An alternative vision
March 11th, 2006
Time to pack up and leave the hotel, which entailed the most long winded hotel checkout process I have ever encountered. A couple of hours drive took us to Nallapara village – 1090 households now converted to organic agriculture under the auspices of UBINIG (a Bangla acronym for Policy Research for Alternative Development). The Nayakrishi Andolon (New Agriculture) methodology forbids all artificial fertilisers, pesticides, deep bore irrigation (a serious issue in Bangladesh due to arsenic contamination), etc.
Instead, the farmers grow a wide variety of crops in rotation and with intercropping, and use careful seed selection to develop plants which grow best in their local conditions. Over the course of the year, the farmers grow rice, sugar cane, cauliflower, cabbage, jute (as a vegetable), potatoes, lentils, pumpkin, cucumber, coriander, and no doubt some others I didn’t manage to note down. So there is no problem providing a healthy and varied diet.
To an outsider, the Nallapara fields looked dry and unproductive compared to the lush rice paddies we had seen earlier, with their pumped irrigation flowing non-stop. However, the farmers were hugely enthusiastic about the new system. Our translator – Johnny – had difficulty keeping up with the highly articulate Rabeya (illustrated), whose message was simple – healthy soil equals healthy crops equals healthy children. She urged us to pick up the soil and feel the difference.
Back at the village centre Rabeya organised refreshments – the highlight being the freshest possible coconut milk, straight from the tree – then back to work, inspecting the village seed store. This is a key part of Nayakrishni Andolon’s philosophy – handing control of the seeds back to the farmers, especially the women. Rabeya offered us some hybrid seeds she had developed herself, and had no problem convincing the professional agriculturalists on the tour she knew all about the methods of hand pollination.
The farmers’ belief in the system and their understanding of the principles behind it was very convincing. The project had started after the disastrous floods in 1988, when the farmers had told the NGOs they didn’t want relief, they wanted seeds to start up again. With help from IDEC (Canada) and research on crop rotation from Hyderabad came the new method. 37 villages have now adopted the scheme, with UBINIG hoping to achieve their first NA Union soon (the next level up from village).
Then on to the nearby UBINIG centre to hear from the charismatic Farhad Mazhar, founder of UBINIG. Mazhar believes that the whole Western notion of social progress through economic growth is inherently flawed. His alternative is community based development of self-sustaining communities rooted in the land. UBINIG claims to be largely self-sufficient through its trading arm Parabartana, although it does generate income by carrying out funded research for Christian Aid and other NGOs.
UBINIG exists to spread this model through the rural communities. We stayed overnight in their centre – a simple residential complex (our only mosquito nets of the trip – and two cockroaches) with communal dining and meeting areas. We were invited along to their evening assembly along candlelit paths. Joss sticks smouldered, everyone sat on the floor, sang traditional songs, and a local farmer sang his own protest songs against GM and pesticides. We managed a round of “Kum by ya” in reply. It was all very sixties ashram – without the joints.
UBINIG exists to spread this model through the rural communities. We stayed overnight in their centre – a simple residential complex (our only mosquito nets of the trip – and two cockroaches) with communal dining and meeting areas. We were invited along to their evening assembly along candlelit paths. Joss sticks smouldered, everyone sat on the floor, sang traditional songs, and a local farmer sang his own protest songs against GM and pesticides. We managed a round of in reply. It was all very sixties ashram – without the joints.UBINIG exists to spread this model through the rural communities. We stayed overnight in their centre – a simple residential complex (our only mosquito nets of the trip – and two cockroaches) with communal dining and meeting areas. We were invited along to their evening assembly along candlelit paths. Joss sticks smouldered, everyone sat on the floor, sang traditional songs, and a local farmer sang his own protest songs against GM and pesticides. We managed a round of in reply. It was all very sixties ashram – without the joints.UBINIG exists to spread this model through the rural communities. We stayed overnight in their centre – a simple residential complex (our only mosquito nets of the trip – and two cockroaches) with communal dining and meeting areas. We were invited along to their evening assembly along candlelit paths. Joss sticks smouldered, everyone sat on the floor, sang traditional songs, and a local farmer sang his own protest songs against GM and pesticides. We managed a round of in reply. It was all very sixties ashram – without the joints.