TRIBAL WOMEN LED SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

The Scheduled Tribes constitute about 8 percent of the population of India. They are at the bottom of the pile as far as human development indicators are concerned. Especially deprived and oppressed are tribal women who have to bear the double burden of poverty and patriarchy. Therefore, a programme of development to address this problem based on a detailed analysis of it is very essential.

1.            The Problem

1.       Tribal Development in India has been problematical from the time of independence. This is due to a conflicting situation arising from the opposition between the traditional community based subsistence economy of the tribes people and the modern market based growth oriented thrust of the mainstream economy. The challenge has been to integrate the tribes people into the modern economy in a manner that is beneficial to them. This has generally not been possible because the tribes people have lacked the requisite skills for this and the government system for equipping them with these skills has malfunctioned (Rahul, 1997).

 

2.       Consequently, The Scheduled Tribes in India score the lowest on human development with low values for income, health and education indicators. Their extreme deprivation results in them having to migrate seasonally and also in further destroying their immediate habitat leading to even more poverty and deprivation (Banerjee, 2003). Thus, tribal development that is sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the tribes people is beneficial to society not only by making the tribe more self reliant but also by conserving the environment which has become important due to the looming problem of climate change (Banerjee, 2010). Well designed development interventions can not only help the tribes people to improve their lives in a sustainable manner but will also enable them to provide essential eco-system services which will mitigate the harmful effects of the carbon emissions resulting from cities and industries.

 

3.       Tribal societies are patriarchal and as a consequence like for other underprivileged communities, the burden of this mal development falls disproportionately on women due to the feminisation of poverty (UN Women, 2020).

 

Scholars and practitioners of tribal and communitarian development have suggested the following measures to tackle these problems -

·         Decentralised and local community controlled development has been acknowledged as a major desideratum for tackling tribal deprivation (Sharma, 2001).

·         With the award of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to Elinor Ostrom in 2009, it has come to be acknowledged that collective action is the best option for the management of common pool resources (Ostrom, 1990).

·         The benefits accruing in terms of mitigation of climate change from such communitarian natural resource management and sustainable agriculture in rural areas compensates for the emissions from the urban and industrial areas (International Institute of Sustainable Development et al. 2003).

·         The income and time poverty faced by women can be effectively tackled by increasing the agency of women in designing and implementing development programmes and this also results in more equitable and sustainable development (UN, 2019)

In India agriculture directly or indirectly provides livelihoods to 60 percent of the population and so the problems of this sector are most relevant. Specifically the problems of agriculture with regard to aggravating global warming are as follows (CGIAR, 2020) -

1. Carbon dioxide emissions from the heavy use of gasoline-powered agricultural machinery that modern techniques require.
2. Carbon dioxide emissions from the deforestation and burning of land to convert it for intensive agriculture.
3. Loss of soil and forests as carbon sinks. Natural vegetation acts as a huge reservoir, soaking up atmospheric carbon, as does the soil. Destruction of the plants and the disruption of the soil that occurs when land is converted to agriculture decrease the available of these sinks, meaning more carbon is left in the atmosphere. Conventional farming techniques also increase soil erosion and the leaching of soil nutrients, which decrease the use of soil as a sink. Rough estimates are that man-made changes in land-use have produced a cumulative global loss of carbon from the land of about 200 thousand million tonnes.
4. The use of synthetic fertilizer releases huge amounts of N₂O – it is the single largest source of N₂O emissions in the world. The application of fertilizers accounts for 36% of the total emissions of N₂O. According to the IPCC, if fertilizer applications are doubled, N₂O emissions will double, all other factors being equal. Since regular applications of fertilizer are an integral part of modern farming, and as the developing countries adopt more of these industrialized agricultural practices, this is a realistic situation. Remembering that N₂O has over 300 times the warming potential of CO₂ and can stay in the atmosphere for about 120 years, the effect on global warming could be devastating.
5. Methane released from animals and manure piles. Manure storage and treatment systems equal 9% of total CH₄ emissions and 31% CH₄ emissions from the agricultural sector.

