The Solidarity Economy in India

 

Navdanya

Founded in 1984, Navdanya, is a non-governmental organization working for environmental and social justice, which is based in India but with wide reaching international influence. Navdanya means nine seeds which perfectly symbolizes the organization's commitment to changing small farms from monoculture crops, which destroy the land and the farmer's self-sufficiency, to bio-diverse organically grown crops that benefit the farmer, the family, the community, and the environment. It is working to create a model farm on which an entire family can survive off a small plot of land by growing hundreds of different crops side by side. In order to aid the farmer, Navdanya has created seed banks to save and distribute different varieties of seeds (especially indigenous seeds that have been driven out by foreign commercial crops).

"Navdanya's conservation farm has protected 12 genera of cereals and millets, 16 genera of legumes and plants, 50 genera of vegetables, 7 genera of oil yielding plants, 13 genera of spices and condiments, 20 genera of aromatic plants, 54 genera of fruit and flower yielding plants and 250 genera of ornamental, timber and medicinal plants."(www.navdanya.org)

In addition to promoting bio-diversity, Navdanya also encourages organic farming. Navdanya has given training to over 500,000 farmers in India on organic farming. And the movement has proved to be very popular. According to Vandana Shiva, the movement's founder, organic farmers are far happier and healthier then their conventional counterparts. There are now 2,000,000 farmers spread throughout the country who have transitioned to organic farming.

Navdanya also promotes themes of justice and acts as a place of inspiration by offering courses on Biodiversity, Food Sovereignty and Gandhian Philosophy at Navdanya's site as well as internationally. It also offers internships and volunteer opportunities at its site. Not to mention its reputable founder, Vandana Shiva, who is a prominent global figure in the transformative process to more sustainable just communities. She is an eco feminist with a Ph.D. in quantum physics. She has combined her scientific knowledge with her social and environmental ideals to create a movement that is unique in its vision, depth, and success. She feels that ecology and feminism are inseparable for she believes that women are the natural caretakers of the earth. Therefore women have been central to the movement as she has striven to create seed banks and promote the growing and eating of indigenous foods.

Navdanya encompasses a solidaristic community and mission by exhibiting economic and social democracy, cooperation, skills-sharing, and sustainable living. Its mission goes beyond an economic or capitalistic form of solidarity. It requires a deep and cooperative solidarity among its members, its surrounding community, and the natural world. In fact this is the core principle of Navdanya: the well-being of humanity is dependent on the cooperation of humans and nature.

WORKS CITED:

Navdanya. <http://www.navdanya.org/about-us/overview> 2 May 2010