Navdanya Report

Fighting for Food Sovereignty in India: A local NGO gives back.

Navdanya is an India based non governmental organization that promotes seed saving and food sovereignty in 16 states across India. It was founded by environmentalist/activist Vandana Shiva, who is also active in the International Forum on Globalization. Navdanya has set up 54 seed sharing banks in India, and is passionate in it's works to educate farmers on sustainable practices that are a return to the traditional, Indigenous ways of farming. Shiva herself has campaigned for years against organizations such as the IMF and World Bank, who she holds responsible for the hunger crisis today. Navdanya advocates for taking back control of our food system, our food services and our food production. According to Navdanya's mandate, they define food sovereignty as such: “...the right and freedom to grow diverse and nutritious food and the right to have access to save healthy adequate and affordable food. Food sovereignty grows from household, to the community, the regional and national level”(http://www.navdanya.org/earth-democracy/food-sovereignty). That's exactly what Navdanya has done.

According to Navdanya, globalization and agricultural policies of corporate seed control have led literally hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers to their death in the past decade. Indian government statistics offer the conservative figure of 200 000 suicides among Indian farmers in the past thirteen years. Falling food prices in the late nineties (due to policies invoked by international trade laws) and the ceding of seed control from the hands of the farmers into the hands of the chemical agribusiness are the two main factors responsible for this devastation. Vandana Shiva and the NGO Navdanya have lobbied tirelessly on behalf on local farmers and fought against corporate agribusiness that seeks to take over the food network in India. In an interview about the global food crisis, Shiva explains:
“The world bank and IMF are conveniently forgetting that they have had a strong hand in the current crisis. Under structural adjustment for debt relief, through the 60's, through the 80's and 90's they forced countries to give up their food stocks and to start becoming dependant on international markets. They have encouraged countries to stop growing staple foods and start growing flowers and lettuce and beans for export to the supermarkets in the north” (The Future of Food Part 1, 2008).

Navdanya has championed several important campaigns in the fight for food security including : GMO Free, Soil Not Oil and Living Democracy. Last august, Navdanya attended the Global Conference on Meeting Nutritional Challenges with Sustainability and Equity. At the end of the two day conference, the participating groups developed the “People's Charter for Food and Nutrition Security”. In the ensuing and ongoing Right to Food campaign, Navdanya argues that India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The Indian Constitution, similarly, also insists that access to food is a human right. Why then, Navdanya asks, are almost half of all Indian children under five suffering from malnutrition? People's Charter for Food and Nutrition Security made a series of demands of the Indian government. Navdanya is working ceaselessly to lobby for policy change on a government level.

The story of Navdanya is a story of inspiration. A story of a grassroots movement, gaining power through communities of people. It was with Navdanya and the Citizens Front for Water Democracy that the Indian people stopped the World Bank from privatizing their water supply. Navdanya, despite strong opposition from the Indian government, continues a vibrant and successful seed sharing bank that now extends beyond it's borders. Similarly, Navdanya reaches out to the international community by offering teachings on it's local farm in northern India, to anybody who wants to learn more about sustainability and food-sovereignty. As explained by Shiva herself: “We need once more to feel at home on the earth and with eachother” (Earth Democracy, 2009).

In Canada, we are experiencing many of the effects felt by the people of India, although perhaps in some ways, on a smaller scale. We too have seen the tragic suicides of farmers in the last decades. We too have rampant malnutrition among citizens forced into a lower income bracket. Indeed, we are now seeing malnutrition in higher income brackets as industrial foods become increasingly devoid of nutrients and we are forced to consume unhealthy foods, due to lack of opportunity of knowledge of alternatives. Like India though, we too have the opportunity to take back the power over our food. It is our right as consumers, are citizens, are people to know where our comes from, how it is grown and what might be in it. We do have the right to equitable access to safe and nutritious foods. We do have the right to demand our health and control over our food supply.

For more information on Navdanya, please see their website at www.navdanya.org