“Fair Trade, Not Aid”
On 10th October, IACD Regional Director for South Asia, Anita Paul, delivered a presentation at the Terra Madre Forum themed “Taking Care of the Highlands.” This event focused on the role mountains and highlands play in communities and sustainable food supply chains.
Anita spoke about her organization, Grassroots India, and the work they did to form Umang, a women’s collective formed in 2015. The women in this collective are all subsistence farmers or small-plot farmers in the Indian Himalayas. Although the Indian Himalayas make up just 16% of India’s landmass and holds just 4% of the Indian population, the region holds 70% of the country’s biodiversity. Farming in this region effects everything in the country, and an estimated 300 million people in India are affected by agricultural changes in the region.
As subsistence farmers, individually, the women in this region couldn’t take advantage of economies of scale. Collectively, they took action and used innovations from technology to take control of the entire supply chain. Anita was quick to point out that the collective is not dependent on urban consumers — and all surplus produce goes back into the community.
Anita’s full presentation can be viewed below and on YouTube. Skip to minute 11:45 for Anita’s address.
