Page 47 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 20

Food Health

Seed saver networks help farmers to which are prone to drought and tems developed to deal with floods
creatively cultivate ever more crop extreme heat, as well as indigenous and to keep soils humid during the
varieties to deal with the many dif- short duration upland rice variet- dry season. In the last 3 decades,
ferent challenges of soils, climates, ies, which consume less water and MASIPAG farmer communities
nutrition, flavour, storage, pests and make them resilient to drought-like have developed a collection of
diseases. Women farmers, in partic- conditions.26 In Odisha, farmers 2,000 plus rice cultivars and with its
ular, play a significant role as seed are also practicing rice straw-based programs on rice breeding and seed
savers or custodians of traditional potato farming where farmers save improvement, it managed to identify
seeds. These seeds offer strong the financial and environmental cost 18 drought-tolerant varieties, 12
resistance to extreme climate. of stubble burning, as well as from that are flood-tolerant, 20 salt-water
leveling or tilling the field. Farmers tolerant and 24 that are pest and
Across Asia, indigenous populations plant potatoes tubers among the disease tolerant.
are faced with increasing climate leftover straw and stubble after
change challenges such as disappear- harvesting the rice, which reduces Beyond climate adaptation, MASI-
ing animals, food and tree species, water requirement by 80%, since PAG farmers contribute in emission
forest fragmentation, impacts of rice straw retains moisture for long reduction as well, by complete-
rapid development and more. How- periods, and helps as well in con- ly banning the use of chemical
ever, using traditional wisdom and trolling weeds. fertilisers and pesticides in their
practices, they have developed their rice production, thus significantly
own local food sovereignty strategies MASIPAG, a farmer-scientist organ- reducing carbon emission from the
to deal with climate change. isation in the Philippines, has shown farm. Another important strategy
that mitigation and adaptation to being applied is to grow diversified
The Kond people of Odisha in climate change are possible through or multi-crops and trees because
India, for example, use agroecolog- biodiversity based agroecological they reduce the risks of total crop
ical practices to maintain climate farming.28 According to MASIPAG, loss during floods, drought and salt-
resilient agrobiodiversity, allowing indigenous farming practices by water intrusion caused by cyclones.
insects, pollinators, flies and birds small-scale subsistence farmers have This biodiverse system also provides
to thrive on their farmlands. An proven to be healthier, cheaper and different kind of foods at different
indigenous women farmer, Suna- resilient to climate change. They times and other multifunctional ben-
main Mambalaka, cultivates over 80 have chosen local indigenous seed efits like fodder, green manure, fire-
varieties of crops in her 2 hectares varieties that grow more quickly, wood, hedge, erosion control, wild-
farm, including pearl millet and resist dryness or survive in excessive life habitat and more. MASIPAG
sorghum which are ideal for regions waters, with water management sys- farmers apply this concept to grow
a large number of different varieties
better adapted to climatic and geo-
graphical-specific conditions. Some
farmers also integrate livestock into
the farming system as an alternative
source of income. These agroecol-
ogy-based diverse, productive and
resilient farming systems put forth
by MASIPAG are fundamental to
maximize the adaptive capacity of
farming communities to climate
stresses, strengthening their unity
and social fabric in the process.

Similarly, Southeast Asia Regional
Initiatives for Community Empow-
erment (SEARICE), together with
farming communities in the Philip-
pines and Cambodia have developed
Grain bank installed and maintained by the Bangora Sagun Mahila group at Bongara village, community managed seed systems
Kasipur block, Purulia , India. Photo: DRCSC

WWW.MSINGIAFRIKAMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 20 | FEBRUARY 2022 47