TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN AGRICULTURE FOR ADAPTATION/ RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE: HIGH MOUNTAIN ASIA
Abstract
Mountain agricultural systems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) are in a unique position to
contribute to promoting nature-based solutions in adaptation and resilience to climate change since
they are least impacted by the influence of commercial high-production agriculture. This study
aims to explore currently available literature for evidence of Traditional Ecological Knowledge
(TEK) based agriculture in the HKH region and analyse their contribution to region and location
specific climate change adaptation. This is achieved by collection of TEK-based agricultural
practices through a systematic literature survey and analysis of their contribution to climate change
adaptation through the visualization of the distribution of TEK practices against potential climate
change-related hazards for the region and evaluating them against climate adaptation priorities set
by HKH countries. The results show that there is a multitude of TEK-based agricultural practices
in the HKH region, the most common of which include indigenous soil and fertility management,
agroforestry and traditional mechanisms of responding to agroecological shocks. The results also
show that these TEK practices can directly contribute towards achieving climate change adaptation
priorities of the HKH states. The highest contribution from the available records of TEK-based
agriculture is towards the adaptation priorities of developing water and nutrient-efficient crop
cultivation systems and improving soil organic matter. The study concludes that TEK-based
agricultural practices are indeed significant contributors to climate change adaptation and
resilience, except for when traditional practices are deformed due to multiple external stressors
that could rather render them climate change aggravators. The study emphasises the need to
conserve indigenous lands and indigenous ways of life in order to ensure sustainability of TEKbased
agriculture and calls upon the integration of TEK in regional and local adaptation
frameworks for climate change adaptation in HKH.
Degree
Student essay
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2023-06-22Author
Samarasekara Witharana, Dulani Lavanya
Keywords
climate change adaptation
resilient agroecosystems
Hindu Kush Himalaya
indigenous knowledge
traditional farming
traditional ecological knowledge
Series/Report no.
B1242
Language
eng