By H H Mohrmen
The Corona virus induced pandemic has affected every nook and corner of the world and people continue to suffer the consequences even today. The immediate effect of the pandemic aside, there are the long-term impacts on the life of the people and the world at large. Hopefully the pandemic will end one day and we will be able to leave behind all the troubles that we have experienced. But the most important question is how do we come out of this mess. We are not doing ourselves or the future generation a favour if we do not learn lessons from the biggest challenge that humanity has ever faced.
Pandemic is the
greatest equalizer
Two very important lessons we have all learned from the Pandemic is that a global problem like the pandemic does not spare anyone; it attacks the rich and the poor with the same vengeance and it also attacks the rich countries as much as the poor ones. Affluent countries that are advanced in medical science and have a “supposedly” robust Public Health System, were not spared. The healthcare system of developed countries in the western world collapsed and obviously they were as ill-prepared for the pandemic as the poor countries in the under-developed world.
The pandemic is one global problem that had hit the world like a bolt from the blue. It happened all of a sudden and it did not give us time to prepare ourselves for the eventuality, but we are also encountering another problem of a global magnitude due to climate change. The climate crisis is slowly driving us to extinction if we do not mend our ways fast. (fingers crossed) and hopefully the worst is over now and the countries are prepared for another wave of the pandemic. But the question that we need to ask ourselves is whether the pandemic has anything to teach us to help solve the biggest conundrum that the entire human race is facing? Is there any lesson we can learn that can help us mitigate climate change?
Indigenous food systems and food security
On March 2020, the immediate lockdown took everyone by surprise. All of a sudden supply of farm food to the local markets (particularly vegetables) was stopped and the entire supply chain collapsed like a pack of cards. People particularly those in the rural areas went back to making the best use of their natural instincts and engaged themselves in collecting and foraging for food from the forest. It was the local food system which came to the people’s rescue especially those in the rural areas. During the lockdown due to the pandemic, the indigenous foods even reached the dining tables of the urban population. During their time of need it was the local solutions that came to the people’s rescue.
The story from the pandemic is that at least in the rural areas and in some cases even in the urban areas, the indigenous food system has served us in good stead and has saved us in our time of need. The first lesson that I personally learnt from the pandemic is the need to strengthen the local food system. Our local indigenous food system has not only fed us since time immemorial, but it also contains micro-nutrients that are needed for the growth and health of any human.
IFS are micro-nutrient-rich foods
In most cases we consume indigenous food just because it has been part of our tradition. We do not realize that the time-tested food system that we have inherited is also good for our health. For example, we consume ‘Tyngkhieh/Khliang syiar/kynbat maloi’ (centella asiatica) but we are not aware of the nutritional composition of the plants which are in fact rich in iron and magnesium. We also consume ‘Jamyrdon/ïamyrdoh’ (Hauttuynia cardata Thunb) but we are not aware that it contains magnesium, fiber, calcium and other nutrients. These are a few examples of the IFS which have rich nutritional value.
IFS helps maintain the ecological balance
Most of our IFS are wild edibles, therefore it goes without saying that consuming indigenous foods will also help in conserving the environment. As most of the food is collected by foraging in the forest, popularising Indigenous Food System will also help protect the forest where the wild edible grows. Since time immemorial indigenous people have been consuming these wild edibles and they were able to maintain the ecological balance that is needed to sustain both animals and plants. The lesson learned from the pandemic is that at least for indigenous people nature not only helps provide us clean air and water, but all along, we have received a stable supply of food from the forest.
Local food can also
be climate resilient
Indigenous foods are also endemic to the area. They have existed in the nature for ages and they have adapted to the environment of the area. Naturally they are much more resilient to climate change and they can tolerate climate change much better than the vegetables or food which were brought from outside the region. Indigenous foods are sustainable and they can sustain lives.
Local participation
The other very important lesson that we’ve learned from the pandemic is that to a certain degree, local solutions help lessen global problems. The pandemic has taught us that when a problem of a global magnitude hits the world, the immediate reaction is for the respective nations to protect their own people and close their borders. In fact, that was what we have seen happening the world over when the virus attack was first reported. The solutions did not come from the WHO (World Health Organisation) or the UNO, but from the individual countries. In fact, in many countries including India, it was because of the active participation of the local bodies that the governments were able to control the spread of the virus.
If we take our state as an example, we saw that it was the Dorbar Shnong which supported the government in implementing the lockdown and even quarantining the returnees and the affected in their respective towns or villages.
Bottoms-up approach
If the world is to effectively mitigate climate change, it has to be a bottoms-up approach. It has to be in partnership with the people, not the government doing the people a favour. We need a paradigm shift in our approach in how the government engages with people to effectively check rising global warming. The government should stop considering the people as mere beneficiaries of the conservation efforts, but to treat them as equal stakeholder in the process. The new approach is to take the people along in the conservation efforts as people’s participation will ensure community ownership of the activities too.
Mitigating climate change at the local level
The other lesson for climate change mitigation from the pandemic is the fact that the local civic bodies have a vital role to play. Perhaps it can start from a simple activity like how the community is taking care of its waste and minimizing the amount of waste that goes to the landfill. For any waste management effort to succeed it needs active participation of the people hence the local governance system plays a vital role in the effort.
Planting trees is one popular activity during every World Environment Day celebration but how much of the saplings survive is another question. Again, for every sapling to survive and the tree plantation to be fruitful, community participation is very important. The biggest enemy of a tree or the forest is forest fires. Such wildfires are the major cause of destruction of the forest. Much of the forest in the hills state is destroyed by wildfire during the dry season; controlling forest fire can also be effective only with community participation. Strengthening community participation in forest conservation is inevitable and it needs to be pursued vigorously.
One man or one woman can make a difference
Ultimately, like in the case of COVID-19 pandemic, some solutions to mitigate climate change also lie in the hands of the individual. Controlling the spread of the virus is in the hands of the individual and it comprises simple activities like wearing a mask, keeping physical distance from one another and of course following COVID protocols. The war to protect the world from meeting the ultimate climate crisis has no border, hence we are all frontliners in the fight against climate change. We each one of us are armies in the war and our fight is against one common enemy called greed. We need to change our attitude towards using fossil fuel, using plastics and anything that contributes to global warming. The need of the hour is to avoid getting trapped into consumerism culture which generates waste and is the major cause for global warming and thereby contributes to climate change.
Email: [email protected]