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

Reports by the Drylands Coordination Group (DCG) online

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Reports based on action research by the Drylands Coordination Group (DCG) are online for free download. DCG is a Norwegian NGO that supports and facilitates mutual exchange of practical experiences between African NGOs and research and policy-making institutions. The reports deal with a range of issues related to food security,...

Documentary on line on Mawphlang Agrobiodiversity and Food Festival Film

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A documentary on the Mawphlang Agrobiodiversity and Food Festival, prepared by iTALK Production, a group of indigenous youth based in Shillong, India training in mass communication and funded by Slow Food International, is now online. The Mawphlang Agrobiodiversity and Food Festival, sponsored by the Indigenous Partnership, was organized by William...

Mountain Research and Development, Volume 30, Issue 4 (November 2010) available online and open access

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The current issue of MRD is available online and free of charge from BioOne. It contains work on various topics relevant to sustainable development in mountains, ranging from tourism and impacts of tourism to biodiversity in relation to human activities, poverty and food security, livestock production, and interaction between indigenous...