Farming in the mountains of Nepal: crops, soil fertility, livelihoods and farm-forest linkages

Abstract

In national plans, policies, and earlier development programs, livelihoods of mountain people in the Nepal Himalayas were overlooked, rendering them more susceptible to climatic risk and disaster. The management of marginal mountain agricultural land is crucial for food security, improved living conditions, and environmental protection. For enhancing livelihoods and ecological benefits, mountain agriculture is vital, however, a consolidated review on mountain farming is limited in Nepal. We used "mountain" AND "Nepal" AND "farming" OR "agriculture" in the literature's title published between 1978 and 2021 on Google Scholar and did an in-depth review of papers on the four thematic areas: mountain crops, soil fertility, livelihoods, and farm-forestry linkages. We observed a variety of nutrient-rich mountain crops with a market potential as niche products, low and deteriorating soil fertility of agricultural lands, a weakening of the farm-forest links, and an increase in the diversity of mountain livelihood choices. Small landholdings, labor outmigration mainly men, feminization of mountain farming, and food insecurity are the greatest challenges to the growth of agriculture in mountainous regions. There are, however, ample opportunities to make mountain regions green through agroforestry and community forests, to improve livelihoods by introducing niche value chains for products, to explore payment for ecosystem services through downstream-upstream linkages, and to recognize their traditional knowledge and practices through citizen science research and development.