In India for a meeting of our India Advisory Board, Heather tells us about grantees, recent developments around land rights, and how our advisors are rising to the many challenges of the region. Please read on for her thoughts and observations.
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India is the second most populous country in the world (following closely behind China to reach a population of one billion) and the most populous liberal democracy in the world. Among this large population is a myriad of contradictions. While the Indian middle class numbers about 300 million, there are still many people struggling to meet their daily nutritional and health needs. On the major city streets of India, Mercedes Benzes whiz past cows, bicycle-pulled rickshaws and beggars. The liberalizing of the Indian economy (which commenced during the fall of the Soviet Union) has created opportunities for some, but not without a cost. Rampant industrialization, development and population growth have placed large strain on people and environments. I am in this culturally rich country to understand how the Greengrants India Advisory Board plans to strategically address these contradictions through small grants to communities, groups, and individuals working to promote local decision-making, sustainable systems, and environmental justice.
My journey begins in the city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in the state of West Bengal in eastern India. While India is a democracy, West Bengal is a proudly communist state. The red hammer and sickle flags dotting the landscape mark West Bengal as the world’s longest-running democratically-elected communist government. Adopted home of the late Mother Theresa, this state is also home to a budding organic agriculture movement. Greengrants has recommended a range of grants to women’s groups and communities to support pesticide free agriculture in this area.
This afternoon I had the pleasure to visit a key network supporting organic agriculture in the region, the Development Research Communication & Services Centre (DRCSC). The DRCSC is headed by Greengrants India Advisor, Mr. Ardhendu Chatterjee. It promotes sustainable agriculture and rural development in ten districts of West Bengal. The group’s major concern is food and livelihood security of the rural poor through sustainable management of natural resources on the basis of principles and actions that are environment friendly, economically appropriate, socially just, and developed by mutual cooperation. The DRCSC works to reestablish sustainable ecological chains by striking a balance between human need and natural resources.
After spending a few hours meeting the staff and learning about their work, we had a grantee roundtable with three former and current groups that received Greengrants funding. This is one of my favorite parts of this work—actually meeting the people who have the local vision and inspiration to promote grassroots change.
Representatives from the group Bidhichandrapur Chetana explained their ‘Green Fields’ project. They are working to expand awareness of the environmental and health impacts of conventional pesticides and to increase use of organic alternatives. Chetana completed a survey project and held small group discussions/interviews with 200 farmers in five villages in the Howrah district of West Bengal to understand the extent of pesticide usage and related health problems. The group found that 25 pesticides are used in the area and 31 people have died within the last year from accidental pesticide poisoning. The group also worked with communities on pesticide free alternatives. They provided 60 families with vegetable seeds to create their own home gardens and have started organic composting. In the coming year, the group plans to extend their training on alternatives, to provide local schools with pesticide free vegetables, and to support the community through capacity building.
NISHTHA received funding to support residents of the semi-urban area of South 24 Parganas to grow small scale, organic gardens with seasonal and perennial vegetables as a means to improve their diets, especially among women and children. The group trained 18 women in four villages to become local promoters of organic agriculture in their communities. The group created 36 model gardens to demonstrate the potential for this type of work. The women further learned how to create organic vermicompost, how to test soil, and how to identify insects. The group reported that the project has increased local incomes (the women now have surplus vegetables to sell in the market), and has increased confidence among the women who previously were only viewed as laborers. Now these women are sharing skills within their community that help to increase livelihoods, while providing pesticide free alternatives.
Three community groups initially met through a DRCSC training program and decided to create their own support system, the Sustainable Environment Network (SEN). The network collectively applied to Greengrants for support of the same initiative in their three areas. The groups worked with students to prepare village-level resource maps and biodiversity registers. Through this work, the students and trainers were able to identify which natural resources are being over-exploited. These maps and biodiversity registers will be used as the primary data source to aid in village-level planning for sustainablility and future environmental priorities.
