmental degradation and ensuring that resources are maintained for future generations. Options, potential solutions, and constraints for sedentary agriculture were discussed at the ‘International Symposium on Mountain Agriculture in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas’ organised by ICIMOD in May 2001. The presentations at the conference are brought together in this publication, loosely organised under six broad thematic topics: issues in mountain agriculture in the HKH; technologies for improving the productivity of mountain agriculture; opportunities and options for income generation and transition; issues of marginal farms and potential for development; gender, empowerment and community approaches; and institutional strategies for improving mountain farming. We are confident that this publication will provide a valuable source of information for all those working for mountain development, in particular, mountain agriculture, in the HKH and other regions.