Traditional Land and Food Systems: A Case of Uttarakhand State in North-western Indian Himalayas

Abstract

Like most of India, agriculture is one of the significant sectors of the economy of Uttarakhand state. About 86% of the state consists of hills, traditionally growing diverse crops as polycultures and sustaining about 50% of its population. As the contribution of agricultural biodiversity for food and nutritional security of native farming communities is often undervalued, the present communication succinctly documents the important features of traditional small-holder farming of Uttarakhand hills. About 70–80% of the native people living in rural areas depend on farming for their livelihoods, with the majority relying on small scale crop-livestock systems, including those that are integrated with long haul pastoral systems. The integration of crop and livestock production systems increases the diversity, along with environmental sustainability, of both sectors. At the same time it provides opportunities for increasing overall production and economics of farming. Being rich in agricultural biodiversity and food culture, use of locally available traditional food resources including wild harvested food resources in agricultural systems should be part of frontline strategies for nutrition interventions in Uttarakhand hills. The revitalization of local food systems is believed to be an imperative starting point in the local, regional and national framework of agrobiodiversity conservation, dietary diversification and food sovereignty in the Himalayan highlands. The present communication also suggests the need of a proactive alliance between local communities and their key allies across agriculture, food, and public health sectors in collaboratively creating a research and advocacy agenda in support of agrobiodiversity and the revival of local food systems and landscapes within the broader framework of indigenous food sovereignty.