| March 6, 2004
-- CropChoice guest commentary: One of the
daunting challenges Nepal has been facing now is how
to increase food grain production without depleting
further the available natural resource bases and without
degrading the environment. A subsistence-oriented agrarian
economy is predominant in Nepal even today. In the late
70's, high response varieties (HRVs) as well as the
chemical fertilizers were introduced in Nepal with an
objective of transforming the subsistence agriculture
into a commercial one. During the last two decades,
however, the agriculture and environment have shown
a negative change. These include deforestation, soil
erosion, land slides, and loss of indigenous crop varieties
well suited to the local environment. As a result of
these negative processes, many hill districts have become
food deficient. Moreover, there has not been a significant
positive change in the pattern of resource (land) ownership.
Rather the small holders have lost their ownership to
land for the sake of earning livelihood. The small farmers
are compelled to sell their lands to the landlords or
rich farmers for their survival during food shortage
periods. After losing their lands, the small/marginalized
households become landless, and owing to the lack of
employment opportunities in the villages migrate to
cities/towns to earn their livelihood. The process of
dispossession and disempowerment of landless and marginalized
population groups and their migration into cities to
earn livelihoods have created a vicious cycle in rural
Nepal. If the food needs of the Nepalese people are
to be met through increased agricultural production,
in the new millenium, the development strategies adopted
in the past periodic plans are to be given up and new
strategy options are to be adopted (Chitrakar, 1997).
Globalization, i.e. corporation-driven integration
of the world economic system, in the form of open market
economic policies has additionally intensified the wave
of migration from rural areas in Nepal. Privatization
of public service sectors and cut down in the government
expenditure in those sectors, continuous price rise
in basic commodities, agricultural inputs and food items,
diminishing role of occupational castes in rural economy,
ever increasing rate of unemployment are some of the
major impacts of globalization in Nepal. Furthermore,
women and children are reported being trafficked into
the sex trade, labor exploitation and servitude like
practices amidst such labor migration (Rajbhandari,
1997; Rajbhandari, 1998). These are the evidences of
how globalization, the open market economic policy and
the inappropriate development policies compel the marginalized
rural population to move towards servitude and exploitation,
losing all grounds, means of and hopes for a self-reliant
livelihood. These conditions have aggravated poverty
as well as economic and food insecurity, particularly
in rural areas.
The exploitation, which the landless laborers, tenants
and marginalized farmers have suffered at the hands
of "Landlords" and money lenders in the villages,
and the sub-human food-deficient conditions in which
most of them are living, have made them timid, suspicious,
and resigned to their destiny. Most of them have lost
all hopes, lack initiative or are afraid to exercise
it, and are not courageous enough to break the socio-cultural
traditions impinging upon their subordinate socio-economic
situations. They are dehumanized, disintegrated and
inanimated. Extreme poverty and erosion of household
economy have reduced them to a state of apathy. The
poverty has thus created a vicious cycle in the rural
areas of the country, where over 80 percent of its population
reside.
This process of impoverishment and marginalization
is the central issue this participatory action research
aims to address. The process of impoverishment and marginalization
is characteristic to other developing and least developed
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America as well,
leading to food insecurity and unsustainable livelihoods
(SID, 2000). In such conditions, it is difficult and
would be even a mistake to anticipate that the survivors
of poverty and marginalization would improve their standard
of livelihoods on their own initiatives. They rather
require stimulus and assistance from outside to build
up their self- confidence, to raise their consciousness
and to improve their socio-economic conditions so that
they would be able to shake off the "culture of
greed", the "culture of poverty" and
the "culture of silence", which are being
perpetuated from one generation to the next.
Animation:
The Concept and Process
We have termed the process of revitalizing and awakening
the inanimated and dehumanized people to realize and
fight against their weaknesses and make use of their
latent potential of creativity for eliminating the factors
of poverty, subordination and their exploitation as
Animation. Animation is the most important process of
spiritual empowerment. It is both a necessary outcome
and a necessary aspect of the rural development process.
Community participation, including those of women,
local ownership to natural resources (land, forest and
water) and collective empowerment and sustainability
are the essential characteristics of sustainable development
process that assures attainment of sustainable livelihoods.
Organization and empowerment (spiritual, social, ideological,
technical and financial) of farming communities should,
therefore, be the most important strategy of the sustainable
livelihoods and development approach. WOREC has been
attempting to translate this sustainable livelihood
strategy into practice by animating, empowering and
mobilizing the local farming community. WOREC has termed
its comprehensive approach as integrated animation and
bio-intensive farming system (IABIFS).
