Millet for Mountains: An Economic and Nutritional Model for Diversifying Farming Systems under Climate-Induced Crop Failure

The agricultural systems used in the mountains of Nepal are also on the brink of disaster by the effects of climatic failures that affect crops and as such endangering the food and income security of marginal households relying on food staples such as maize and potato. This paper looks into the possibility of introducing a traditional millet as a strategic buffer to such shocks. Based on a mixed-methods design, we gathered secondary data on 420 households in 3 of the most susceptible districts in terms of household survey data, and we used Propensity Score Matching to form similar groups of millet-growing and non-millet-growing households. We created a Millet Integration Index (MII) and simulated its role in determining economic and nutritional resilience during climate shocks. Findings show that millet integration can save a lot of farm income, and a one-unit MII increase would lead to a loss reduction of 12.3 percent. The nutritionally based household that had a high MII were three times more likely to retain high dietary diversity following a shock. Scenario analysis suggests that even 10-25 percent of cropped area devoted to millet would reduce loss of income by 14-27 percent and greatly enhance the results of the diet. The results highlight the importance of a policy paradox that is very crucial these days: although it has already been proved that it is resilient, millet continues to be marginalised by old-fashioned subsidies given to vulnerable staples. We believe that the encouragement of the production of millet is a key to a fair, sustainable, and green economic transition in mountainous areas, which would provide a synergistic approach to climate change adaptation, nutritional insurance, and diversification of the livelihood. The policy interventions should be focused on value chain support and changed incentives in order to unlock this potential.