Focus Issue: Food Security and Sustainable Development in Mountains

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2012 "1 out of 3 mountain people in developing countries [was] vulnerable to food insecurity," while the "global estimate ... for the same countries ... [was] 1 out of 8 people" (Romeo et al 2015:40). The main causes of hunger and malnutrition-in mountains and globally- are rooted in persistent poverty, political and social marginalization, asymmetries in access to land and other natural resources, and the growingly uneven sharing of economic benefits derived from food value chains. In the following MountainPlatform article, the Centre for Mountain Studies (CMS) at Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, offers an interesting overview of its research, education, and knowledge exchange activities in thefield of sustainable development in mountains.