Community Food Sovereignty Project
The dongria kondh are an indigenous group living in the remote hills of the Niyamgiri range in the South of Orissa. For hundreds of years these people have lead peaceful and sustainable lives, cultivating the hillsides of this unique environment. Traditional crops such as millet and corn as well as root vegetables have provided generations with the nutrition required to sustain them and their physically demanding lives. During the summer months the forests are abundant with a variety of fruit, essential supplements to their primarily grain based diets.
But all this has changed over the past decade, and as populations and towns grow so does the level of exploitation. Local market traders have managed to persuade these venerable people to change their farming methods and their traditional crops. In exchange they offer them small amounts of money, money that is of little use to a people who have always turned to their environment for their basic requirements.
And as their practices change, then so does their culture and their ability to be totally self sustainable. Crops that are not native to this land and now being produced on a more commercial level are beginning to take their toll on this delicate ecosystem as farmers are encouraged to destroy more of the forest and produce higher yields.
If this system of exploitation continues, the Dongria Kondh will loose everything that has sustained them for so many generations, turning their sustainable crop into an unsustainable cash based society.
Living farms is committed to change these current trends.Objective: to uphold their food sovereignty
There is a need to re-establish local food and farming systems, to uphold food sovereignty and to restore the cultural habits of the Dongria Kondh community through ecological agriculture and sustainable management of natural resources.
What action are we taking?
Living Farms has been working with Dongria Kondh since April 08. We are working with 307 households in 10 villages (+- 1500 people) which is 16.5% of the total Dongrias kondh population.
Establishing food sovereignty
Planning
- We are working on a strategic agriculture plan together with the panchayat, a counsel of all the villages in the project. This way the needs of the people are integrated in the agricultural planning.
Developing resources
- We will establish a community credit fund for the people to buy food in periods of scarcity.
- village based and locally managed food distribution systems. Surpluses can be gathered in grain banks. In periods of scarcity the food can be redistributed to those who need it.
Improving productivity
- We are improving the fertility of the soil by stopping erosion. We have erected stone bunds to prevent the soil from washing downhill. Next, we'll plant schrubs that can keep the soil togheter with their roots.
- We are promoting the use of home gardens to improve their livelyhood conditions.
Conservation
- Selecting, multiplying, storage and reuse of local seed varieties
- Conservation of varieties of seeds of strategic crops
- Documenting the farming-system
- Establishing varieties of crop
- Community Seed Banks
Restoring Cultural Food Habits
- Promote re usage of millets
- Revive the culture in agriculture Mobile Biodiversity Festival: Community solidarity feast after harvest
Raising awareness/Advocacy
- Initiate campaign for conservation of crops and seeds at various important forums
- Publicize problems of the Dongria in various media
- Securing land titles for all 99 villages under the newly passed Forrest Rights act.
Read more
- The Dongria Kondh - Articles about The Dongria Kondh