After each group presented on their work, they collectively discussed the broader issues facing them locally, regionally, and internationally. The issues that they face seem to be quite similar. Pesticide companies and the government have local representatives in each village who constantly promote pesticide usage to farmers. Many farmers do not keep a log of the costs of the pesticides in comparison to the relative benefit. This makes it very difficult for the organic promoters to explain the difference in economic terms. There is also a major health risk in these communities, as pesticides are only labeled in English and not in local languages. Community members are not always aware of the warnings listed in English, and at times mix a dangerous, toxic cocktail of pesticides. These chemicals are usually applied to crops with minimal to no protective gear for the workers, who inhale a large amount of chemicals in the process.
One grantee asked me if our other grantees around the world are facing similar challenges, and if yes, is there any hope for change. We discussed that while many grantees are facing the same uphill battles against pesticide use, mass commercialization of resources, and large scale agriculture, there are examples from the grassroots that exemplify how communities can have their voices heard by corporations, governments, etc. and can sustainably manage their resources. As the sun set over Kolkata, Ardhendu closed the meeting with a hope that all the participants would make it past the road barricades to their home villages that night.
March 15
There is an amazing collection of activists who are part of the Greengrants India Advisory Board. The group includes:
Madhumita Dutta, Activist and Board Coordinator, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Ardhendu Chatterjee, Development, Research Communication and Service Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal
Nityanand Jayaraman, Activist and freelance journalist, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Durga Jha, Dalit Study Circle, Raipur, Chattisgarh
Today the remainder of this group should arrive to Kolkata, and we will head by train to
Bolpur in the foothills of West Bengal. Our meeting will take place at a simple training center that the Development Research Communication & Services Centre (DRCSC) started about three years ago. DRCSC uses the training center to host exchanges among students and practicing sustainable agriculturists.
While our local advisor, Ardhendu, believes that we should be able to reach Bolpur, the political climate in West Bengal has changed dramatically over the past few days and road barricades and state-wide strikes loom in the future. While the local communist party claims to never engage in land evictions, this is precisely what has happened. The state government has proposed a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in a part of the state called Nandigram. SEZs are exclusive zones for increased economic and commercial activities that lack any labor or environmental regulations. Thousands of acres of fertile agricultural land are being acquired by state governments under the direction of a central SEZ Act (a controversial act passed rapidly without any consultation) and developed as SEZs, where both Indian and multinational companies are heavily investing. In Nandigram, local communities were forcibly evicted from their lands to create a SEZ. While the government did provide the communities of Nandigram with financial compensation, they were never given the choice to decide if they would like to leave their productive agricultural lands. Beginning in January, community members have peacefully barricaded their lands from SEZ activities. On March 13, the police attempted to clear the land and used brutal force on the protestors. As of today, 11 community members have been killed as a result of this clash and others have sustained injuries.
Tomorrow a 12-hour strike has been organized throughout the state to protest the police violence against civilians. For the last year the India board has articulated that SEZs are a key challenge for communities. This unfortunate current situation further exemplifies the need for communities to receive support to voice their concerns.
March 16
After taking a very long route to the train station to avoid any barricades of the city’s major bridges we reached the bustling Kolkata train station yesterday afternoon. Later in the evening we arrived at the DRCSC’s training centre in Bolpur after a three and half hour train ride. We were on the local train which seemed to stop at every small town along the route. At each stop a new cast of peddlers would board the train to sell their wares or share their talent. A pilgrim clad in bright orange stopped for a few minutes to sing our group a song. Our board coordinator, Madhu, bought a mixed grain, peanut, and mustard oil snack from a vendor. We all watched in amazement as he artistically mixed the ingredients. Between these changing performances and good conversation, the train ride passed quickly. We were greeted at the training centre by their local friendly staff who shared a delicious Bengali meal with our group. Madhu, Durga and I slept in a simple room with mats on the floor covered by Easter Egg colored mosquito nets. This morning I awoke at five am to a cacophony of sounds. Birds were singing, the gecko in our room was chirping, and the call to prayer from the local mosque could be heard in the distance.
