The study’s findings highlight that government actions to combat land degradation, adapt to climate change, strengthen agricultural value chains and promote economic development are fundamental to reducing vulnerability to food insecurity in mountain regions.The detailed analysis, described in the technical report that accompanies this briefing note, examines the
distribution of vulnerability and associated stressors in different mountain habitats, determined by altitude, slope steepness and local elevation range (LER).

The international support given to governments to improve peoples’ livelihoods, generate new opportunities and protect mountain ecosystems came in the form of knowledge sharing, technical assistance, legal support and governance advice.

In this context, the newly-declared UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) could be an important opportunity to simultaneously address environmental degradation and vulnerability to food insecurity.
The key messages transcribe the main findings of this study and highlight areas where the actions of governments and international partners to reduce peoples’ vulnerability to food insecurity and address land degradation could converge.

A. Between 2012 and 2017, the rural mountain population vulnerable to food insecurity increased from 307 to 346 million people (i.e., more than one person out of two), an increase of 12% within five years.

B. 50 million people currently live in remote rural mountain areas where their ability to access basic health, education, water, and supply services is limited, and their trading capacity constrained; 17 million of these people are also vulnerable to food insecurity.

C. 311 million people – approximately half of the mountain population in the developing countries – live in areas exposed to progressive land degradation, 178 million of whom are considered vulnerable to food insecurity (approximately 27% of the mountain population in 2017). Of this 178 million, 74 million live in areas registering important land degradation increases during the assessed period (46 million of whom live in croplands).

D. Africa, particularly Eastern Africa, has seen an alarming increase in vulnerability to food insecurity in rural mountain areas (23% from 2012 to 2017), especially where land is rapidly degrading, putting agricultural production and livelihoods at risk.

The situation is further exacerbated by population pressure, with the population in Eastern Africa increasing by nearly 1.5% over a period of five years, a dramatic increase when compared to the global average.

On the basis of the decisions taken at the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP.12) in 2015, the secretariat and the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, with other international partners, established the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme to support interested countries to define LDN baselines and set voluntary LDN targets. The list of participating countries as of June 2019, by UNCCD annex, is reported on page 25.