Agriculture

Humla is a remote and mountainous district situated in the north-west corner of Nepal, bordering with China. People in Humla or Humlis belong to the Chhetri-Thakuri, and Dalits social groups of the Indo-Aryan language group and to the Lama social group of the Tibeto-Burman language group.The main objective of the research is to assess the contribution of NTFPs to the overall livelihood of upper Humla, and to explore ways of how this contribution could be further enhanced.

The compendium shows how the scope of research has evolved at IFPRI, as well as in the wider development community. It covers a host of topics that bear on food and nutrition security, including development strategies, markets and trade, technologies for agricultural production, natural resource management, conflicts and natural disasters, subsidies and safety nets, gender roles, and health. Research on each topic is set into context to show how thinking has progressed over time.

The term agrobiodiversity refers to genetic variability in plants, animals and micro-organisms of economic value. In the past, several thousand plants were used for purposes of food, feed, fibre, fuelwood, fertilizer and medicine. As agriculture advanced, the human food secruity systems began to depend not only on fewer and fewer plant species, but also on a small number of varieties. Such genetic vulnerability to pests and diseases as well as to soil and climatic stresses.

Rural 21 seeks to to further those strategies and policies that strengthen rural areas of developing and newly industrialising countries and encourage their implementation. The journal addresses the complete range of relevant themes – from agriculture and fisheries via capacity building and education through to health and social security, energy supply and trade.