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Towards Food Sovereignty
Initiatives and Lessons from India
Ashish Kothari Kalpavriksh / ICCA Consortium
Several thousand years old65-70% population occupied Extremely diverse: • Several thousand domesticated animals and
plants• wild foods • ways of life (settled/shifting cultivation,
nomadic/settled pastoralism, hunting-gathering, agroforestry, fisheries …)
• knowledge systems, expertise, skills • cultural beliefs & practices relating to agriculture• cuisines and foods
India’s agricultural heritage
Indias domesticated biodiversity: ecosystems
• Agricultural ecosystem diversity– Settled, shifting– Cultivated, pastoral, fisheries
India’s domesticated biodiversity: species • Domesticated species diversity– One of 8 global centres of crop plant origin– 166 crop species originate in India
Indias domesticated biodiversity: genetic
–Diversification within crops, e.g.• Rice: 50,000 - 300,000 varieties• Mango: >1000 varieties• Sorghum: >5000 varieties• Centre of diversity for rice, wheat, sugarcane,
legumes, sesame, eggplant, okra, citrus, banana, mango, jamun, jute, ginger, millets….
Diversification within livestock: • 26 cattle breeds• 40 sheep breeds• 18 poultry breeds• at least 35 dog breeds
India’s domesticated biodiversity: genetic
WHY / HOW THIS DIVERSITY?
Deliberate selection and adaptation by farmers and pastoralists, for: *resilience / buffer against disaster*diverse needs (food, medicine, cultural)
‘Green / White revolution’ models (1960s-onwards)
•addiction to outside seeds, water, fertilisers, pesticides, credit •soil loss and degradation•dependence on market, govt, moneylenders•monocultures, bias against diversity •neglect of dryland agriculture & shifting cultivation
•From frying pan (state control) to fire (corporate control)
Impoverishment of marginal/small farmers: >300,000 suicides!
Destruction of India’s agriculture
Continued food insecurity, hunger…
• Upto 2/3rd population deprived of adequate nutritious food
• World’s largest number of malnourished and undernourished women/children
• 60 million people displaced by ‘development’ projects; many more dispossessed of survival resources
Towards alternatives
• Reviving traditional diversity (millets)• Promoting cultivated and wild foods• Creating community grain banks • Empowering dalit women farmers, securing land rights
Deccan Development Society: conservation, equity, & livelihoods through sustainable agriculture
Thriving in drylands
Nadimidoddi Vinodamma 3 acres45 crop varieties (millets/pulses/vegetables)Food sufficiency for family (1st priority)Rs. 200,000 sale in market (with expenditure of Rs. 18,000)Fully organic, all local seeds
Creating localised, cyclical economy
• Consumer-producer links (Zaheerabad organic food restaurant / shop) • Linking to Public Distribution System
Deccan Development Society (contd)
Towards 100% organic, Kedia village (Jamui), Bihar
Vermicompost replacing fertilisersHerbal potions replacing pesticides Mixed cropping revived
An individual revolutionary…Natwar Sarangi
Narishu vill, Cuttack dist, Odisha
GenX: Jubraj Swain
Growing >400 varieties of rice
Seed albums and banks
Sustaining wild foods>8000 species (food, medicine, fodder)Crucial nutritional supplement, buffer in drought
Documentation, festivals, regeneration
Dharani: farmer’s company(facilitated by Timbaktu Collective)
Greater market access, better prices, all organic, relations with consumers
Changing urban mindsets on foodRooftop / backyard farming (>10,000
families in Bengaluru)Organic, traditional food markets /fairs Producer-consumer cooperatives Not-for-profit shops (e.g. reStore, Chennai)
Coalition Against GMAlliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA)Millet Network of Indian (MiNI)MAKAAM (women farmers’ network)Food Sovereignty AllianceBeej Bachao Andolan (Save the Seeds Campaign)
Movements, alliances for resistance & alternatives
The government responds …
• Food Security Act 2013• Organic farming support in 16 states • Some states targetting 100% organic
(but still marginal compared to dominant policy)
Towards a sustainable and equitable society … 5 pillars
•Ecological sustainability–Conservation of nature, sustainable use of resources
•Social well-being & justice–Equality between men/women, classes, castes, etc
•Direct democracy–Decision-making by citizens, accountable govt
•Economic democracy–Means of production in hands of producers, localised self-sufficiency, economy of caring/sharing
•Cultural and knowledge diversity–Knowledge as public resource, respecting cultural/ethnic diversity
Eco-swaraj: Radical ecological democracy
(Radical = going to the roots)
• achieving human well-being, through: – empowering all citizens & communities to participate in
decision-making– ensuring socio-economic equity & justice – respecting the limits of the earth
Community (at various levels) as basic unit of organisation, not state or private corporation
Hey, don’t forget the spices …
Fundamental values & principles • Diversity and pluralism (of ideas, knowledge, ecologies, economies,
polities, cultures…)• Self-reliance for basics (swavalamban)• Cooperation, collectivity, and ‘commons’ • Rights with responsibilities/duties• Dignity of labour• Respect for subsistence • Qualitative pursuit of happiness• Equity / equality (gender, caste, class, ethnic)• Simplicity, enoughness (aparigraha)• Decision-making access to all• Respect for all life forms • Ecological sustainability
Vikalp Sangams (Alternatives Confluences): practical collaborations, bottom-up visioning
Regional confluencesTimbaktu, Andhra Pradesh, Oct 2014Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Feb 2015Ladakh, J&K, July 2015Wardha, Maharashtra, October 2015
Thematic confluencesEnergy, Food, Youth, Learning/education
www.alternativesindia.orgwww.vikalpsangam.org
