The voices of indigenous tribal communities and groups of Rajasthan were heard to the world from the United Nation platform. Jayesh Joshi, secretary of Vaagdhara, a Rajasthan based non-profit organization, working with tribal communities of Western India, read the ‘Oral Statement’ at  UN High Level Political Forum 2018 for sustainable development. It is a matter to feel proud for Rajasthan as only 7 statements were chosen across the world to be read at the forum and Vaagdhara, a Banswara based organization, was the only one from India. Jayesh Joshi has described this as a great achievement and pride for Rajasthan.

Indicating towards the vulnerability of indigenous tribal communities of western India, it was said in the statement that “The indigenous communities in the western part of India are the most vulnerable, socially and economically deprived, though they had a rich and a glorious past. The community was once thriving because of diverse and environmentally sustainable farming practices, nutritionally rich local food and the traditional wisdom to find culturally and environmentally appropriate solutions to problems. However, the changing socio-economic, political and climatic conditions eroded their resilience to a significant extent. Once a self-sustained farming and forest based economy is now a slave to market forces for eg. Pesticides, Chemical fertilizers and genetically modified seeds. With time, farming became a non-viable occupation, thanks to increased input costs, harsh climatic conditions and loss of traditional knowledge of low cost- high nutrition farming. The rich farmers of yesterday became unemployed and migrant daily wage earners of today.”

Sharing experiences and results with traditional tribal groups regarding traditional farming and local produce, it was said in the oral statement that “During the interventions from Vaagdhara, the need to revive the lost indigenous knowledge derived from the social economic, historical and cultural practices. Community dialogues were held to discover, collect, document and disseminate the traditional knowledge within the focal groups to revive the traditional practices of the tribal communities. Documentation of the centuries old environment friendly and locally sustainable farming methods and food practices were also documented. The efforts initiated by Vaagdhara in the target area resulted in retaining the non cultivated livelihoods which uses ‘zero chemical fertilizer, zero pesticides and zero GM seeds’. Farmers today preserve and use their own seeds, make pesticides out of neem, use poultry for pest control and goatery and cows for fertilizers. This new eco-system has proved to be a culturally appropriate, low cost and climate responsive solution to their farming needs. These interventions have not only lifted them out of chronic poverty but also resulted into improved health, nutrition and educational indicators of the young generation.”