After a typical Bengali breakfast of fried bread and potatoes (nice and light in the hot weather!) we began the advisors meeting. A major portion of the meeting today focused on what issues the board should center grantmaking on, and how they can recommend grants more strategically to have an impact on these critical issues. In previous years this board had purposely requested a small budget because they did not want their board or local activism to be driven by money. Last year, the group decided that there were too many good groups requesting funds and that they should have a larger board budget. In 2007, the advisory board budget increased from the 2006 level of $65,000 to $95,000. With this larger budget to recommend, the advisors felt that they should spend the time necessary to rethink their strategic focal areas. After a long debate the group decided to focus on environmental health, food sovereignty, and livelihood security (as related to agriculture and natural resource management).
Tea breaks and lunch conversations throughout the day were filled with concerned conversation over the situation in Nandigram and throughout the state as the strike happens today. Activists from Nandigram called advisors to report that death tolls from the police clashes with community members are much higher than reported by the media. There are claims that the police have dumped bodies in the ocean to hide the true death toll.
March 17
After 10 hours of meeting yesterday and getting attacked by aggressive mosquitoes, our whole group went to bed early last evening. I awoke again at five this morning to the same early morning music melody of birds, geckos and mosque prayers. I did notice one unwelcome addition—the blare of car horns. Because yesterday was a strike day, there was hardly any local traffic. Bicycles gently made their way along the small lanes of Bolpur while people, dogs, and cows strolled along. This morning, the tranquility has been broken by a seemingly never ending stream of buses and cars, all announcing their presence in this small town with a range of horns.
Everyone continues to be preoccupied with the violence in Nandigram. The media is now reporting that 68 community members have been killed, but there is much speculation that the actual death toll is much higher. Groups in Kolkata are hosting a rally this afternoon to show solidarity with communities impacted by police aggression.
The board conversation today centered on what it means to be an advisor, new advisor orientation, and what type of new advisors the board would look for. The advisors are all dedicated activists who spend much time in the field away from computers. While their strong field connections make them ideal advisors to recommend grassroots groups, at times the board coordinator finds it difficult to communicate with them by e-mail for decision-making. Advisors reaffirmed their commitment to small grantmaking, and agreed to use cell phone communication as a back-stop means to make decisions while they are in the field. The advisors also looked at the current make-up of the board to determine which of critical areas they were covering and which require additional advisor representation. After they determined the needs, they were able to draw up a short list of possible new advisors.
Late in the afternoon we went for a field visit to a village adjacent to Bolpur, where grantee Ahisa Trust is working with women’s groups to create and sustain organic home gardens. Women proudly showed us their personal gardens which ranged from areas about 10×10 meters to 40×40 meters. In all cases the land had previously been lying fallow, and the creation of these gardens has allowed the women to grow pesticide-free vegetables year round. Previously, women had to buy most of these vegetables from the market, so this is a major income-saver for them. After seeing the gardens, we had a discussion with about 25 women involved in the project. It was so inspiring to see their faces light up as they explain how the kitchen gardens have proved to them that organic, healthy bio-fertilizers, and natural pesticides can yield nutritious vegetables and fruits for them and their families. This project has also empowered these women to train others on the techniques they have learned from this work.
March 18
Advisor Durga Jha has brought us each a bag of organic rice from a grantee working in the tribal belt
of India on sustainable agriculture. The grantee, Social Institute for Research Study and Action, promoted organic agriculture in three regions of Chattisgarh state. The community based work included household waste recycling workshops for women, collection and organization of local seeds for the creation of community-managed seed banks, and exchange visits to other sites where organic farming practices were being implemented. It is fascinating to see this small-scale model spreading throughout the region and heartening to see how simple initiatives can increase community capacity to meet their environmental, livelihood, and nutritional needs.
Today we visited more villages in the surrounding area. I am struck by the disparities among the villages. Some villagers appear to be well-fed, while in other villages people look very skinny. Religion and castism is also a major issue in this state. There are whole villages of scheduled tribes and scheduled castes that cannot interact or eat with higher caste Hindus. There are also villages that are predominantly Muslim. In each of these types of communities, there are different restrictions on women. Muslim and higher caste Hindu women are not allowed to work as laborers, while scheduled tribal and schedule caste women are allowed to work.