 Apart from this the indirect contributions of modern farming are even greater. The manufacture of synthetic fertilizer is one of the most intensive energy processes in the chemical industry, which itself is a primary energy user globally. Add into this the need for the fertilizer to be transported to the farmer, and we find that synthetic fertilizer is the largest producer of CO₂ emissions in the agricultural industry – even considering all the tractors and equipment belching out exhaust fumes. The use of synthetic fertilizer tends to acidify the soil, which then requires the application of lime to balance the pH; manufacture of lime also produces CO₂ emissions. Finally, synthetic fertilizers suppress the soil’s natural micro-organisms that break down methane in the atmosphere, which leads to higher levels of methane than otherwise. The soil micro-organisms are largely responsible for controlling soil temperature and water run-off, production of vitamins, minerals and a host of plant hormones, not to mention that soil micro-organisms provide much of a plant’s immune system so reducing their population is harmful. Thus modern agriculture is unsustainable from the point of view of its harmful contribution to global warming and reduction of biodiversity and organic soil fertility (Shiva, 1992).

Simultaneously economically too this modern agriculture is proving to be unsustainable. The main problem with modern artificial input agriculture is that there is a natural limit to the artificial inputs that the soil can take and so the amount of fertilisers, pesticides and water to be applied goes on increasing while the yields go on falling and sometimes the crop fails altogether. Consequently the economic costs of providing the inputs go on increasing while the realisation of the value of agricultural products in the market does not keep pace with this rise in input costs. Inevitably this leads to farmers falling into the clutches of moneylenders and becoming enmeshed in spiralling debt. Matters have been compounded by the reduction in the availability of cheap institutionalised credit and various kinds of government subsidies for fertilisers, water, diesel and electricity, credit and research which even now amount to about Rs 5 lakh crores annually in India while it is as much as $ 20 billion annually in the USA. The economic crisis in agriculture has now assumed serious proportions with thousands upon thousands of farmers having committed suicides, sold their lands, houses and even their kidneys (NSSO, 2005).

Another problem arising from the adoption of modern agriculture has been that of the increasing scarcity of water. Most of the water needed for irrigation in India is being provided by groundwater extraction and this has led to a situation of "water mining" wherein water collected in the deep confined aquifers over hundreds of thousands of years were used up in the space of a decade and large parts of the country have been facing a ground water drought from the nineteen nineties onwards. Since then there has been less and less ground water available for not only irrigation but also for drinking and the cost of its extraction is continually going up. Big dams, however, are the environmentally and socially most harmful component of modern agriculture. The World Commission on Dams reviewing the performance of big dams brought out the fact that the benefits gained from big dam construction have been at an unacceptable and unnecessary higher cost in terms of environmental destruction and human displacement (Dharmadhikari, 2005). There has been lack of equity in both the distribution of benefits and costs with the poor having lost out on both counts. According to the Falkenmark Indicator of water stress, India is a water stressed country as the water availablity is only 1400 m³/year/person whereas it should be 1700 m³/year/person. In fact many areas in India are water scarce as the water availability there is less than 1000 m³/year/person (NIti Ayog, 2019).

Additionally, modern agriculture drastically reduces the agricultural bio-diversity with its stress on mono-cultures. For example in the western Madhya Pradesh region there has been a reduction in the acreage under coarser cereals and pulses which have been replaced by soybean.  This combined with the greater monetisation of the rural economy has forced the marginal adivasi farmers to buy their food from the market instead of getting it cheaply from their farms and this has reduced their nutritional levels well below healthy standards. Thus, they too have become sufferers of the problem of chronic hunger that today engulfs the poor in much of the developing world and even in the developed countries because the shrinking of livelihood opportunities has meant that they are not able to earn enough to buy wholesome and adequate food (Dreze & Sen, 2013).

Tragically, this march of modern chemical agriculture has marginalised women completely. Settled agriculture began after the neolithic revolution about 10000 years ago most probably due to the selection of seeds of edible cereals done by women from the wild grasses (Lerner, 1986). However, once surpluses accumulated thereafter women were gradually pushed into a secondary status in society by men without rights to land and other means of production. With the advent of mechanised chemical agriculture this marginalisation of women assumed greater proportions and their say in the conduct of agriculture reached rock bottom (Agarwal, 1994).

