Developing an Alternative to Shifting Cultivation in North-East India. by gandhi.david

Dear Mr. Olawale,

Thank you for your support and your suggestion.  

I have added some content to the proposal.

Regards,

David

Excellent idea to solve this problem by offering alternative means for the local economy. Thorough plan of action.

Pls note, given observations from slash-and-burn in SE Asia, there could also be vested interests at play. Firstly, plantation companies that persuade farmers to continue the practice, as the (narrow and short-sighted) economics of slash & burn is still convincing enough. Secondly, local businessmen who live-off lobbying and coordinating local business-political efforts (instead of creating their own productive businesses) usually cultivate relationships and activities which, if they happened to benefit from continued slash-and-burn, pose challenges to your respectful programs.

This is a terrific proposal. It reminds me of two things.

1. The Sacramento Valley in north-central California was traditionally subjected to heavy smoke and ash fallout from local rice farmers burning the fields after harvest. There was one company that practiced natural methods which increased soil fertility and did not require the burning of the fields. A campaign was held in Sacramento to put to a vote the elimination of this practice and it succeeded. The number of asthma and other related health issues has diminished since.

2. Greening of the deserts promoted and taught by permaculturists (Sepp Holzer and Geoff Lawton).

You might considering adding these to your References

Dispute Over Burning of Rice Fields / Sacramento-area farmers want phaseout postponed www.sfgate.com/news/article/Dispute-Over-Burning-of-Rice-Fields-3020026.php

Homer Lundberg of Lundberg Family Farms recognized for service to industry www.ricefarming.com/departments/industry-news/homer-lundberg-of-lundberg-family-farms-recognized-for-service-to-industry/

Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture – a Review https://permaculturenews.org/2011/06/15/sepp-holzers-permaculture-a-review/

Permaculture Behind Greening the Desert with Geoff Lawton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q41b05ku9U

Great idea. I wonder if there might also be a benefit in using certain strains or types of seeds that might be more inclined to thrive in adverse conditions. There's information about similar efforts in Central America and Mexico. http://www.ecologic.org/actions-issues/challenges/slash-burn-agriculture/

Thank you for your important efforts. Best of luck.

Julie

David, excellent presentation. Kindly, if you coudl be so kind to explain a little bit more on the impact of SALT on the conservatin of biological diversity woud be more interesting for, at least. As well, the proposal is in extreme complete, however, if you could explain a little bit more on the possibility to apply this idea in other countries will be wonderful. Further, we aware of intellectual property protection of this idea (by traditional protection or even traditional knowledge). Might ob interest to see if the Indian Law of Biodiversity and their by laws might help to your project by creating legal protection to the work of farmers. If I have more suggestions to share I will write to you.

Best regards.

Sergio

Dear Dr. Pena, I am very happy for your support and relevant comments to the proposal. I am  at present challenged due to poor internet connection, but will try to include the information. Best regards. David.

Dear David, considering your outstainding results, could you be so kind to answer my questions put before?

It has been a great experience to be a part of this exciting and potentially impactful initiative at Aben. Heartening to note the engagement of the local community, their willingness to try out new things, a sense of positive optimism that prevails, and most importantly, the desire to do something different, to make a difference – in their own lives, and in the lives of their children and generations to follow.

During the last two visits to Aben, and during the course of the ongoing engagement between these visits, what we have attempted as a team is to

(a) foster greater community engagement – the VDC has been strengthened to include more representation from womenfolk and youth

(b) bring in an element of financial robustness and a ‘business angle’ into the agenda – sensitize individual stakeholders on the basic of costing, investments, returns and so on, even while encouraging the VDC to progressively take ‘ownership’ of the project itself. For instance, after creating a small pool of funds for the demo plots, the VDC gave loans to individuals, and these loans are expected to be paid back over time, to go into a Village Development Fund administered by the VDC, and which will over a period of time, become a revolving fund to be used for ongoing development initiatives

(c) encourage a holistic approach to development – weaving aspects such as skill development and livelihoods into the SALT initiative and

(d) facilitate market linkages for output from the fields – not just a commodity like raw turmeric, but processing and value addition within the village itself, which apart from generating livelihoods, can also provide (significantly) higher returns.

Besides, the synergistic partnerships created – local community, individual stakeholders (village folk who took the initiative and the step to be a part of the SALT demo units), VDC, NGO (PESCH), individuals (the Gandhi’s), social entrepreneurs (Mrida) – each bringing their respective skills sets and knowledge/experience base to the table, yet working together as a cohesive team to deliver results and impact – have been a pleasure to be an integral part of.

The above factors, we feel, will contribute to making this a sustainable initiative, which will stand the test of time with increasing ownership devolving to the local community and the VDC.

A sustainable and financially viable model of the kind being sought to be created is in itself a positive step towards scalability. The recent connect with the District Administration, and the initial very encouraging response in terms of extending Govt. facilitation and support, will extend even further, the possibilities of scaling up the ‘Aben Initiative’ to the next level(s).

Excited to be a part of the team, a part of this initiative and committed to pitching in with whatever it may take to making it a success….

Thank you for submitting your contest proposal.

A Climate CoLab Impact Assessment Fellow who specializes in Land Use has conducted an impact assessment of your proposal which you can find under the “IMPACT” tab. Please review the documentation and model parameters. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can contact Marissa Malahayati at marissam.

Regards,
Impact Assessment Fellows

Amazing initiative, David.

Kudos, David, for an important and highly relevant initiative. You are taking SALT to another level of integrated livelihoods interventions - I see the glimpses of Farming Systems Approach in your methods. Keep it up! And good luck to you and the Naga farmers.

Mr David & team members,

Kindly accept my congratulatory message for advancing to this stage of the contest.

Best wishes in this voting round!

Olawale

Best initiatives. Great work.

David,

I have read in detail of your proposal. I am not conversant or familiar with agricultural methods, but what you have proposed as ideas, makes great sense logically and am excited by your venture.

May you get successful in your venture.

I am happy to contribute in whatever way I can to your amazing venture!

Regards

Makarand

Amazing thought .. 

SALT is good concept and all the very best

Dear Yatin,

Thanks for your support. We could certainly do with help for the Apiculture and other aspects of SALT, specially related to pest management.  I am returning to the project area tomorrow and plan to spend the coming 4 months there.  Lets keep in touch over FB.

Voting Over, Friends. After a marathon effort by all concerned, our final count was 2055 while our main competitor managed to pull in 2156. The last 30 minutes were hectic but we just could not line up so many votes all at one time. Most of our friends were at work!

Thanks to all those who stood behind us.

My wife Usha and I are leaving for Manipur and the project area this afternoon.   Will post regular updates about the progress of the work on Facebook.

Cheers and God Bless.

Hi Mr. Gandhi. I am based in Gurgaon, but will be visiting Tamenglong in the summer. Could you kindly share your contact details on my email id: write2rommel@gmail.com, so that we may connect. 

Thank You

Rommel Shunmugam

Hi Mr. David,Congrats to you and your team  n this achievement!