FAO wants increased support for mountain farmers

While marking the UN’s International Mountain Day recently in Rome, the FAO said securing land tenure, providing access to resources for mountain family farms, and improving basic infrastructure in mountain regions are among the key solutions to improving the livelihoods and food security of mountain and lowland communities. According to a new FAO publication, ‘Mountain […]

While marking the UN’s International Mountain Day recently in Rome, the FAO said securing land tenure, providing access to resources for mountain family farms, and improving basic infrastructure in mountain regions are among the key solutions to improving the livelihoods and food security of mountain and lowland communities.
According to a new FAO publication, ‘Mountain Farming is Family Farming’, launched to mark the Mountain Day, “around 40 percent of mountain populations in developing and transition countries – about 300 million people – are food insecure, with half of them suffering from chronic hunger.”
As stated in the publication, globally, mountains provide freshwater to half of the world’s population, mainly due to the water and soil management practised by millions of mountain farmers. Mountains are also reservoirs of global biodiversity and mountain farmers have been the custodians of this genetic wealth, while providing valuable nutrition for their families for centuries.