Når man overser og tilsidesætter bjergenes folk i et bjergland

“People in the mountains of Nepal are worse off in terms of total poverty – food and non-food poverty,” said Jean-Yves Gerlitz.

He is co-author of a recent study on mountain poverty, and statistical analyst at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an intergovernmental regional organization based in the capital, Kathmandu.

In assessing the government-administered Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) of 2003-2004, the authors noted that 40 percent of the 12 million people living in the mountainous and hilly regions of Nepal were below the poverty line (91 US dollar per year), compared to a national average of 31 percent of 29 million people.

Nepal is divided into three geographic zones – the northern mountains, central hills, and southern plains – each extending lengthwise through the country.

The population is disproportionately (ulige) distributed across these zones, with half residing in the plains, 43 percent in the hills, and only 7 percent in the mountains.

While data from the 2011 NLSS reveal a declining national poverty rate – now at 25 percent – indigenous mountain groups still fare worse.

ICIMOD says mountain and hill communities, compared to those living in the plains, have less access to “improved” sources of safe drinking water and electricity, and live hours away from road networks, markets and financial services.

Difficult terrain “aggravates (forværrer) the problems of access to essential services such as health, education, and livelihood support,” the report pointed out.

Households are more likely to be headed by a family member without formal education, and with more youth leaving to seek work in urban centres or abroad, the women, children and elderly are often left behind to bear the work burden, Gerlitz said.

General planning, special needs