The Khasi Food System gained recognition in an international publication, ‘Indigenous Peoples’ food systems: Insights on sustainability and resilience from the frontline of climate change’.
This book is by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and was officially launched yesterday through an online event. The book analyses eight different Indigenous Peoples food systems in Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Arctic and Africa identifies threats affecting their food security and warns about their future and the impacts their disappearance will have on humanity’s ability to adapt to climate change.
The study area was in the Nongtraw community, facilitated by NESFAS and TIP, and it highlights the centrality of Jhum cultivation, which is a rotational form of food generation and production.
In a press release, NESFAS said, Dr. BhogtoramMawroh, Sr. Associate, NESFAS, and co-author of the Khasi Food System chapter, presented the key findings during the event. The study shows that more than sixty percent of the food produced is from Jhum cultivation and this has enabled the communities to attain autonomy in food production and more than sixty of the diet and income comes from the Jhum-based Indigenous Food System (IFS). The study also records more than sixty species of food plants found in Jhum cultivation. Other key findings include the role of women, which has seen to be prominent for many years in the process of food production.
The chapter for the Khasi Food System is titled “Treasures from shifting cultivation in the Himalayan’s evergreen forest- Jhum, fishing and gathering food system of the Khasi people in Meghalaya, India”. This chapter was authored by community members of Nongtraw village, Meghalaya, India, NESFAS Team; Bhogtoram Mawroh, Ruth Sohtun, Pius Ranee, Melari Nongrum. Phrang Roy, Coordinator, TIP and Founding Chair, NESFAS, along with Gennifer Meldrum, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Rome, Italy, also penned it.
