Resilient Local Food Systems and Capabilities for Sustainable Development in Uttarakhand

This paper explores how resilient, locally rooted food systems in Uttarakhand can serve as a foundation for achieving nutrition, livelihood, and ecological security in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing on Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and recent literature on transformative resilience, the study argues that food resilience in mountain regions must go beyond short-term adaptation to build systems that expand human freedoms and capabilities. Using a combination of secondary data, regional policy analysis, and studies from Uttarakhand, the paper identifies key challenges, including the marginalization of traditional crops in food provisioning schemes, limited mountain-specific agricultural support, and institutional fragmentation across food, nutrition, and climate programs. At the same time, promising models—such as women-led food enterprises, local millet procurement, and climate-adaptive cropping practices—demonstrate how capability-enhancing interventions can promote both nutrition security and systemic resilience. The findings underscore the need for a more integrated and regionally sensitive policy framework that recognizes the ecological, cultural, and economic value of traditional food systems. The paper suggests policy focus areas that need to be undertaken by various key stakeholders to improve and attain sustainable development goals and capabilities of the region. By supporting traditional local food and advancing institutional support for agroecology, local procurement, and gender-inclusive governance, Uttarakhand can move toward a food system that not only withstands shocks, but also prosper.