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• Developingpolicies andguidelines on theproduction
and marketing of these products; and
• Building the capacity of farmers to produce quality
products that meet prescribed standards and assist
them in marketing their produce.
Open up mountain areas for
development through well planned
infrastructure, industry and settlements
Although mountain areas remain remote and
sensitive to development, their growing populations
and rich natural resources mean that they should not
be left behind in the process of national development.
There is a need for including programmes in the
Agenda that focus on opening up some of the
mountain areas for development, wherever possible
and appropriate. This could include: infrastructure
development toopenup remote and inaccessible areas
with potential for development; establishing small-
scale to medium-scale industries, including cottage
industries, based on existing mountain resources;
upgrading rural settlements to provide minimum
standards including developing townships with
public services such as water, electricity, education
andhealth facilities.While supplying power to remote
and isolated settlement areas may be a challenge,
possible solutions include the development of
innovative mini-hydropower generating dams on the
numerous rapids and waterfalls found along
mountain streams and the harnessing of solar power
from photo voltaic modules.
The construction of infrastructure such as roads may
present another big challenge on highly unstable
mountain slopes. However, well designed and
environmentally-sensitive road construction and
maintenance can go a long way to reducing the risk
of environmental degradation associated with road
construction.
The mining industry also provides opportunities for
development since many mountains contain valuable
mineral deposits with the potential for extraction; in
areas such as the Rwenzori Mountains, mining of
minerals such as copper and cobalt has been taking
place for a long time. Exploitation of these resources
for development is inevitable; however, mining
activities are very disruptive to mountain ecosystems
and may have a number of adverse environmental
impacts. It is essential, therefore, that carefully
designed and executed mining activities, adhere to
the principles of the ‘green economy’ approach: the
use of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA),
and the restoration of disturbed landscapes.
Interventions should seek to promote and monitor
programmes aimed at opening up mountains
for development, including the development of
industries, infrastructure and settlements through
the following actions:
• Mobilizing and sensitizing political leaders,
policymakers, investors and other key
stakeholders to the importance of developing
and implementing development programmes in
mountain areas; and
• Holding consultations with key actors on how
to move forward in pursuing infrastructure
development, with a view to facilitating future
resource mobilization for new developments.
Nyabugogo river valley in Kigali, Rwanda