Today, we return to India which, even though it’s the 4th world’s major agricultural producer, is still facing a major challenge to nourish its entire population.
In face of an inefficient agricultural policy based on pesticides and GMO seeds, a new paradigm was invented to help guarantee food security for everyone.
It was at this point that Vandana Shiva went into action!
This energetic Doctor in Philosophy and Quantum Physics founded in 1987 The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. This Foundation coordinates a network of more than 111 community seed banks and therefore reaches more than 500.000 farmers.
The seeds, among which 560 varieties of rice and 120 varieties of wheat, are distributed to 16 Indian states as well as Bangladesh, Tibet and Pakistan.
Vandana Shiva, emblematic figure of contemporary India, received in 1993 the “Alternative Nobel Prize” (1) for her work in favor of the farmers, helping them to be independent through choose freely their seeds and therefore guarantee a better yield.
« We need once more to feel at home on the earth and with each other » she tells us… a sentence around which we can easily gather, don’t you think dear Future Shapers?
(1)Le Right Livelihood Award, created in Sweden in 1980 is a price meant to « honor and support those offering practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing us today ».
To go further:
- A 2 minutes video to meet Vandana
- Her website
- Her report for a citizen mobilization
“Our first objective is self empowerment of citizens who are aware that they have the power to liberate the seed and themselves. Our second objective is to have empowered citizens put pressure on Governments and institutions to roll back Patents on Seeds and Seed Laws that rob us of Seed Freedom”