“I started this kitchen garden just to make sure my family had enough good food to eat, beetroot, carrots, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard greens. After the training under UNDP's Small Grants Programme, I realised I could grow enough to sell, not just to eat. Now other farmers in my village are asking me how to start their own gardens too.”
- Meryhun Lyngdoh

Their experiences are not isolated. Across the Himalayan region, from Meghalaya and Nagaland in the north-east to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, communities have long sustained place-based food systems through terrace cultivation, seed saving, water harvesting, mixed cropping, agroforestry, integrated crop-livestock systems, local processing, storage and exchange.

But these systems are under pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss and the erosion of traditional crop and livestock diversity, and a growing shift toward external inputs and chemical fertilisers.

The question is how these practices and the knowledge behind them can be sustained, strengthened and reflected in the policies and investments shaping the future of food in the Himalaya.

A roadmap built from the ground up

Launched in 2024, the Himalayan Agroecology Initiative (HAI) brings together governments, researchers, farmers' organisations, women's groups, civil society organisations and food-system enterprises to develop a shared vision for sustainable food systems across the Himalaya.

The initiative is developing an agroecology roadmap for India's Himalayan region that identifies how existing government schemes, public finance, and institutions can support communities like Meryhun's and Bandasuk's and strengthen fair links among producers, processors, markets, public programmes and consumers.

The initiative approaches agroecology not simply as a set of farming practices, but also as a science, a movement, and a pathway for transforming food systems.

Importantly, the roadmap itself is being shaped through consultations with central, state, and district governments, research institutions, food system actors and farming communities across Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, and Nagaland, with particular attention to women, Indigenous peoples, and tribal communities.

“It is meaningful to see our ideas and experiences reflected in this roadmap. We hope it will inspire action that supports mountain farmers, strengthens agroecological farming, and ensures that our natural resources and traditional knowledge are valued for generations to come.” 

- Shri Nek Ram, Farmer, Himachal Pradesh

These consultations are also looking at how existing public programmes can work better together. The roadmap examines how flagship government schemes, including the National Mission on Natural Farming and the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, can be better aligned with programmes for livestock, forests and commons, water, rural livelihoods, health and nutrition, processing and local enterprise.

It also considers how decentralised public procurement, such as PM POSHAN, can create reliable demand for locally grown, culturally appropriate and nutritious food, while ensuring fair conditions for small-scale producers and processors.

“The roadmap provides a comprehensive framework to strengthen agroecological production systems, value chains, and institutional collaboration in Nagaland. Its successful implementation will depend on strong convergence across government departments, alignment with state priorities, and sustained partnerships to build resilient livelihoods while safeguarding our fragile mountain ecosystems.”
- Shri Mhathung Yanthan, Advisor (Agriculture), Government of Nagaland

HAI is supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), coordinated by the World Future Council and IFOAM–Organics International, and implemented in India by the Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT, with UNDP serving as a technical partner.

Strengthening living food systems

While the roadmap looks at policy and public investment, its starting point is the food systems that communities already know and continue to practice, adapt and innovate.

Across the Himalayan region, these include context-specific soil and water management, agroforestry, integrated crop-livestock systems, communal management of forests and pastures, and local methods of processing, preservation and exchange.

In Kharal Valley in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district, many of these practices remain part of everyday farming. These include water harvesting through kulhs, traditional channels that divert water from mountain streams into agricultural fields, and grain storage in traditional systems such as kothdi (wooden boxes) and Khaulda (sacks of goat skin) for preserving grains and pulses.

Millets, buckwheat, barley, amaranth, and sea-buckthorn, together with pulses, vegetables, fruits, animal-source foods and locally processed products, contribute to diverse livelihoods and culturally appropriate diets and are climate-resilient. Their value lies not only in individual commodities, but in the ecological relationships, knowledge, labour and food cultures that sustain them.

The challenge is also to ensure that what communities produce can reach consumers in ways that benefit local producers. HAI is working to strengthen territorial food economies that connect these diverse crops, livestock products and locally processed foods with storage, aggregation, transport, local markets and decentralised public procurement.

This will improve producer returns and the availability, affordability and cultural relevance of healthy diets, while avoiding value chains that simplify production, displace local foods or concentrate benefits away from communities.

Women at the centre

Central to these food systems are women.

Women cultivate fields, conserve seeds, manage natural resources, process and sell products, and ensure household nutrition, often while balancing the demands of unpaid care and domestic work. Their workloads and risks often increase due to outmigration, human-wildlife conflicts, climate change, unequal rights and limited access to services, while their knowledge, labour and leadership remain undervalued.