Sharing valuable rice varieties with farmers: Biodiversity for the sake of “vital nutrients and the ability to withstand flood, drought, salinity or pest infestations” – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha Maharashtra & West Bengal

IN BRIEF India originally possessed some 110,000 landraces of rice with diverse and valuable properties. These include enrichment in vital nutrients and the ability to withstand flood, drought, salinity or pest infestations. The Green Revolution covered fields with a few high-yielding varieties, so that roughly 90 percent of the landraces vanished from farmers’ collections. High-yielding … Read more

“It’s time for our nations to have a voice”: A place for young leaders to share their stories and to show that they are contemporary citizens – United States of America

by Rae Paoletta 8/25/2015 There are 5.1 million Native Americans living in the United States right now, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite this, when you Google “Native Americans,” here’s what comes up: There are barely any photos of contemporary Native Americans in the search result. The silencing — and erasure — of Native … Read more

Audio | The Muskoka Summit on the Environment – Canada

Restoring our relationship with nature from lake beds to treetops Indigenous peoples have all around the world have principles and values that we can learn from, that will help us to understand what our responsibility is here. (9:33) What’s emerging is a consciousness amongst society in general, is the necessity for working for the continuation … Read more

Methods of education that create enthusiasm for learning and reduce the school dropout rate: A success story – West Bengal

Challenges The issues in tribal education are the conflict between the state’s policy of assimilating minorities into the mainstream culture and the tribal people’s reluctance to abandon and insistence on maintaining their identity. Rural tribal children face a severe dilemma when they are forced to reject their own culture and accept the schools’ middle-class values. … Read more

Promoting social enterprises based on value addition of local, natural resources, especially bamboo, the “green gold”: A Wayanad-based NGO Uravu – Kerala

URAVU is a non-government organization working with people, governments and businesses to implement programs for sustainable employment and income generation in rural areas. Uravu is a non-profit trust, established in 1996, registered under the Indian Trusts Act. Uravu promotes social enterprises based on value addition of local, natural resources, especially bamboo, the “green gold”. Uravu implements integrated, … Read more