This publication seeks to document the findings of a study on the general characteristics of agrodiversity, its significance, status, rate of change, and causal factors; the ecological, social, and policy dimensions of agrodiversity and their impact on the loss of agrobiodiversity; and existing strategies for the management of agroecosystems in
On 25 April, Nepal experienced a catastrophic earthquake that not only took the lives of over 8,000 people, injured over 22,000, and displaced over 100,000, it also affected the livelihoods of over 2.28 million households and pushed an additional 700,000 people below the poverty line.
Reducing poverty, hunger, and food insecurity are overarching goals of the Government of Pakistan. The government is committed to inclusive and equitable socioeconomic development and eradicating hunger, and as a part of this is currently preparing an Agriculture and Food Security Policy.
This paper investigates the underlying causes of poor economic growth of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, despite being endowed with relatively rich natural resources. Against the conventional view, the analysis reveals that poor economic growth is not due to a particular factor but an outcome of a myriad of social, economic and political factors rooted in structural, historical and macro-economic policies.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are connected by the combined system of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, but erratic water supplies and pressures of population growth are leading to tensions over management of these transboundary waters. GOLAM RASUL outlines the main issues of transboundary water management in this Himalayan basin and the opportunities that exist to improve cooperation between these countries.
With limited land resources, inadequate energy supply, and growing water stress, South Asia faces the challenge of providing enough water and energy to grow enough food for the burgeoning population. Using secondary data from diverse sources, this paper explores the food, water, and energy nexus from a regional dimension, emphasizing the role of Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) ecosystem services in sustaining food, water, and energy security downstream.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal in the Eastern Himalayas are interconnected by the common river systems of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (GBM). The GBM basin is home to approximately 700 million people, comprising over 10% of the world's population. The economy and environment of the region depend on water, but while the need for water is increasing, poor management and climate-related effects are making water supplies erratic.
The ecosystem services derived from conservation areas have a high value for human well being, but they do not receive due consideration in public policy in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. As a result, conservation areas do not receive adequate public support for participatory management and other approaches.
In the face of climatic and other socioeconomic changes, most South Asian countries having large and growing population, limited land resources, and increasing water stress face a common challenge of how to grow more food with the same or less land, less water, and increased energy prices.
Around half of the world’s population depends directly or indirectly on mountain resources for different products and services. Having a means for economic valuation of these services will help increase recognition of their value and provide a way of ensuring fair distribution of the costs and benefits of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
