Biodiversity and Recipe Contests for Sustainable Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation of the Adi Peoples of Eastern Himalaya

Abstract
In recent years, governments and various developmental agencies have been trying to articulate ways and means of conserving biodiversity and its associated knowledge systems through informal and non-formal education and documentation of ecological knowledge systems. Efforts and polices are being undertaken to check erosion of biocultural resources, and to enhance conservation in order to secure foods and livelihoods of humankind. But, how can we do this challenging job effectively? Would a ‘top to bottom’ approach be appropriate, or a ‘bottom to top’, the so-called participatory approach? This paper focuses on the latter, participatory approach for promoting community knowledge, of both women and men, of local foods, ethnomedicines, handicrafts, etc. through biodiversity contests among adults and children, and with recipe contests among Adi women. The methods and approaches of organizing these ecoliterary tools have been devised after years of location specific work with the Adi tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh, eastern Himalaya, India, and are based on more than 30 contests organized among women, men and children of the Adi community.

Women of the Adi community are custodians in conserving biocultural diversity and securing good nutrition and livelihoods. These women act as an informal learning institution for people and are keys in intergenerational transmission of environmental knowledge. Adi women use forest plants, field crops and other wild resources to secure the food, nutritional and medicinal security of their family members. They participate in horizontal and vertical knowledge networks, exchanging knowledge and related bioresources to be used for food, medicines, etc. This system of sharing knowledge and related bioresources has been sustained through the barter system and the roles played by various socio-cultural institutions. The mechanism of ensuring foods and nutritional security through the barter system was learned during contests to be a reliable approach for Adi women in the most remote locations of mountain ecosystems. Recipe contests help to release the energy of the women and highlight the value of their biocultural resources. They have enhanced opportunities for informal and non-formal learning in indigenous biodiversity conservation and helped to capture the diversity of traditional foods and related knowledge. A deep knowledge of diversified foods (including more than 50 indigenous forests and wild plants) and biocultural resources, and their preparation methods was demonstrated by Adi women. Elder women provided insights on coping strategies to ensure food and nutritional security during times of crisis and drought. The customary chief and elder women further helped in disseminating food-contest based knowledge systems among younger and non-participating members.

Results from biodiversity contests among school children have demonstrated encouraging results in presenting systematic herbaria of local plants, including uses, ecology and source of learning about plant species. Children from rural backgrounds were found to be more knowledgeable than those from more settled areas, and were able to contribute more than 100 forest and semi-forest plants in their collections. The group contests revealed greater knowledge about local biodiversity as compared with individual participation, reflecting the value of synergism. This contest involved two levels of learning about biocultural resources. One was among the children because of competitiveness to win the prize, and the second among their parents hoping to ensure prizes for their children and thereby a gain in social status among the community members. The adults – when given the task of competition and incentive-led learning – were found to be highly enthusiastic and were able to learn 30 per cent more on biodiversity use and conservation than through the normal learning process. The biodiversity contests have inculcated interest among adult Adi members in devising various approaches to conserve indigenous biodiversity and related culture, and thereby secure livelihoods. These approaches included the ‘village knowledge garden’ (VKG – at both individual and clan levels), the ‘village traditional knowledge bank’ (VTKB - at the community level), and passing the resolution by a customary court to prevent overexploitation of RET species from community forest. Creating a platform on which local knowledge systems can inform, interact with and transform formal knowledge systems in a collaborative and cooperative way, as in these biodiversity contests, can ultimately contribute to more effective conservation of biodiversity.

Keywords: Adi community, biodiversity and recipe contests, biocultural diversity conservation, traditional foods, informal learning and education, livelihood security