2.            The Solution

Research has shown that organic arable production is about 35% more energy efficient, and organic dairy production about 74% more efficient per unit of output than non-organic production (Smith et al, 2015). Organic farming, by definition, prohibits the use of synthetic fertilizer, using instead a limited amount per hectare of organic matter and knowledge of soil biology. Since the pH of the soil is not disrupted by organic farming techniques, the use of energy–intensive lime is also minimal or non-existent; again contributing to lower CH₄ and CO₂ emissions compared to modern external input farming techniques. The use of organic matter also increases carbon content in the soil, storing up to 75 kgs of carbon per hectare per year. Organic farming uses nitrogen-fixing plants as cover crops and during crop rotation, which help to fix nitrogen in the soil rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. Also through bio-gas plants the methane generated can be channelised for cooking and generation of electricity instead of being released into the environment. And finally, organic farming techniques maintain soil micro-organisms and so help in oxidizing atmospheric methane. The combined effect of all the different benefits of organic farming produces a Global Warming Potential that is only 36% that of modern external input farming.

Organic agriculture with indigenous seeds is, moreover, less water intensive. Thus, the virtual water embedded in these crops is less (Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2007). Consequently, this kind of agriculture also greatly reduces water use and relieves water stress.

Therefore, sustainable internal input agriculture is more energy, water and nutrient efficient and results in lower greenhouse gas emissions than modern external input agriculture per unit of crop produced, which is a crucial parameter, given the need for food production to feed the world’s population. It is also community dependent rather than market dependent and so will revitalise the local economy. Last but not the least it opens up huge possibilities for women to play a decisive role in agriculture and so in society. The schematic diagram of sustainable agriculture is shown in the figure below.

3.            A Development Programme

A development programme based on these principles is proposed to be carryied out in a remote area around Bisali village, in Udainagar Tehsil of Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh. This area has been chosen because there has been tribal community mobilisation for sustainable development here for more than two decades. Especially of importance is the fact that there is in the area an independent Bhil Tribal women's organisation Kansari Nu Vadavno (KNV) that has done path breaking work for establishing gender equity. Thus, there is a vibrant community based on trust in the area which is very essential for implementing a sustainable agriculture project against the tide of the dominant chemical agriculture.

1.       The overall framework for the development intervention is that of achieving sustainability and equity for the tribes people through organic agriculture and natural resource management which will also mitigate climate change at the global level with the use of Survival Edge Technology. This is an assortment of simple technologies that can be implemented by communities through collective action to mitigate the agriculture, water, energy and climate crises that face humanity and with the agency of women in its planning and implementation (Banerjee, 2020).

2.       Farmers will provid part of their land for conversion from chemical to organic agriculture. The parameters on the basis of which the farmers will be selected are as follows –

·         The farmer household is inclined to try out sustainable agriculture

·         The woman of the household is active in the Kansari Nu Vadavno so as to ensure that she has agency in the implementation of the project.

·         The household has enough irrigated land so that they can spare 1 acre for the project.

3.       These farmers will be provided with financial support to make this switch that will compensate them for the capex required for implementing soil and water conservation measures on their farms and also the possible initial loss in production. 

4.       The crop choices are made keeping in mind both the need to provide proper nutrition to the farmers and also enable them to earn a good income in the long run once the farms are organically certified and their produce can be sold at a premium in urban and foreign markets.

5.       Free ranging homestead poultry and goat rearing are profitable occupations for tribals due to a ready market for chicken and goats. However, they are plagued with the problem of diseases which wipe out the birds and goats from time to time. So a programme of vaccination and medical care is provided.

6.       The need for making the project self sustainable eventually has been taken into account and so the farmers are trained to take on the responsibility of the operations from farming to documentation to marketing and no staff are employed in the project.

 

This development project, while putting the livelihoods of the tribes people on a more environmentally and economically sustainable footing and establishing gender equity in the community, will also enable them to provide eco-system services which will benefit the whole of society through the mitigation of climate change. The most important aspect of this project is that it is designed to make the tribes people self sufficient over a period of time and does not envisage providing them with doles indefinitely. This will be a pilot project based on the experience of implementing survival edge technology for the past five years at the centre set up for the same in Pandutalab village in the project area. It will provide evidence for large scale development planning. Thus, in the long term the project will lead to a wider implementation programme as shown below –

 4.            Marketing Strategy

There is a farmer consumer network organised by the Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI) which depends on trust to ensure that products sold have been produced without the use of chemicals. Subhadra is an active member of this network and at present connects producers and suppliers. Therefore, the produce of the farmers in this project is sold at a premium through the OFAI network. Thus, the farmers are getting a better price than the local market and also some of the investment of the project is being recovered. Eventually, official certification will be obtained and this will result in better ability to tap niche clientele.

References

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