ESSENC

CE - Interna
ational Jourrnal for Envvironmentaal Rehabilitaation and Conservation
n
Volume VI: No. 2 2015 [63
[ – 70] [ISS
SN 0975 - 62722]
[ww
ww.essence-jouurnal.com]

Threat to Food Security:

S H
Himalayas
s grapplingg in presen
nt scenariio of unavooidable
Climatee Change

Rawat, Jaiyati
J and Rawat, Laxxmi

Received: October 17, 2015  Acceepted: Novem

mber 18, 20155  Online: December
D 31, 2015

Abstractt
Observinng, exploring g and invesstigating thinngs to many
m resourrces of this nature. Eithher it is
are the elements th hat define human
h natuure. fressh water, biodiversity, forest prodducts or
With thiss tendency of o exploratioon, human has h carbbon storagee; the Him malayas are always
made thiis whole world a small entity for hiim. knoown for theirr ‘wealth of Nature’. Buut due to
This speccialty of man nkind is a giift from natuure. unaavoidable immpacts of Climate
C Channge, the
During the
t course of o evolution,, human beiing funcctioning of the Himalayas is thrreatened.
saw maany turn over o which led him to Climmate, on the earth, is chaanging and itt has led
understannd the con ncept behindd the Mothher to many
m impaccts on envirronment andd human
Nature ass well its relevance for his
h survival. He sociiety. But the severee problem is the
learnt how to adapt in his surrouundings, how w to emeergence of multiple
m streessors on ouur socio-
use the nature’s
n resources and thus it helpped econnomic systtems becauuse of population
him for his
h survival and also too stay in touuch explosion, increeased urbannization, unreestricted
with the nature. Man n has learnt how
h to adaptt to resoource use and imbalanceed economic growth.
nature extremities,, by thee means of How wever, vulnnerability too this unavvoidable
developm ment and asccertaining his environmeent. Climmate Changee will aggravvate the situuation of
But this rapid devellopment hass disturbed the t the Himalayan communitiees, who are heavily
fragile baalance of maan and naturre and it can be dependent on thhe resourcess and are exxtremely
construedd in the fo orm of Cliimate Channge. senssitive to anyy change. Agriculture
A h been
has
Considerring the Himalayas,
H the younggest founnd to be exttremely senssitive to anyy change
mountainn chain of th he world, is a life channeel in thhe Climate and sudden changes maay result
intoo vulnerabiility to human h sustenance.
For corrrespondence: Climmate determ mines foodd security of the
Ecology & Environm ment, Forest Research Himmalayan coommunities,, who reely on
Institute,, Dehradun
agriiculture for their subsistence needs. The
63 
 Rawat & Rawat/Vol. VI [2] 2015/63 – 70
persistent changes in the Climatic pattern have
led to decrease in area under irrigation,
resulting in low crop productivity and also a
shift in forest biodiversity. Forest, soil and
water conservation are the important issues
which has to be taken care of in order to reduce
future endangerments. Climate Change has
posed new challenges to natural resource
management and livelihood and particularly to
‘Food Security’.
Keywords: Climate Change | Himalaya |
Food Security | Agriculture
Introduction
Human civilization has always been dependent
on nature and its resources and when they
acquired traditional knowledge and skills, they
adopted agriculture as their basic necessity and
a mode of endurance. This human necessity by
the passage of time linked them to other parts
of ecosystem which itself undergo changes or
alterations in order to serve mankind and above
all various forms of nature (Wood, 1993).
Overall, agriculture can be related as a crucial
part of biodiversity through which people get
nurtured and is itself nurtured by the people
(FAO, 1995). Thus we can consider agriculture
as an eminent part of our ecosystem which
helps us to thrive and fulfils our resource
dependency.
The mystique feature of Himalayan agrarian
system is its significant diverseness and a
prominent level of self-sufficiency which in
turn act as a basis for sustainable development
and food security. The Himalayas have a
complete different biodiversity and human
acculturations (Xu et al., 2007). The crop
production is completely dependent upon the
 
