By Bhogtoram Mawroh
When in an alien place you encounter a landscape which reminds you of home it is not only a pleasant surprise but a source of great joy. It was with these emotions we surveyed the landscape of Northern Thailand. Green hills dotted with jhum fields took us back to the sunny dales of Ri Bhoi and West Khasi Hills. The village which reminded us of home was Melangkham, settled by the Karen, an ethnic group found spread across South East Asia. In popular culture they have been immortalised as the intrepid insurgents fighting the Burmese military regime in the Sylvester Stallone starrer Rambo IV (2008). What the movies don’t tell you is that Karens are also a matrilineal and matrilocal society which bear striking similarities with the Khasis. Among others, they have their own sacred forests and follow similar rituals during the birth of a child. Linguistically, though, they belong to the Tibeto-Burman group unlike the Khasis who belong to the Mon-Khmer group. But the similarities in the way they use their landscape and their belief system was remarkable.
This visit to Northern Thailand ( May 12-20 2018) was facilitated by Phrang Roy (The Indigenous Partnership for Agro-biodiversity and Food Sovereignty (TIP), Rome and also Chairperson of NESFAS, Shillong) in order to promote exchange missions of young indigenous professionals of partner organisations like NESFAS to help each other. The team included Phrang Roy, Pius Ranee, Senior Associate Agro-ecology and myself in the capacity of Senior Associate for Research and Knowledge Management. It included field visits to Karen villages in Northern Thailand and a seminar or rotational farming in Bangkok. Part of the mission was also to help a Karen organisation – PASD (Pgakenyaw Association for Sustainable Development) develop a project on food security and nutrition. The project would build on their indigenous food production system which was based on rotational farming which the Karen termed as Rai Mun Wian. This is a form of shifting cultivation (known as rep shyrti among the Khasis) where farmers do not shift their residence but return to the same plot after a fallow period of 7-10 years. As is prevalent elsewhere, a very high degree of agro-biodiversity is the hallmark of this system. More than 200 plant species are found and gown in the rotational system which also acts as shelters and habitats for a wide range of animals, birds and insects during the different stages of rotation (farming-fallow-farming cycle).
Under the Rai Mun Wian the Karen follow various conservation practises that include proper site selection, long fallow periods, fire management, watershed management, forest cover etc. This form of agriculture is very robust because it can withstand various stresses and can provide the participating households with highly nutritive diets. In this respect it is no different from the jhum system followed by the Khasis and other tribes in the North East. Likewise this system has been maligned by mainstream narratives that see environmental degradation as the only outcome. Studies, however, have demonstrated that provided sustainable fallow periods are maintained this system is ecologically highly sustainable and has the potential to contribute to highly nutritive food security of the population. The biggest stumbling block is touted to be land shortage but few ask if other land uses, like the highly polluting mining and industrial estates, are the main culprits rather than the farming system itself. Rotational farming is an integral part of Karen identity and Rai Mun Wian define their worldview and life-world.
While it was wonderful to encounter similar people away from home, it was also distressing to learn of their plight. Many of the Karen people do not enjoy citizenship rights in Thailand, hence they are not eligible to receive benefits from the government. This despite the fact they have been living in the country for many generations. Those fortunate to get citizenship need to adopt a Thai name, a subtle method of obliterating differences. Along with other upland groups, like the Hmong, Mon, etc., the Karen are also victims of negative stereotyping. They were accused of causing deforestation and environmental degradation. They face tenure insecurity with the state not issuing land title deeds and are considered trespassers on their own farms. Many Karens have been arrested for farming in their own lands which have been declared as conservation areas. The National Forest Policy of the 1960s has restricted clearing and cultivation of fallow land, an important part of Rai Mun Wian while policies like mining concessions and reforestation activities have resulted in tremendous pressure on the Karen’s food production system by reducing land availability.
We were able to get first hand information on the challenges faced by the community during the Rotational Farming Festival held between May 18-20, 2018 in Sirindhorn Anthropology Center, Bangkok. NESFAS was asked to present its learning on the international protection of rotational agriculture, the key lessons of NESFAS and its research work on stress tolerant varieties found in indigenous farming systems. Panel discussions on the various aspects of rotational farming were the highlights of the program. Representatives of the state were part of the discussions. The discomfort of the officials in admitting the benefits of rotational farming was evident in the body language of those who represented it. While participants from the Karen and their well wishers impressed upon the state representative about the sustainability of the system, he was adamant that they should not break the law in the processes. What it meant was that the land of indigenous people that had been confiscated for creating conservation areas without due consultation should not be encroached upon. At the same time, he warned that those who have left the practise will not be allowed to return.
All of this was part of a larger strategy to push the indigenous groups away from their lands. It begins by confiscating the area without consultation and converting it to conservation areas thus restricting their use. With land being restricted increased population will lead to abandonment of the practise by some families who will then make their way to the lowlands to work, most probably, as casual labour. By not allowing them to return and with the rotational system being dependent on community labour this put further pressure on the remaining households to give up the practise altogether. In the meantime, more land will be brought under conservation areas which, as was seen in the past, will be released for private timber felling, dam construction or mining. The Karen community understands this very well and therefore are doing their best to hold on their rotational farming practises. Rai Mun Wian not only provides them with food but is also the only way the Karen can continue to have claims over their ancestral lands.
The fear of losing their land and their identity was palpable at every discussion session. On the last day of the program chaired by Phrang Roy, the most common (in fact only) questions that the Karen asked was on the land rights of the Khasis. When we explained to them that the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution had provisions for protection of indigenous lands and people, we could see the pain and frustration on their faces. The hurt was not because they were resentful of the more secure positions of the Khasis but because of their own dismal situation. They also raised concerns about immigration to the North East region and its danger to the indigenous population. When one recollects the events of the last few months in Meghalaya where there were calls for aliens to be given citizenship rights in the State through different guises, the concern for the future of indigenous groups like the Khasis is not totally unfounded.
In the end, NESFAS was able to help PASD frame a project which would help the Karen build strong institutions based on their indigenous food production system, i.e., rotational farming system or Rai Mun Wian. The aim is to ensure food security while not compromising with food sovereignty and nutrition. For the Karen however, the project goes beyond the issue of food security, food sovereignty or nutrition. It is about protecting their way of life which allows them claim over their ancestral lands. Though our situation is distinct at the moment, we cannot take anything for granted. During one of the panel discussions the NESFAS team remarked, “As long as we have control over our land we control our destiny, the moment we lose that, we lose everything. So we must make sure we never lose that control at any cost.” As is true for the Karen this is true for the Khasis as well, especially in these current times lest the Khasis go the Karen way.
The struggle of the indigenous people over their land and their way of life, which includes their food, was the focus of Phrang Roy’s keynote address at the opening session of the seminar. The interactions that followed reinforced the need to strive towards that end and meet the challenges that on its path. Personally, I am grateful to NESFAS for this opportunity to be part of a team that is asked to work with indigenous groups. The indigenous way of life is encapsulated by a Native American quote which the world needs badly at the moment. “When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realise that you cannot eat money”.
(The writer is Senior Associate (Research and Knowledge Management), NESFAS