The lifestyles and beliefs of mountain communities have inspired them to seek sustenance from the land but also to conserve the natural resource base and ecosystem services vital to downstream communities both rural and urban.
However, recent trends in global development have significantly reduced the resilience of mountain ecosystems. Increasing population, climate change, deforestation, desertification, market integration as well as changes in human values and aspirations are all taking a heavy toll on mountains and mountain development. Yet, in a world increasingly aware of “green” quality and organic products, mountain agriculture can provide high-value and high-quality products that cater to increasing market demand and generate income for local communities.
This growing attention to family farming presents an opportunity for mountain farmers to receive greater support and specific policy interventions. Family farming encompasses all the activities within the realms of agriculture, forestry, fisheries,
pastoralism and aquaculture that are predominantly reliant on family labour. The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming to recognize and support the contribution of family and smallholder farms to food security, poverty eradication and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.