Caritas India joined the panel of eminent academicians and research scholars at the Indian Knowledge System Mela cum training programme organized by Assam University, Silchar on 13 December 2022 to share her experience of Food Security and sovereignty in Northeast India.

Caritas India took this opportunity to share her experiences with the august gathering through an exhaustive presentation and discussion showcasing Caritas India’s efforts in working with smallholder farmers. The prevalent agricultural systems in the region and the challenges associated were shared with the gathering. Caritas India’s contribution to Food security and food sovereignty vis a vis Northeast Region (NER) was presented in the panel discussion.

Caritas India has been working in the region for several decades and empowering marginalized ethnic communities for food security and sovereignty. Mr. Prabal Sen, Caritas India Programme Associate for Northeast Zone introduced Caritas India FARM, one of the programmes designed for reaching out to smallholder farmers and supporting them build resilience and food security through various interventions.

Sharing about the programme, Mr. Sen said, Caritas India while working in this people-led intervention tried to reach out to smallholder farmers to understand their challenges and issues and responded in accordance. It has been an experience of more than 9 years of dealing with the diverse ethnic communities of NER in their day to day lives towards securing food. Food sovereignty also was part of the FARM programme & promotion of indigenous seeds & food systems, rural markets towards empowering the food growers. Caritas India also worked on climate adaptation with smallholder farmers.

Caritas India’s innovative models on agroecological practices included the replication of the diverse cropping model of shifting cultivation in backyard gardens, upscaling yield in backyard gardens, rural markets, and a host of others. Caritas India made a difference by creating models on the transfer of knowledge on rich traditional wisdoms prevalent among the ethnic groups as it was important such wisdoms stay in the society rather than being only documented. Millets were also part of the panel discussion along with wild edibles that made a difference in the food security arena and became a means of healthy nutritional food for smallholder farmers.

This was perhaps the first time that Caritas India reached out to the academia to show her contributions to NER of India. Caritas India made a sincere appeal to the academia for a synergetic collaboration in the near future as it becomes very important for the CSOs and academia to work in tandem for the development of small farmers.