A look at a Bangladeshi attempt at reviving traditional biodiversity agriculture

In our last week’s edition of the Harmony page we featured, to mark Earth Day, a quote by Farida Akhter, the founder of Nayakrishi Andolan – the farmer movement for biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty in Bangladesh. This Saturday we feature excerpts from our discussion with Farida Akhter on her mission of working with farmer families and rural communities, in preserving indigenous plant seed varieties in Bangladesh and working towards rescuing the land and the people from poisonous chemical agriculture. 

We hope it will inspire you, during these times of COVID-19 pandemic and the collective resurgence of consciousness it is triggering in many spheres, and make you want to begin initiatives that will save both Mother Earth and humans. Wherever you are in this planet, in whatever small capacity, as per your ability and inclination, we hope you will take one small step today and every day to see that nature in its pristine form is preserved and that the food sovereignty of your community/country is safeguarded. 

Q: Nayakrishi Andolan is a movement that fights for nature based or biodiversity farming, the rights of the farmers and the rights to indigenous seed varieties. Could you explain how you came to start this movement and what experiences directly motivated you as a Bangladeshi to do the work you are doing now?

A: I was hearing in early 1980s, that the modern agriculture dependent on chemical fertiliser, pesticides, irrigation and other mechanised post-harvest technologies have displaced the small farmers. My initial concern was for the farmers who could not afford the cost of chemical agriculture. Then when I spoke with women, they told me that “modern agriculture destroys our body”, and by “body” they meant the environment, nature, soil, water everything surrounding them. Those are being destroyed. They are seeing new diseases, the names they never heard of (cancer, diabetes). They also told me that the modern agriculture makes farmers dependent on market seeds and does not allow wives to keep the seeds of their indigenous crops. Women felt disempowered. It made women redundant in the family. So, all these issues were very compelling for me. 

In UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), we started thinking more deeply about environment, ecology in the early 1990s and also attended the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeirio, Brazil. We came across many groups around the world thinking and working at the grass root level on nature, biodiversity. 

Q: In your writings you have clearly spoken against the Green Revolution. You have said that the green revolution enhanced the power of science/technology interventions without considering the harm to the earth and humans while also pushing to the background the rights of farmers and depriving native seeds while promoting industrialists. Could you explain your views on the industrialisation of 

agriculture?  

A: Yes, there are many harmful effects. Due to rampant uses of pesticide many health hazards like cancer, skin cancer, different organ cancer, kidney damage, liver damage, genetic defects, foetus damage, congenital anomaly, and birth defects. Many children are born with heart defects, neurological defects and so on. Kidney-related deaths is almost 2% of total deaths in the country. Kidney diseases are becoming common among the farming communities, especially those who use pesticides. 

Q: In ancient times in SL for example, the farmer was a highly honoured personality because producing food for the nation was considered a sacred act. Today it has become the opposite. A farmer is ashamed of his job. Bullied and badgered by industrialists and largely ignored by the State, his dream is to send his children to a good school to get an ‘education’. The mainstream Western influenced education system of Sri Lanka and almost whole of South Asia is far removed from the realities of our nations. What are your recommendations to correct this situation, so that agriculture, an essential entity for our countries is embedded into our education systems?

A: We do not have agriculture anymore. It is gradually turning into industrial food production.  We have to stop this destructive industrial food production. Our governments talk about agriculture, but they do not talk about the farmers. They want agriculture without the farming communities. They want the farming communities to send their daughters to the readymade garment factories to earn foreign exchange, their sons to work as overseas workers; becoming a slave labour and sending remittances. Our education system gives an image of farmers as ignorant and backward; therefore, their children want to go to cities seeking white-colour jobs. 

It is a huge task. But I think the industrial food production must be stopped and awareness created among the educated people about its harmful effects. 

Q: With the COVID-19 virus testing the self-sufficiency of countries, how important do you think it is for agrarian countries to assert themselves about their agrarian independence and heritage, reverting back to nature-based biodiversity centred ways of cultivating?

A: I don’t think our governments are thinking in terms of reverting back to nature-based biodiversity centred ways of cultivation after such a ‘shock’ of COVID-19 in our economy. Rather they are moving toward mechanisation (with the excuse of lack of agricultural labour), need for higher yield-based production ‘so that they can feed the population’. But on the other hand, we can see that people’s choice of food is reverting to nature-based and chemical free agricultural production as they are afraid that the immunity of the body is weak with industrial food. 

COVID-19 does not have only health effects, it is an economic issue. In this scenario the business, industries are going to be the most affected. Agriculture is the only sector, which can be re-organised as biodiversity practice will help for the survival of people in terms of food, nutrition, health, livelihood and can boost the economy.  

Q: Could you explain the status in Bangladesh with regard to domestic agriculture and the level of food imports from foreign countries? 

A: The multinational companies are taking full advantage of the COVID-19 situation by offering machines and using the stimulus package declared by the government. There is no protection for farmers, and for conserving the genetic resources of the country.

Q: Could you explain how your organisation is promoting the conservation of traditional seed varieties? 

A: The Nayakrishi Seed Network is composed of Community Seed Wealth Centers (CSWCs) at district level and Seed Huts at the village level. Community Seed Wealth Centers are the institutional set up for seed collection, storage, preservation, distribution, exchange and regeneration. The tasks of the CSWCs also include documentation and maintenance of general information of the area. Farmer representatives of NSN participate in the decisions of the CSWCs. Any member of the Nayakrishi Andolon can obtain seed from a CSWC with the promise that they will return some seed after the harvest; at least double the quantity received. Farmers can ask for seeds of the variety or varieties they have returned at any time. Community Seed Wealth Centers have been established by UBINIG in three different agro-ecological zones: flood plain, drought prone and coastal areas.  

Nayakrishi’s effort in local seed conservation and regeneration has been dictated, among others, by the rationality of traditional knowledge practices. NSN, established to support Nayakrishi (new non chemical farming), has had to deal with various climatic disasters that required different solutions for diverse bio-geographical landscapes. One important strategy of NSN has been to maintain collections of local seeds capable to perform in different ecosystems facing various forms of biotic stress. In this way, NSN strengthened rational community practices that integrate disaster preparedness in day-to-day farming practices. In Nayakrishi farming, the household is the focal point in conservation. Women farmers are the key actors and leaders in NSN, based on their traditionally assigned roles of seed conservers and regenerators. 

We formed a South Asian Network on Food Ecology and Culture (SANFEC), which had members from Sri Lanka as well. We participated in the SAARC forums several times. But those efforts are reduced to national level as SAARC has faded out due to south Asian politics.