The integrated animation and bio-intensive farming
system approach focuses basically on the marginal and
small farmer's households, who constitute the majority
of rural population in the targeted district. From the
experience of WOREC, it has become clear that rural
woman's and marginal farmer's powerlessness and subordination
in the society stems from a complex interplay of factors-historical,
cultural, social, economic and political. There is the
need to understand and analyze the structures within
which they live, and the dynamics of power and gender
within these structures at local, regional and national
levels. The grassroots people themselves, the women
and marginalized farmers themselves should be able to
analyze their situations and the prevalent socio-political
structures. They can do it more comfortably if they
are united in the groups and are provided with appropriate
training that broadens their vision, provides with conceptual
understanding as well as technical skills. Only a comprehensive
and a holistic understanding of the context, in which
they live and work, could enable them to find out ways
and means of changing their situations. These are the
concepts, processes and approaches of animation.
WOREC has been assisting the rural people, particularly
the women and resource poor, to get themselves freed
from the fatalistic beliefs, ideas and attitudes, which
are nothing than a phenomenon of a person's dehumanized
state. Each member of the community groups is assisted
to acquire this scientific outlook by analyzing their
problems and the context in group meeting, education
session, training and field visits. The local population
groups are regarded as the real agents for change. WOREC
has therefore been emphasizing on the formation and
strengthening of local people's organizations (WOREC,
1999).
Without systems, which animate and empower the apathetic,
the marginalized and the dehumanized people, and without
systems, which reveal their capacities, their latent
potentials of creativity and without incentives for
change, the investment, technology and all other frequently
discussed elements of so-called development are of little
value. It is in this perspective that WOREC focuses
on empowerment, conceptual clarity, strengthening and
mobilization of local people's organizations as the
fundamental components of its innovation for sustainable
livelihood. The local institution has two primary and
inter-related components: the organization as such and
a set of links among the organizations (CBOs, GOs, youth
clubs, local NGOs, community based users groups/committees,
cooperatives, community grain storage/saving fund, etc.)
and with its socio-political environments. The important
features of the people's organizations, which are involved
in various stages of program development and implementation,
include their conceptual clarity, leadership quality
and strength, resources and the internal structures,
including the patterns of authority, communication and
control or in short, the level of democratization. Democracy
means collective empowerment of the people. It is a
socio-political system in which every member of the
household, organization, society or nation state has
a dignified space for participation in decision-making
and process of change about the fate of the household,
organization, society and nation state. The higher the
level of democratization and commitments the higher
the effectiveness of an organization. It is in this
perspective and background that the local organizations
and elected members, both female and male, to local
governance bodies like VDCs and DDCs are strengthened
through training, orientation and workshops on relevant
aspects.
Principle and
Features of Bio-intensive Farming System
The concept of bio-intensive farming system is based
on the agro-ecological principles of sustainable organic
agriculture system and participatory rural development.
These principles include the scientific crop rotation,
mixed farming system with specialized crop and/or livestock
enterprise(s), optimization of organic recycling, participatory
and sustainable management of natural resources (land,
forest, water, plant biodiversity), participatory research
and extension, and higher degree of economic self-reliance
of farm households against external techno-economic
shocks.
- Empowerment of People's Organizations
Enhancing people's organization's identities as
social capital through empowerment of local farmers’/women’s
groups and advocating for the rights of farming
communities and women on natural productive resources
like land, plant genetic resources and seeds, water,
forest is an important feature of the BIF system.
It is a demand driven problem-solving approach directly
related to the needs of the rural marginalized population
groups including women and the landless and their
socio-economic environment. This approach places
the small landholders and women at the center of
the innovation. It is a promising alternative to
traditional methods and the intensive chemical farming,
which is based on commercialization of food production
resources and process, greed market economy, and
which is in control or command of a few rich people,
the landlords or corporations.
The bio-intensive farming system flourishes when
the rights of farming communities to natural resources,
work/employment, food, education, health, information
and skill development are translated into reality.
This approach intends to make the farming communities
aware of the fact that food security is a human
right's issue, which includes a number of other
human rights. And these rights are inter-linked
with various dimensions of food security as presented
in chart-9. Empowerment of the people's organizations
is a primary work for advocacy on food security
issues from the perspective of human rights.
-
Conservation and Utilization of PGRs
The integrated animation and bio-intensive farming
system approach envisages that in-situ conservation,
authorized utilization, and free exchange of plant
genetic resources (PGRs) among the farming communities
and researchers comprise an essential component
of sustainable livelihoods. It encourages cooperation
between farming communities and researchers for
proper identification, documentation, conservation
and utilization of the biological diversity for
the benefit of local farming communities, in particular,
and for human beings, in general.
Documentation, conservation and utilization of
biodiversity (plants, animals and soil microorganisms)
and the farming communities' control over plant
and animal genetic resources are critical for preventing
further degradation of the productive resource base,
economic opportunities, poverty and the food insecurity
situations as well as to make the livelihood of
the rural population sustainable both in terms of
space and time.
