Project funded by the European Union

The Support to Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in the Himalaya (Himalica) initiative aims to support poor and vulnerable mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH)  to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Our initiative is supported by the European Union.

Himalica is an integral part of ICIMOD’s Regional Programme on Adaptation to Climate Change, which has dual objectives to enhance resilience and support adaptation by vulnerable communities in the HKH. Its expected key results are:

• To enhance the capacities of national and regional stakeholders for improving livelihood development through more sustainable and efficient use of natural resources and the protection of the environment in the HKH.
• To reduce poverty among mountain people through increased resilience by unlocking new livelihood opportunities, and promoting more equitable approaches to development.

The Himalica Initiative has five main components:

• Policy support: Increasing the collaborative capacities of national and regional stakeholders to positively impact rural mountain livelihoods through the development of adapted policies that consider the impacts of socioeconomic and climate change.
• Knowledge management: Raising awareness and disseminating knowledge on the effects of climate change and adaptation responses.
• Action research: Generating evidence-based knowledge on climate change adaptation and mitigation by strengthening collaborative action research.
• Pilot projects: Implementing collaborative pilot projects to strengthen the resilience of mountain people in vulnerable areas through the delivery of services and products that will improve livelihood opportunities and encourage more sustainable natural resource management practices at the local level. Pilot interventions include the promotion and development of pro-poor value chains of mountain niche products and services; diversification of livelihood opportunities; and the promotion of ecologically sustainable tourism with direct community involvement and benefit
• Capacity building: Building the capacities of institutions of higher education, skills development, training institutions, and civil society organizations to scale-up best practices for improved resilience to climate change.

Key Results

The expected key results are:

• To enhance the capacities of national and regional stakeholders for improving livelihood development through more sustainable and efficient use of natural resources and the protection of the environment in the HKH.
• To reduce poverty among mountain people through increased resilience by unlocking new livelihood opportunities, and promoting more equitable approaches to development.

The initiative pays particular attention to addressing the challenges faced by women and strengthening and empowering their roles in adapting to and managing change.

Himalica is implemented on the ground jointly with partners in five countries of the HKH: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The initiative started in 4 December 2012 and ended in 3 March 2018. For more information, please contact us: himalica@icimod.org