EVENTS

VIIth Howard Lecture, 2nd October, 2006

The VIIth Albert Howard memorial lecture was organized on 2nd October, 2006 at India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

Navdanya celebrates Gandhi’s Birthday on 2nd October every year by organizing the Albert Howard Memorial Lecture. The event celebrates the connection of India’s non-violent living agriculture with the traditions of peace fostered by Gandhi. Sir Albert Howard was sent to India as the imperial scientist to teach Indians how to “improve” agriculture, but learnt instead from Indian farmers the method of chemical free agriculture that is sustainable.

Dr. Vandana Shiva, Founder Director Navdanya/RFSTE delivered a brief inaugural speech. For us organic farming is a non-violence way of agriculture. Organic farming saves farmers suicides. The present system which is supposed to produce more food is creating more hunger. More than 77% of India is not eating enough” said Dr. Shiva.

Dr. Shiva invited Dr. Nirmala Deshpande; the great Gandhian to light the lamp. “Dr. Deshpande is one of the few Parliamentarian in the country who speak about farmers suicides in the Parliament. Those of you who are not seeing Durga immersion and Ravan Dhan, can see everything here remarked Dr. Shiva.

This year the Gandhi Award presented to Amazonian Defense Front, Brazil in defending the Amazon Rainforest from destruction by agribusiness. A film on the disastrous impact of soya in Brazil was screened. On behalf of the Front the Award was accepted by Maria Ivete. She said, “As you see in the film our friends and companions in Brazil are dying. We are happy that the people in India have guts. 26000 square kilometer soil in Amazon was destroyed due to Soyabean. Before last year we had uncommon drought and last year we had uncommon flood.” She also thanked Navdanya for presenting the Award which will give the strength to the movement in Brazil.

There were three speakers, Ms Renate Kunast, Ms Carolina Lucas and Ms Jady Wicks. Renate Kunast; She is the leader of the Green Party and she was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture during January 2001 and October 2005. She said “while USA and European countries were killing animals people in Germany wanted to stop it. We had the competition for cheapest meat, but wanted to change it. I stressed on quality instead of quantity. People called me an alien but I told them that I do not want to be the press officer of meat industry. I also put emphases on obesity. People must have good food. We must feed them in a better way. We have cooks who cook only organic food” she alleged, “anti-farmers and anti-consumer policies being pursued in the developed world and the same model was being dictated by the WTO regime, IMF and World Bank.” She further said “there is a need for a basic change in attitude to agriculture to make it sustainable and promote conservation of biodiversity”.

Kunast was made the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture when Europe was under the grip of mad cow disease. She blamed the prevalence of the disease was the result of industrial agriculture. She took steps to offer an alternative path to the farmers during her tenure. She also blamed the system of giving special subsidies for production of special crops. She initiated decoupling of farm subsidies in Europe during her tenure. She initiated the move to have 20% of the are earmarked for organic farming. “it was just a beginning. More needs to be done.” She said.

Caroline Lucas is the leading member of European Parliament of the Green Party, UK. According to Ms Lucas, "The current trade regime has caused food swap, meaning displacement of local food and monoculture in cropping system at the dictates of the big corporations.

"In an era when more than enough food is produced to feed the world, millions go hungry. The World Food Programme estimates that 40 million people in Africa are currently in urgent need of food aid, and according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, half of India’s population is malnourished. Even in a prosperous country like the UK, 7 per cent of the population – four million people – live in food poverty,” said Ms Lucas.

Increased international trade is not the answer to food poverty. Where hunger exists, what is often lacking is not food, but access either to the money to buy it or the land on which to grow it. In some poorer countries where millions are landless and hungry, this situation is compounded by the large-scale cultivation of cattle feed for export.

It’s estimated, for example, that for every acre farmed in the UK, two more are farmed overseas in order to meet the feed requirements of our intensively farmed livestock. Imported feed, such as cassava, soya beans and soya cake, makes up about 30 per cent of all European animal feed. An estimated 5.6 million acres in Brazil and around 1.2 million acres in Argentina are devoted to soya bean production for export – land that would be better used by local people to grow food for local need.

The challenges are certainly great. If I think of my own country, Britain, relocalising food there at a time when the top 5 retailers in the UK account for over two thirds of food sales, and when half the country’s food is now sold through just 1000 giant stores, is admittedly ambitious. And it will require a revolution in supply chains, distribution and retail networks, and in agricultural and trade policy.

Women are increasingly at the heart of this process of relocalisation, both North and South – recognizing that greater sustainability and self-reliance are central to real food security. And as we celebrate Gandhi’s birthday today, I think he would have been happy to know that his philosophy of “swadeshi” – local self-sufficiency – is more relevant than ever today, and continues to gain support. As the evidence of the unsustainability of our current food system grows, the benefits of local food become ever clearer. With a lot more political commitment to tackle the policy obstacles that still remain, we have a real chance to create sustainable food economies across the world.

Judy Wicks is owner and founder of Philadelphia’s 24 year old. White Dog Café, known for sourcing from local family farms where produce is raised organically. Ms. Judy has won numerous awards including the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the year and the Living Economy Award from Business Ethics Megazine. In her brief speech she said, “This is a special day to be here on Gandhian Birth Day. For me, business is about relationship. I want biodiversity, not monoculture, Slow Food not fast food, Farmer not Warmer”.