-
Eco- and Health-friendly Rural System
The bio-intensive farming system is a biologically
intensive mixed farming system, which relies on
intensive engagement of farmers, organic recycling
optimization through intensive crop rotations, integrated
soil nutrient management (ISNM), integrated pest/disease
management (IPDM). The ISNM favours a very limited
use of mineral fertilizers in the field crops to
complement organic or bio-fertilizers and IPDM is
about the limited use of less hazardous pesticides/fungicides
integrated with/without plant-based or biological
agents in emergency cases. Neupane (2000) has pointed
out that integrated pest management (IPM) is the
only eco- and health-friendly option available today
for the control of pests in agriculture. Integrated
pest management is one of the technico-environmental
components of the IPDM concept within the conceptual
framework of bio-intensive farming system. The bio-intensive
farming system relies on appropriate spatial management
of field crops, vegetable crops, fruits and fodder
trees as well as livestock and poultry for rational
and ecologically non-destructive utilization of
lands in the hills and mountains. Furthermore, it
increases the soil fertility, revitalizes the degraded
soil, decreases environmental pollution and prevents
health hazards to humans and livestock as well as
reduces further degradation of the environment,
which otherwise might lead to desertification of
the globe. It is, therefore, not only eco-friendly
but also friendly to human and animal health.
-
Equitable Access to Natural Resources
and Public Service
Equitable access to natural productive resources like
land, community pasture/forest, medicinal plants,
water sources and community irrigation water, and
equal respect to the diversity of farming community
(ethnicity, gender, sex, religion) at the local level
are the essential prerequisites for attaining food
security and sustainable livelihood. The community
forestry, community pasture, community irrigation
system, community food security stocks (Dharam Bhakari),
community herbal garden, community-based women’s
health resource centre, community-based health clinic,
community-based development education and information
centre are some of the local infrastructures or social
capital, which would prove to be a sustainable way
of ensuring community members’ equitable access
to common resources and public services. WOREC has
been attempting to transform the targeted communities
in this direction.
- Sustainable Technology
The BIF system as a kind of sustainable organic
agriculture focuses on the community in terms of
resources (human resources, animal power, seed,
manure/fertilizers, bio-pesticides, implements,
finance), perfect social marketing and extension
of technical skills and information through the
local farmers’ scholars and leaders, both
male and female.
The available natural resource bases have now gradually
been depleting causing difficulties in increasing
food grain production in all the agro-ecological
regions of the country (Chitrakar, 1997). Posey
(1986) has rightly pointed out that there are many
lessons to be learned from the native inhabitants,
not the least of which is that "natural resources"
also include people. In 1990, he pointed out that
growing discoveries of the importance of indigenous
knowledge about the environment have called attention
to the necessity of understanding and respecting
the different "realities" of native people.
I agree with him and perceive the necessity of understanding
and respecting the different realities, experiences
of native Nepali people and diversity among them.
The BIF system approach relies on the utilization
of indigenous knowledge, realities, resources and
experiences, which have a history of hundreds of
thousands of years, and on the modern agro-ecological
principles and scientific techniques that offer
the potential to conserve and regenerate resources.
It is close to the beneficiaries and low in cost
with minimum reliance on external expertise, capital,
resources and equipment, which has been shown to
result in the over–dependence of farming communities.
The technological aspects it promotes include inter-cropping,
mixed cropping, and crop diversification and rotations
to increase the cropping intensity as well as to
minimize the incidences of diseases and pests. In
addition, it emphasizes the promotion of agro-forestry,
renewable energy like solar energy, bio-gas, and
improved cooking stoves aimed at conserving the
forest, reducing the work burden on women in regard
to collection of fuel wood and cooking food at the
cost of their health. The by-product of biogas plant
is applied in the crop field for improving the soil
fertility and structure. Furthermore, the time saved
by infrequent movement to the jungle or forest is
utilized for extra–income generation for livelihood.
Because the agriculture alone does not seem to solve
the problem of livelihoods.
This approach facilitates farmer-to-farmer communication
and extension. The farmer managed model demonstration
farms; maintenance of seed purity and improvement of
local crop varieties with high food values in the farms
by the farmers themselves; seed storage at household
level and farmer-to-farmer information, education, communication
and extension are the essential components of this technology.
The model demonstration farms are the nodal points,
which serve to be the field laboratory of the farmer,
managed by the farmers and used for demonstration, dissemination
or extension of technology to the members of the farming
communities. These farms are also used for participatory
research. These farms serve to be the bridges between
participatory research, extension and production.
(This article is based on the Author's research
report entitles "Integrated Animation and Bio-intensive
Farming System-A Case Study in Nuwakot", WOREC,
Kathmandu, 2000).
Address: Technical advisor, WOREC, Kathmandu, Nepal
and ; Executive Chair, HICAST, Bhaktapur, Nepal, P.O.Box
13233, Kathmandu, Nepal; Email: hicast@wlink.com.np
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