UN-backed meeting calls for more strategic approach to mountain development

A United Nations-backed meeting on mountains has forged a consensus among over 60 representatives from governments, civil society and international organizations on the need for a more coherent approach to sustainable agriculture and rural development in the world's highland areas.

This call came in a statement issued at the close of the third meeting of the Adelboden Group for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountain Regions held 1-3 October at the Rome headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Physically isolated and socially and politically marginalized, mountain populations are among the most vulnerable in the world, FAO said in a news release, noting that 840 million chronically undernourished people live in highland areas and about 270 million mountain people lack food security, with 135 million suffering chronic hunger.

“Higher priority should be given to mountain issues in national, regional and global policymaking either through incorporating mountain specific requirements into general policies or through specific mountain policies,” the Group said in a statement read at the end of its meeting.

Governments with mountain regions were urged to better integrate mountain areas into national economies and foster economic diversification in highland regions by helping farmers, craftsmen and foresters add value to their products.

The group also stressed the need to provide policy support to indigenous mountain communities, whose traditional local knowledge and know-how often help conserve the mountain environment and biodiversity and represent a sustainable approach to highland agriculture.

Established in June 2002 in Adelboden, Switzerland, the group serves as a forum for discussion of policies, exchanges of experience, and coordinated planning. It also acts as an advisory board for FAO's project on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountain Regions.