The Hindu Kush Himalayas are among the most disaster-prone regions in the world, beset with extreme events, leading to significant livelihood threats for its marginalised agrarian communities. This project aims to enhance the resilience of agrarian Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) against risks posed by natural and anthropogenic events through comprehensive risk assessment and capacity-building. It will employ a holistic approach to promote stable and sustainable agriculture in the fragile mountainous ecosystems of India, Bhutan, and Nepal. A risk accounting and auditing tool will enable a comprehensive empirical assessment of risks and damages using geospatial and socio-metric analyses. An online interactive course module on risk assessment, mitigation and resilient agricultural adaptation techniques for high-altitudinal agrarian socioecologies will foster knowledge among researchers and practitioners. Gender-inclusive capacity-building workshops will enable 7000 direct beneficiary farmers from the three selected countries to access and use risk-related information while learning and adopting place-based agricultural adaptations. A mitigation planning system will enable a two-way feedback system between farmers and experts. Finally, country-specific policy briefs will be developed, advocating for the integration of risk auditing and assessment in national and regional climate action plans, ensuring gender-just and equitable frameworks for mitigation.
Project • CBA2025-07MY-Sengupta