Climate Change Impacts on Indigenous Diets, Health Perceptions, and Traditional Medicine: Perspectives from Older Adults in the Indian Himalayan Region

Rural populations in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) have customarily depended on traditional diets and herbal medicine for sustenance and health. Older adults have been the primary custodians of traditional agricultural practices and indigenous medical knowledge. In the last few decades, the IHR has faced tremendous ecological pressure from various sources, with climate change being an integral force in re-shaping the agricultural and healthcare practices of residents. To explore the health experiences of older adults within the context of climate change, we undertook a qualitative study in three villages along the Indo-China border to study conceptions of health, health behaviours, healthcare utilisation, and healthy ageing. We found that climate change has impacted the availability, quality, quantity, and efficacy of traditional foods and herbs. This has engendered dependence on non-traditional diets that are believed to have introduced new diseases, which must now be treated with unfamiliar modern medicines. This chain of impacts is largely viewed unfavourably by older adults who have deep faith in traditional practices but are compelled to seek alternative dietary and medical options. This chapter highlights how climate change can acutely impact the health of vulnerable populations that are directly dependent on natural resources for food and medicine.