Communities strive for self-reliance through Agroecology Learning Circles: Community Seed Fair Exchange Visit and Agrobiodiversity (ABD) walk conducted at Sohmynting in West Jaintia Hills
A Community Seed Fair exchange visit along with an Agrobiodiversity Walk was held at Sohmynting, West Jaintia Hills on the 16th of April 2022. Organised by NESFAS in partnership with Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE), and funded by the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA), the event saw the participation of 20 project partner villages along with non-project villages from Demthring, Lumkhudung, Plongingkhaw (Jaintia Hills District). A total of 190 participants were part of the event. School students from Demthring and Sohmynting also participated in the event. The event was marked by the communities exchanging seeds with each other while also sharing their knowledge of traditional farming. This event is part of the project – “Empowering Indigenous Communities through Agroecology Learning Circles (ALCs) for resilient, integrated and innovative natural resource management” – which is an innovation project initiated by NESFAS and supported for scaling up with funding from MBMA as part of an Innovation Grant under the World Bank aided “Community Led Landscape Management Project (CLLMP)”
Dr. H.H Mohrmen, Chairperson, NESFAS, gave the welcome address and briefly shared that the aim of the current project is to enhance and ultimately sustain traditional farming systems. He lauded the local farmers for having practised organic farming for so long and encouraged them to continue doing so, stating that the most important goal of the project is to revive and sustain traditional farming. Further, he added that an essential aim of the ALCs is to contribute to the local economy and livelihood: “We have to make it our mission for young people to start adopting traditional farming to support themselves. We have practised traditional farming in our region for a long time and it is not something that needs to be taught to us. It is our strength and we don’t have to rely on others for jobs if we pick up traditional farming.” Mohrmen said.
This was followed by a short session of knowledge exchange where ALC members from different communities shared their traditional knowledge and stories. Mrs Roomika Pyrtuh, an ALC member from Sohmynting narrated the gripping origins of the humble sohphlang (Flemingia Root) which is now an important crop in their village. According to her story, the crop was first introduced to the village when a man from Smit region married a woman from Sohmynting. The man brought two seeds of sohphlang along with him and over the years the two seeds have multiplied in multitudes. Today, sohphlang is one of the biggest sources of income for most of the families in the village, she said.
Mr. Ebormi Lyngshiang, Officer, Disaster Management Department, speaking to the community members pointed out the worrying trend of how many indigenous seed varieties have disappeared over the years. He lauded the effort of NESFAS and SURE for taking the lead in defending the Indigenous Food Systems and sensitising the communities on how to preserve the rich diversity of indigenous seeds these communities have. He advised the communities that self-sufficiency only starts when one community is able to meet their own needs before selling off their produce in the market. Along with being self-sufficient, he urged the communities not to sell off the nutritious organic local produce just to buy common food products that are available in the market.
The community members also shared their appreciation towards NESFAS and SURE for the role they have played in helping them defend and revive their traditional methods of farming. Mrs Kitboklang Suchiang, an ALC member from Mulum who manages the community seed bank in her village shared how the community seed bank established in 2019 with the help of SURE and NESFAS has helped the community revive traditional farming with the use of indigenous seeds and varieties: “I ensure that we only preserve and keep indigenous seeds and refrain from storing or even accepting HYV seeds which are distributed for free by various external institutions or organisations.”
Mr Mynjur Lyngdoh Pyrtuh, Secretary of the Sohmynting community, on the other hand expressed his community’s gratefulness to Dr. Mohrmen for the support and guidance he has given to the people of Jaintia Hills in general and the Sohmynting community in particular. “We are extremely grateful to Bah Mohrmen for his encouragement to uplift our local food system, our biodiversity, our Umngot River, and specifically to motivate youth to consider other innovative and local livelihood options, and not only rely on government jobs”, Pyrtuh said at the event.
The event also showcased more than 60 varieties of local seeds found in the participating villages. There was also a community seeds exchange which allowed farmers to share seeds among the different communities.
Upon the conclusion of the formal meet and greet, the attendees of the event went for an ABD walk in some of the food production systems in the community; the kitchen garden and nearby forest. The school children who did their ABD walk in the kitchen garden of Kong Mero Lyngdoh Pyrtuh identified 44 food plants, including fruit trees with the help of Kong Mero. Whereas 21 food plants were identified in a nearby forest just in one-hour time span. Hamewan Dkhar, a student from Demthring Presbyterian School was evidently delighted with the enriching experience: “I learnt a lot from today’s event. I will teach others in my family about what I have learnt from this experience.” Hamewan expressed.
Much emphasis on the present project has been placed on ALCs who play an integral role in safeguarding and promoting the traditional methods of farming. Within the short span of time in which the project has started, the various ALCs have shown immense resolve and determination to strengthen their own traditional food systems and their livelihoods. Known as barefoot scientists, many ALCs have started experimenting to solve problems related to pests, soil and seeds- through Agroecology approaches which adopt modern science side by side with traditional knowledge. Pius Ranee, Executive Director, NESFAS, in his closing remark, expressed gratefulness to MBMA and World Bank for the support and was full of praise for the ALC members:
“We hope that the ALCs will become immersion centres whereby the ALCs in various villages will be the pool of traditional knowledge and set examples for others. They are crucial in documenting and sharing traditional knowledge systems, and advocating that indigenous food systems are actually game-changing solutions. ALC is a science and a practice. We believe that the ALC farmers are scientists. Hence, we are always motivating them to come forward and share their best practices.”
