Nayakrishi farmers’ seed preservation, land rights, and women’s empowerment
Report: UBINIG, Bangladesh
Introduction
This action research report is based on UBINIG’s ongoing work with the Nayakrishi, a biodiversity-based farming practice led by small-scale farmers in two districts of Bangladesh. UBINIG has been working in these two districts (Tangail and Pabna) with over 80,000 small-scale farming families, out of which, around 47,000 are women, who are involved in seed preservation and other related farming practices. Nayakrishi is spread over other districts with over 300,000 farming households. The farmers own less than a hectare of land each; families with no land ownership are also part of Naya
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Nayakrishi Andolon: a pathway for just, equitable, and sustainable transitions and future in the global South
Introduction
The people of Bangladesh are ‘victims’ of the very predatory foundation of colonial-industrial civilization, based on fossil fuel. The country is a site of industrial extractive expansionism of exploitative global order. It is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change; and has been facing extreme weather with more and more frequent natural disasters like storms, cyclones, oceanic surges, drought, erosion, landslides, flooding, and salinization. These disasters are already displacing large numbers of people. Estimates show that by 2050, one in every seven people in Bangladesh will be displaced by climate cha (Read More)
Nayakrishi Andolon Geo-localisation: Bangladesh Brief description
Bangladesh’s farmers have struggled for decades to market their produce and earn a decent living. In the 1960’s, farmers were persuaded to adopt the Green Revolution model of agriculture. As a result, their livelihoods and other subsistence needs have been increasingly threatened (Mazhar et. al., 2001). In fact, the trade policies within the neoliberal globalised economic system continue to favour the industrial sector over the agricultural sector (Akhter, 2020).
Started in the early 1990’s, the Nayakrishi Andolon (New Agriculture Movement) has been building innovative farming prac (Read More)
Bangladesh: Community Seed Wealth Centers and stress-tolerant crop varieties
Brief history and functions of community seedbanks
In the late 1980’s, small-scale farmers practicing monoculture and chemical-based agriculture experienced loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation. The costs of production were rising beyond their capacity. In search for alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides, farmers in the Tangail area of the country started Nayakrishi Andolon, a movement to support biodiversity-based ecological farming. The Tangail area was severely affected by the flood of 1988 causing severe loss of standing Aman crops (monsoon r (Read More)