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72

High-quality mountain agricultural

products

Local and regional marketing of agricultural

products is expanding in many mountain areas,

encouraged by a growth in potential markets

in the surrounding lowlands. This opens up

development opportunities for the largely isolated

and marginalized mountain economies.

In the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania, the

communities grow crops throughout the year,

including temperate vegetables, which fetch a

high price in urban lowland centres. Likewise,

communities in the Usambara Mountains have

started growing tomatoes, which they sell to urban

communities in the lowlands (UNEP, [AEO-2] 2006).

There are many such cases of mountain communities

taking advantage of growing and selling products

that are unique to the mountain environment and

therefore sell at a higher price. This includes Arabica

coffee, a product of mountain areas such as the

Ethiopian Highlands, the Kenya Highlands, Mount

Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and Rwenzori. In some

areas, such as on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro,

farmers have gone a step further and are now growing

certified organic products to tap into the growing

demand from developed countries where a growing

number of consumers are becoming increasingly

conscious of the negative effects of consuming food

products containing pesticides.

Therefore, high-quality mountain products are

becoming an increasingly important means of

improving the livelihoods of mountain communities

around the world. In Africa, the FAO Mountains

Products Programme, developed in the context of

the Mountain Partnership, is working to improve

the production and marketing of quality local

products by providing mountain communities with

the necessary organizational skills, market linkages,

technology and expertise. Efforts to promote the

initiative are ongoing in mountain countries of the

region. Examples include the Dean’s Beans Organic

Coffee Company, which works in collaboration with

Ethiopian coffee to ensure high-quality production

that is sold at fair trade prices. Similar efforts are

being made in Uganda to introduce high-value

crops in highland and mountain regions – areas

facing high population pressures, land shortages

and environmental degradation.

Water harvesting and irrigation for

land restoration

Water harvesting is a very important means of

accessing water in water deficient areas, while at the

same time averting hazards common to mountains

and their surrounding areas such as excessive run-

off, soil erosion and flooding. Many mountain

communities practice rainwater harvesting, ranging

from rooftop collection for domestic use to collecting

run-off from impervious surfaces such as rocks and

roads for gardens and crop irrigation. This has many

benefits including increased land productivity, the

restoration of unproductive land and the control of

environmental hazards. These practices are common

all over East Africa.

Laikipia District in Kenya, provides an example of

water harvesting for irrigation and land restoration.The

district lies on the leeward side of Mount Kenya and has

an annual average rainfall of approximately 700 mm;

the area is categorized as semi-arid. The communities

Tea plantation, Rwanda