For millions of people living in mountainous areas, hunger and the threat of hunger are nothing new. Harsh climates and the difficult, often inaccessible terrain, combined with political and social marginality make mountain peoples vulnerable to food shortages.

As of 2015, one in three mountain people in developing countries was facing hunger and malnutrition.

The 2015 study Mapping the vulnerability of mountain peoples to food insecurity presents a geographic and demographic picture of the world’s mountain areas and assesses the vulnerability to food insecurity of mountain dwellers in developing countries, based on a specially designed model. The final section presents an alternative and complementary approach to assessing hunger by analyzing household surveys.

The results show that the living conditions of mountain dwellers have continued to deteriorate between 2002 and 2015. Global progress and living standard improvements did not appear to have made their way up the mountains and many mountain communities lagged behind the full eradication of poverty and hunger.

This 66-page publication gives voice to the plight of mountain people and sends a message to policy-makers on the importance of including mountain development in their agendas as well as specific measures and investments that could break the cycle of poverty and hunger of mountain communities and slows outmigration from mountain areas.

Updated information available: see the 2020 publication Vulnerability of mountain peoples to food insecurity: updated data and analysis of drivers

Empowering indigenous women

news

On 12-13 January 2018 during the High Level Forum “Empower indigenous women to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in America Latina and the Caribbean”, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the advocacy campaign "Make them visible, empower them". The campaign seeks to increase the...

MP members' statement for CSW62 accepted

peak to peak

Issue 113 – Month 3 – Year 2018

The March issue of Peak to Peak opens with a news about Mountain Parternship members' joint written statement being accepted for presentation during the upcoming 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62). The newsletter continues with stories...

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Mountains and cities, rural-urban dynamics

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On 5-8 February 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy, hosted a workshop on rural-urban dynamics. The workshop “Feeding the cities: promoting food security and nutrition in an urbanizing world” was organized by the Università degli Studi di Roma ‘Tor...

Call for abstracts, Mountain Futures conference

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The Centre for Mountain Ecosystem Studies, together with the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences and World Agroforestry Centre would like to invite contributions for the second International Conference on Mountain Futures, with a focus on "Ecosystem Rhythms, Land Systems and Sustainable Livelihoods".

The International Conference on Mountain Futures...

15 years of Mountain Partnership

publication

This publication celebrates the work of the Mountain Partnership - the only United Nations alliance dedicated to improving the lives of mountain communities and their ecosystems - over 15 years. It profiles key players, charts the achievements at global, regional and national level, and showcases success stories around the world....

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New issue of MRD Journal is now online

news

The new issue of the journal Mountain Research and Development (MRD) focuses on the implications of out- and in-migration on the sustainable development of mountains around the world. Papers in this issue explore several topics, including how asylum seekers, amenity migrants and young people are being integrated in mountain villages...