existing climatic conditions of the region and
not on the markets. This is because of the
traditional skills that the people of the
Himalayan region have acquired and have
adapted and have included their agrarian
system in the form of their culture. However,
reacting to changes is the human tendency
which he has brought in his culture also, either
they are positive or negative (Maikhuri et al.,
1999). The positive changes lead to food
security and the negative ones lead to the
insecure part which may prove calamitous.
Climate Change has now been reckoned as a
‘threat’, and there are surmises that changing
climatic patterns may lead to the issues of food
security. Climate Change, also cited as a man-
made environmental challenge (Sharma and
Chauhan, 2011), is now aiming the agrarian
system to the level of vulnerability. Studies
have shown that in a few years, direct and
unfathomed impacts of changing climate will
be discernible on agriculture (Scott et al.,
1990). The Himalayan communities which are
completely dependent on their traditional
cropping system are the most vulnerable to this
scenario. Results of changing climatic patterns
may lead to water scarcity, lack of fodder
which will lead to less domestication of
animals used in agriculture, low soil fertility,
lessened traditional crop production etc.
(Rawat, 2013).
Water in the Himalayas is present in the form
of snow or ice or wetlands, aquifers etc.
(Vaidya, 2011) but the Himalayan cropping
system is basically centred on rainfed system.
But the rising climate issue will lead to
increase in temperature and less precipitation,
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 Rawat & Rawat/Vol. VI [2] 2015/63 – 70
affect on soil fertility, reduced groundwater
reserves and rapid floods and droughts, thus
inducing a threat to food security. However, it
is expected that some Himalayan areas will
experience an increased water supply and
others will get reduced water supply (Vohra,
1981). The changes in the timing and intensity
of Monsoons will cause increased runoff thus
causing rapid erosions leading to deterioration
of the fragile balance of Himalayan ecosystem
with its agriculture and biodiversity related to
it (Singh et al., 2011).
The Himalayas that have huge area reserved in
the form of permafrost (Li and Chen, 1999), is
now found to be shrinking and it is found to
have impact on hydrology of the area, the flora
and fauna and above all biodiversity of the area
which in turn will directly or indirectly effect
the food chain and regional water resources of
the people of the Himalayas (Trisal and
Kumar, 2008). On the other hand, increased
warming will cause species shift (Telwala,
2011), increased occurrence of pests and
diseases, change in species composition etc.
(Tse-ring et al., 2010) and hence will affect
food security of the people of the area by
affecting the biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning (Schutze and Mooney, 1994), and
also causing a negative effect on the
productivity and health of the crops of the
region. Further rise in temperature may also
result in decline of various traditional crop
varieties and plantations of crops from
lowlands thus threatening regional populations
and agriculture activities (Higgins et al., 2003;
Nogues- Bravo et al., 2007; Telwala et al.,
2013).
 
Global climatic change is predicted to affect
Himalayan ecosystem by inducing shifts in
intensity and timing of climatic systems of the
Himalayas (Xu et al., 2007). However, humans
have been adapting to these recurrent climatic
changes either they are natural or human
induced (Smithers and Smit, 1997). Studies
have shown that the relaying impacts of
changing Climate are uneven for the
Himalayan region and the communities
associated with it, thus making the people of
the area more prone to the impacts of Climate
Change (Bryan et al., 2009; Parmesan and
Yohe, 2003). Since, the mountain communities
are completely dependent on nature for their
sustenance, with respect to rainfed agriculture,
thus making their livelihood more vulnerable
and extremely sensitive to any change in
Climate (Ramay, 2011; ICIMOD, 2011).
The direct impacts of Climate Change can be
marked on the Himalayas and studies have
shown observations regarding changes in the
phenology of the crops in response to changes
in Climatic conditions which involve early
ripening of seeds and growth of crops which
earlier were not possible to grow in extreme
conditions of the Himalayan regions (Root and
Hughes, 2005; Dye and Tucker, 2003).
Increase in temperature may affect pollination
and hence affecting the ecosystem functioning
of the area which may lead to the extinction of
the native species or loss of genetic diversity of
the mountainous regime (Halpin, 1994; Singh
et al., 2010; Thomas, 2005; OECD, 1996). The
other study suggests the adaptation of other
species in place of native ones by either
replacing the original ones by competing them
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 Rawat & Rawat/Vol. VI [2] 2015/63 – 70
or by adapting the rigorous climate of the
Himalayas (Street and Semenov, 1990).
Agriculture, land use and food security for the
Himalayan regions have been examined by
Ghosh and Shama (2011). With the rise in
frequency of unfavourable changes in the
Himalayas, and because of the resource
dependency of the people of the hills on
agriculture and non-agriculture systems, the
livelihood of the people is in threat (IPCC,
2007a, b; Kreutzmann, 1993). These
conditions are more aggravated by lack of
sufficient agricultural land holdings, climatic
stresses, lack of irrigation, barriers to market
participation, decline in good agriculture land
etc., are some of the challenges to households
of the mountains which are dependent on
agriculture and livestock production, which
play an important role in food security and are
meant to be affected (Goodall, 2004;
Hoermann et al., 2010; Tulachan, 2001;
Fischer et al., 2002a; Singh et al., 2011).
But the question to the arising threat and
factors related to Food Security related to
climate change are still open to the debate
(Iqbal et al., 2011). The climatic factors have
lead to observations of either decline in the
growth of crop production, crop substitution
(Chand et al., 2008), land conversion from
traditional farming in the Himalayas to cash
crop farming (Xu et al., 2006; Chen, 2007;
Tulachan, 2001) or migration leading to
abandoning of agricultural lands (Khanal and
Watanabe, 2006).
Conclusion
Since there is a limited knowledge regarding
the level of uncertainties of the impacts of
 
changing Climate on the Himalayas, the actual
situation cannot be magnified without
scientific investigations and approaches. The
problem can be solved if we consider local
knowledge, culture and local people’s
perceptions to the changing climate and its
relation to the agricultural activities of the
people of the mountains regarding to their food
security. Thus a serious assessment is required
to make strategies to help the Himalayan
communities to get adapted to the changing
Climate scenario, by their vast knowledge and
skills. However, the Himalayan communities
have sustained a long way in the changing
environments but they are themselves
unknown about the worst challenges that they
may have to face in near future and that is why
proper strategies and focus is urgently required
in the Himalayan region relating to
unavoidable Climate issues and upcoming
threat to Food security.
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