With over two-thirds of the 120 million people still dependent on farming as their primary source of sustenance, the task of overcoming poverty, inequality, and marginality and improving the well-being of mountain people must begin by addressing the problems of mountain agriculture. Without improvements in the millions of small mountain farms, there will be little positive impact, either on poverty or on the mountain environment. These farms must be seen as the pivotal focus of the problems and also of the opportunities in sustainable mountain development. Ways must be found to identify appropriate technologies, policies, support services, and organisations that can be easily accessed by mountain farmers. Economically-productive and environmentally-sustainable mountain agriculture is almost a precondition for the expansion of non-agricultural income and employment opportunities. Moving mountain agriculture on to a more sustainable path is also critical for improving the conditions of the mountain environment.
This programme focusses mainly on the individual farming household and the small plot of agricultural land it owns or rents. Decisions on the type of crop to be planted or the type of livestock to raise are being made by the farming household. With many women playing an extremely important role in mountain farming systems, this Division acts also as ICIMOD's focal point for its gender and development programme.