Indigenous People are the ‘gene banks’ of the world

NEN celebrates Biodiversity Festival

  Morung Express News Chizami (Phek) | March 8   75 percent of the world’s biodiversity today is located on indigenous people’s lands—preservation of this knowledge makes indigenous people the ‘gene banks’ of the world. The loss of this could mean the loss of planet Earth as we know it.   This was stated by Phrang Roy, Coordinator, Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity & Food Sovereignty, Italy, and Chairperson, North East Slow Food & Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), India, during the Biodiversity Festival held at the North East Network (NEN) Resource Centre here today. The Festival drew 11 communities, NGOs, State Government representatives, church and village bodies from the region. [caption id="attachment_256049" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Santam women, Kiphire, perform at Biodiversity Festival.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_256050" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Seed Exhibition at Biodiversity Festival.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_256051" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Woman farmer from East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, exchanges seeds with woman farmer from Mesulumi village, Nagaland at Biodiversity Festival.[/caption] Most of the knowledge contained on indigenous lands is understood to be held in seeds that are at the centre of their biodiversity. Women farmers in Nagaland are going back to their roots, becoming seed investors by storing and exchanging indigenous seeds, restoring sovereignty of the peoples in its true sense.   “Women are the guardians and custodians of this knowledge,” said Roy while speaking as the Guest of Honour at the Festival today that saw women from various parts of Nagaland exchange seeds with each other as well as with women from Kalimpong (Lepcha people) and Jaintia Hills (Khasi people). The Biodiversity Festival saw an exhibition of cultivated, uncultivated crops diversity, an Earth Market and healing plants, as well as indigenous seeds from the region.   Women from indigenous communities have not just preserved biodiversity but also cultural diversity, tying together the forests and the people, culture and generations through storytelling.   With the onset of global capitalism, much of global biodiversity has been lost. There used to be 30,000-50,000 varieties of rice found in the east of the Indian sub-continent at some point of time, for instance, explained Roy, who was the first and only person of indigenous origin to become Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations.   Many have been lost due to uneven development and unequal opportunities throughout the world, particularly for women who are seed and culture guardians of communities.   Women and men are known to share equal responsibilities among indigenous communities. “Unless we recognise that women play an equal role, indigenous people will lose out tremendously,” he said, referring to the social, economic and political aspects of life. March 8 is commemorated around the world as International Women’s Day.   Climate Change Intensive agriculture and production has degraded lands and forests. Carbon Emission and Climate Change have become irreversible. 3-4 companies around the world control most of the world’s seeds.   Thus, “this exchange of seeds” that was facilitated by NEN between women seed keepers/farmers of the North East region is an act of resistance towards such “dangerous” trends, reminded Phrang Roy. “Let us go back to the cuisine of our grandparents,” he appealed to ensure humanity’s common longevity.   The upkeep of agro ecology has to become a “social movement” where in “believers” must be created through leadership among young people to take the process forward, he suggested. Further, science and traditional knowledge must also go hand-in-hand to ensure a shared future.   Building solidarity In 2014, women from Chizami village in Phek district of Nagaland exchanged millets seeds with Khasi women in Meghalaya during NEN’s Biodiversity Festival that year. In 2017, the Khasi women had managed to distribute millets grown out of Nagaland’s seeds to five villages in the East Khasi Hills.   “We are here to get more experience and share ideas so we get the confidence to preserve traditional farming systems,” said Phirianda Diengdoh, a farmer and seed banker from the East Khasi Hills who has tasted the fruits of Chizami’s seeds before. Now the West Khasi Hills also want to become seed bankers and promote exchange, she said in her solidarity message for the day.   For Tushar Pancholi from the Millet Network of Indian (MINI) in Gujarat, visiting Nagaland for the first time, all this biodiversity, and its friendly exchange, was “like a dream” as development has left no space for such in Gujarat anymore. He maintained that women farmers should be given the Nobel Prize for maintaining these “seed labs” and becoming the “backbone” of society. Exchange of seeds, he noted, ensures that if damaging capitalist trends do reach one location, all seeds are not lost.   Solidarity messages were also given by Dorip Lepcha from the Lepcha community from Kalimpong and Dr. Rinku Bharali from ICAR, KVK Phek. Folk performances were presented by the women of Sangtam, Chakhesang, Lepcha and Pochury communities. With prayers given by Mary Lasuh, the program was hosted by Wekoweu Tsuhah. The final event saw the screening of films on farmers of Phek district that led to a vibrant discussion between visiting and local farmers.  

Relook. Rethink. Restrategise.

  Morung Express News Chizami (Phek) | March 8   Women have been preserving biodiversity of our land, preserving seeds and sustaining communities. “Let us acknowledge their work by using this platform to relook, rethink and restrategise to recognise the contributions of women and men farmers practicing ecological agriculture in our communities,” said Seno Tsuhah, Team Leader at the North East Network (NEN), Nagaland. She was speaking about the global movement called International Women’s Day (March 8) on the sidelines of a Biodiversity Festival held here today.   She noted that the recent political turmoil was a “disturbing phase” for women and men who have been defending women’s human rights. “We cannot go against each other at this time when there is the question of greater sovereignty of our people. But meanwhile, we also cannot forget social and gender justice within our society,” Tsuhah said.   She urged decision making bodies to create “equal space” for women in them so that we can be equal partners in “economic, social and political processes.” “It is time to start a constructive dialogue to relook at gaps for achieving a progressive Naga society and making the journey together as partners,” Tsuhah maintained.   Shared history Dr. Monishal Behal, Executive Director of the NEN, began working with Naga women in 1995. At the time, she remembered, women and men shared their agricultural works, and each supported the gender needs of the other. This shared history should not be lost.   “If women and man can continue to work with each other in all sectors, we can produce the best biodiversity hotspots in Nagaland,” she maintained while speaking at the Biodiversity Festival today. Article 371-A, she said, also preserves the “good side” of customary laws that has helped Naga people maintain control over their lands from corporate takeover and abuse. This must be used to create a society where women and men share work within their communities, she noted.