FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND

BIODIVERSITY

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

FOOD SECURITY

• Most important driving force behind NGO moment

• Making people food secure: major discourse in ’80s & ’90s

• Many ways of tackling food security• Enlarged into livelihood security in

recent times

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• 1996. World Food Summit in Rome• Large countries of the North made

very little commitment• Trade as a means of food security• Ground being readied for TNCs

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• World food trade runs into hundreds of billion dollars

• Food & seed as new tools for imperialism

• Sends alarm bells around the world

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• Discourse shifts to Food Sovereignty

• A term coined by Via Campasina• One’s right to produce one’s own

food in one’s own location• Community food sovereignty

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• Denying food that is culturally appropriate is a political act

• In opposition, food sovereignty emphasises on the right to produce food at ones own location, appropriate to ecology and culture

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• …implies ecological techniques and stewardship of agriculture, agricultural biodiversity, moving away from intensive agriculture, creation of rural employment and diverse food cultures.

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• At the national and local levels it advocates Farmers' Control Regime that involves access to land, farmers’ control over seed and ending women's exclusion. Farmers’ control regime also means No Patents on Life as well as farmers’ access to markets

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

• At the global level it wants reform in global food trade which involves ensuring end to "dumping" and subsidies for intensive agriculture. Ensuring fair prices for farmers and protecting local markets. Preference for domestic food crops before export crops.

CROPS OF TRUTH

BIODIVERSITYBASED PRODUCTION SYSTEM OF DECCAN,

INDIA

Farmers’ Perceptions

• Moisture requirements

• High storability• No weeding

required• Tasty foods

Farmers’ Perceptions

• Cooking quality• Commercial

value• High

productivity

MOISTURE REQUIREMENT

• Pesari & Minumu are comparatively delicate and need the first few heavy showers of the monsoon. Therefore, they are sown during the first fortnight of the Mirgam

MOISTURE REQUIREMENT

• Crops like lentils are sown on low-lying areas where there is extra moisture present in the soil.

MOISTURE REQUIREMENT

Little Millet and Niger demand the least soil moisture; sown in the fifth or sixth fortnight, in Asaleru, almost 10 weeks after monsoon, especially if rains fail to arrive.

DETERMINANTS

• High storability Foxtail millet, Kodo millet, Little millet• Tastiest foods

Pigeonpea daal, Pearl millet roti and Foxtail millet

• Suitable for particular soil typesPigeonpea

STORABILITY, TASTE

DETERMINANTS

• Most fertile soils needed

Chilli and Sunflower• High commercial value

Pigeonpea and Sesame• Highly productive[barkath]

Bishop’s weed

MARKET & PRODUCTIVITY

DETERMINANTS

• Soil types

Black soils : Sorghum, chickpea, mustard

Red soils, Pachajonna, pigeonpea and hibiscus.

Extent of soil type determines crop mix.

DETERMINANTS

DETERMINANTS

• Need to raise two or more crops during a yearTo optimise production farmers go for the best crop mix within their multiple cropping system. On black soils they grow green and black grams during the rainy Kharif and harvest them in about three months. A range of winter crops are planted in the same space.

OPTIMISING PRODUCTION

DETERMINANTS

• Crop durations Gareeb Jonna, an early maturing variety of sorghum is grown because it is harvested within three months of sowing. At this point of time there is hunger at home. All the dry fodder would be over and the cattle would begin to starve. Foxtail millet and Gareeb Jonna are grown to meet both these food and fodder needs.

ANSWERING HUNGER

DETERMINANTS

• Need for fodder Sorghum, pearl millet,

Cowpea, dollichos etc.• Need for cash Bishop’s Weed• Food security Kharif sorghum• Fuel wood Pigeonpea • Thatching/fencing material

• Need for fibre Amaranthus, Sunhemp

FOOD & FIBRE

DETERMINANTS

• Special foods for specific festivals

Pyalala Jonna (Popping Sorghum) which is used in Nagula Panchami

• Rejuvenating soil fertility and ‘strength’

Niger, horsegram• Need for oil

Safflower

FOR SOIL & OIL

DETERMINANTS

• Need to prepare land for the next crop

Sunhemp• Medicinal properties

Mustard, Traditional sugarcane, Korra• To ward off/reduce pest incidence

Marigold

MEDICINE & PESTS

DETERMINANTS

• Most prone to pest attackPigeonpea, field beans and Dolichos lablab

• Most labour involved [in processing]Little Millet and Foxtail millet

• No Weeding required

Niger and Sunhemp

DETERMINANTS

DIVERSITY & CULTURE

• Pyalala jonnaFor Nagula Panchami

• KorraluFor Peddala Amavasya

• ChickpeaFor Polelu for many festivals

DIVERSITY & CULTURE

• GATLU, THE GERMINATION RITUAL

• SOONYAM PANDUGA, CHECKING THE GROWTH

DIVERSITY & CULTURE

ENDLAGATTE

PUNNAM• To show how

many varieties are grown on my field; and to thank Goddess for these varieties

SEED SELECTION

• Vaasana, the odour• Vanne, the colour • The grain

appearance• The size