SHILLONG, March 19: Contemporary agriculture is responsible for at least 34 to 36 per cent of global warming in Ri-Bhoi, according to a study conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Experts believe that indigenous communities with their strategies and food systems can help mitigate the impact of climate change.
Referring to the IPCC study, which was conducted ten years ago, NESFAS senior adviser Dhrupad Choudhury said that the farmers in Ri-Bhoi, according to the study, are sensitive to increasing temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, increase in extreme events like hailstorms, winds, and increase in pests.
Choudhury was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day international conference on ‘Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Food Sovereignty’ organised by the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Lady Keane College here on Tuesday.
“We are already looking at impacts of climate change here on the ground. And this is a result from 10 years back and it would have become much more amplified today,” Choudhury said in his keynote address.
Pointing out that small land holders are being affected by the negative impacts of climate change, he said that it was found during the study that agriculture causes the emission of many gases which warm up the globe.
He said that agriculture also contributes around 86% of deforestation because of the expansion of cash crops, while adding that it causes at least 86% of biodiversity loss.
“And there is global recognition that we have got to change the way that we do agriculture, particularly industrial agriculture.
We got to look at regenerative approaches and this is where it becomes very important to look at indigenous people,” the NESFAS senior adviser said.
Meanwhile, he cited recent reports to say that about 80% of the biodiversity in the world today is found in indigenous peoples’ territories. Indigenous people are custodians of those biodiversity and also recognise that biodiversity are very important pillars, he said.
“We need to learn how the indigenous communities are able to retain 80% of the biodiversity in their territories,” Choudhury added.
NESFAS founder, Phrang Roy, in his address, questioned as to how communities survive with climate induced poverty, suffering and injustice, which affect the indigenous population of the globe.
“Will we rely as we did in the past on silver bullets, particularly on artificial intelligence, on which we people of the Northeast have no data on which we can build our future?” he added.
Asking where the Northeastern region will fit in the grand scheme of things, Roy said there is a need to look at some unique lessons of resilience that they would have never noticed in the past.
“We agree that 80 per cent of the biodiversity of the world is important for climate resilience in the indigenous territory. The study of IPCC gave us an assessment of the performance of not only economic and environmental (aspects) but also the socio-economic dimensions of sustainability,” Roy said.
He further stated that there is evidence that indigenous communities can sustain in the face of the current climate breakdown.
“Indigenous food systems are game-changers leaning towards nature-based food systems. These food systems are supported by high traditional social values of women empowerment and youth empowerment and practices of labour exchange. These are really the foundation of climate resilient world,” the NESFAS founder added.