Accompanied by staff from Ardhendu’s organization, DRCSC, we visited a community forestry project and a women’s self help group promoting organic agriculture. In both cases, a collective of community members have pooled resources together for their greater benefit. In the community forestry project, collective members have overcome traditional caste restrictions and are working as a group. As a result of these efforts, both groups have been able to increase their individual and collective earnings. It was very interesting to note the gender separations in every village we visited. There are very clear male and female roles in each village. For example, women, as symbols of fertility, are responsible for sowing the seeds. Men are always the ones who plow the fields. This gender-based division of labor causes the women and men to separate into male- and female-only collective groups.
Late this evening we boarded the train back to Kolkata. Durga, a DRCSC staff member and I were laughing for most of the journey. We were attempting to have a serious conversation about the land-use challenges faced by tribal, dalit, and landless peoples. Our conversation had to stop about four times because of a new range of performers on the train. Their music was lovely, but made it impossible to have a long conversation! The performers included an eight-year-old musician, a pilgrim with bells on his ankles playing a string instrument, and another holy man dressed in yellow playing a flute-like instrument. The jovial ambiance of the train ride was broken as we entered to bustling Kolkata Howrah train station. Even at 11 pm the station was buzzing with activity. Durga and I stood aside as our Kolkata-based colleagues began about 30 minutes of negotiations with taxi drivers to secure a good fare. Once we actually found a taxi, we then proceeded to get stuck in a traffic jam. We were quite relieved to reach our guesthouse well after midnight!
March 21, 2007
I arrived to a rainy Delhi by train. It is highly unusual for the rains to come this early before the monsoon. Residents of northern India have been explaining that the weather patterns this year have been quite atypical. From early rains in India to lack of snow in Siberia, colleagues from around the world have expressed concern about how the global climate is changing in an unprecedented matter.
National attention has shifted from the violence in Nandigram to the mysterious death of Pakistan ‘s cricket coach. The controversy over his death is making front page news here, and I wonder how much it is covered in the non-cricket-loving US. The Prime Minister did make a statement letting the Indian people know that despite the violence and questionable behavior of the police in Nandigram, the country would push on with promoting Special Economic Zones (SEZ) as a means to attract businesses to India. Activists and community members continue to demand further investigations, but unfortunately this issue no longer seems to be of concern to the general public. This is not the last we will hear about SEZs, as I am sure our India advisors will continue to recommend grants related to the environmental and social ramifications of these projects.
A lunch meeting with a Delhi University Professor allowed me to visit the bursting school’s campus. There was a buzz at the university as students put up rally posters and gathered to discuss issues. My meeting with this professor helped to orient me regarding the latest political and social context for environment and development work. Something that I have discussed with many people on this trip is the lack of enforcement of laws once they are passed. There have been some progressive environmental, social, and tribal laws passed, and yet a lack of enforcement means these laws are only worth the paper they are written on.
A later meeting with grantee Kalpavriksh revealed the same concerns. This group received funding to to monitor development projects and ensure that required environmental safeguards are in place. While their work has yielded some results, they are frustrated by the lack of governmental capacity to monitor the legal safeguards required. It is too much work for communities and activists to shoulder the responsibility of monitoring the myriad of development projects throughout this country. Despite their frustration, this group persistently works to create new approaches to address these challenges.
March 22, 2007
Today a grantee recommended by our International Financial Institutions advisory board, the National Forum of Forest Peoples and Forest Workers, helped to organize a collective mobilization of peoples. In Delhi there is a space called Jantar Mantar where people can come and hold a vigil to bring attention to their concerns and plights. The space is occupied throughout the year by groups hoping to gain the government’s attention to critical issues. The current movements represented at the Jantar Mantar include campaigns and groups such as the Unorganized sector workers and labor; Development, Displacement & Right to Natural Resources; and Dalits and Minorities: right to life with dignity. This collection of people will remain at the site until April 15 to share their common struggles, develop strategic areas for work in the future, and publicize their strife. I had the pleasure of attending a session on forestry and dalit rights. It was inspiring to see such a diverse group of people come together around this common cause.
Tomorrow I fly out of this country of dust and dreams with a rich new appreciation for grassroots initiatives promoting social and environmental change in India.