The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund: Stories

Seeds of Hope and Joy October 17, 2009

Denise Hambidge

Combining sophistication with traditional agriculture in Bangladesh

The participants in The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund’s (PWRDF) Asia-Pacific roundtable meetings that took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh in late June this year enjoyed a day’s visit to Tangail, north of Dhaka.  Here we were welcomed by PWRDF partner UBINIG and founders Farhad Mazhar and Farida Akhter, at its community Agricultural Learning Centre.

UBINIG are the initials of the organization’s Bengali name, which in English means Policy Research for Development Alternative.  This organization “works with people for life and livelihood,” and describes itself “as a group of social activists involved in communities in many different ways to transform the present for a positive future”.  The centre at Tangail is an example of UBINIG’s Nayakrishi Andolon, (New Agricultural Movement), which melds new researched learnings with traditional methods of farming.

During the latter part of the last century, international development agencies introduced the small traditional rural Bengali farmer to so-called modern methods of agriculture with its monoculture machinery, fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified seeds. Within a decade or two, these methods were not viable for small farmers and families left the rural farm to find work in the cities. The New Agricultural Movement is a positive alternative to western methods and produces farming communities practicing biodiversity-based ecological agriculture. It is a movement of ideas and the practice of life-affirming activities. The practice is very simple: observe, learn, taste and experience the processes of life in nature. It follows various operational rules adopted by the farmers themselves, which include: no pesticides; no chemical fertilizers; copy the forest and produce diversity; seeds and genetic resources are the common resources of the community; water is wealth.

When we arrived at the centre, we were welcomed by women with flat woven baskets displaying traditional symbols of rice, durba grass, candles, raw turmeric, etc. and singing songs of welcome. We were refreshed with homemade yoghurt (absolutely delicious!), jackfruit and puffed grains. Then Farida, who is a PWRDF international partner and board member, described to us the goals of this New Agricultural Movement. Her talk was illustrated by members of the community singing and dancing the stories of their work and a song of the names of two hundred types of rice was very impressive!

UBINIG researchers studied seed preservation and collection and decided to teach a new way of agriculture emphasizing diversity, which focuses on growing indigenous crops together.

They claim that monoculture and unreliable seeds are the two main reasons for pest attacks. Their practice of mixed cropping and using high quality indigenous seeds, collected and used by farmers through prolonged use, means they do not need pesticides. They also do not use chemical fertilizers but know what kind of crop is suitable for what kind of land. The practice of multi-cropping and crop rotation mirrors the diversity of the forests and maintains the health of the soil. These practices show higher productivity, ensuring household food security and crops for the market.

As we toured this learning complex, we saw a vast collection of numerous types of rice seeds and seeds of other indigenous edible plants in its Community Seed Wealth Centre. Farmers can receive seeds on request and are asked to return some at the harvest. We also saw the Seed Hut of a typical farmer’s wife who is in charge of collecting and guarding the family seeds. This seed collection is counted as wealth to her, as her husband cannot plant crops without her seeds. We saw a farmer’s field using the method of “broadcast” sowing of rice, growing intermingled with other edible indigenous crops.  We saw the traditional way of shucking the seeds, grinding flour, and squeezing mustard oil.

Over 300,000 farmers in Bangladesh are practising Nayakrishi method in the New Agricultural Movement. Small land owners, shared-land farmers and owners of large acreages are now putting these methods into practice. Even landless people can benefit. UBINIG helps landless people, who often are women, by arranging for them to have a cow. The women ask a land owner for the use of a small plot of land for their cows, in exchange for the cow dung. This arrangement enables the cow owner to get an income through milk and breeding and to save for land of her own. It also means the farmer has natural fertilizer for his soil.

After a lunch of locally grown food, we were invited to a gathering of farmers and their wives, sitting on mats on the ground outside one of the farmer’s homes. Here, through an interpreter, we were told how happy they are with the methods and philosophy of Nayakrishi Andolon. The oldest farmer shared that he had tried the ‘modern’ method of farming but is happier to have learned about this new method. The farmers and their wives are pleased that their harvests now produce enough for family food and in addition they can take approximately two thirds of it to the market to sell. They also save seeds for another year and return seeds to the Community Seed Wealth Centre. This was a very moving experience of joy and hope in partnership and community.

UBINIG is one of PWRDF’s partners and its sophisticated research is helping many vulnerable families in Bangladesh. It also has a lesson to teach us about working with God’s creation and how to honour it as good stewards. The New Agricultural Movement is both ecologically and community focussed and we who support PWRDF can be proud of its accomplishments.

 

---

Denise Hambidge is the vice-president of PWRDF board and a committed constituency member who has been supporting PWRDF’s work through her Church in the Diocese of New Westminster.