SHILLONG: Meghalaya youths, Merrysha Nongrum and Chenziang Marak were among those who presented their case studies on biodiversity at Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
A statement issued on Friday said that at FAO, on the concluding day of the Fellowship, the German Room was packed with Bioversity, FAO and IFAD staff and representatives from New Zealand, Norway and Hungary, where besides Nongrum and Marak, the Fellows, Nofri Yani and Edgar Monte presented their case studies.
The Indigenous Partnership (TIP) through Indigenous Fellowship Programme aims to create a cadre of indigenous youths to come forward, defend and revitalize their indigenous food systems for the wellbeing of their communities.
Phrang Roy, TIP’s Coordinator sstressed on improving traditional knowledge management.
Marak , in her presentation, highlighted the importance of biodiversity in community land and forest areas for food and nutrition security in the village that she studied. She said that although shifting cultivation, in this particular village, has reduced because of increasing monocropping, all the women go to the surrounding forests to collect the wide varieties of wild edibles.
Nongrum said NESFAS, the organisation in which she is working conducted a mapping of micro nutrient-rich resources in 32 villages.
The village that she studied had the highest biodiversity amongst the 32 villages.
She also stated that primary and secondary education is taking young boys from herding of animals, a traditional activity and this conflict between the educational system and a traditional livelihood issue has not been resolved.
