Forum global sur la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition (Forum FSN)

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    • Hi Moderators and other members

      I have some additional views, comments and suggestions.

      a.       International bodies of indigenous people strongly voiced in many climate change submits that it should be stopped criminalizing traditional forestry systems and using practices of indigenous people. It is because the means of hedging lives and wellbeing (livelihoods, social institutions and cultures) of indigenous communities are strongly attached to indigenous forestry systems and practices. I agree the REDD policy and support programme harm way of lives including food security of the tribal/indigenous people in all countries including India. The money from the forest carbon sale cannot buy better substitutes of livelihoods, social institutions and cultures of the tribal people even in a decade or so.    

      b.      There are institutional problems to manage forest for contributing on food security and nutrition. Even research organizations and universities are also biased against the forest based people. Once I assessed research worked by CIFOR and found that there were few researches in favour of tribal or indigenous groups. Most of research findings of the organization are against tribal/ indigenous ethnic groups and other forest based people. From my understanding the people from international organizations got opportunities to steal the livelihood means of forest based communities and other poor people due to extreme conservative forestry values and practices of national forestry professionals, elites or bureaucrats.

      c.       The saying “the Emperor's New Clothes” best explain the reality of international forestry development policy and support in developing countries. Evidences are self explaining that forestry organizations are stealing means of livelihood forest based people instead of helping.

      d.      There is a need of some dedicated people with intellectuality to work in favour of forestry based communities and socially disadvantaged people. International organizations are not heaven to work in favour of socially disadvantaged and forest based people. I have listened many problems and frustrations by my friends working in international organizations. They said that the people working at management level of international organizations have a undeclared social ring and limited opportunities of the organizations to the people of the elite circle.  People working in the organizations should justify and defend all works done by the organizations or bosses even if these are horribly wrong. The best strategy to survive and get opportunities is pleasing powerful people in and outside the organizations. You need to spend most of your efforts to please people instead of working for producing quality outputs. People with open mind and fair attitude get hard time to work in such manner and survive there. Public rarely dare to challenge wrong doings of the people due to their high profile of their organization. According to my friends the people who point their work weakness get named in negative list.  From my understanding the individuals pointing weakness of the people affiliated in the high profile organizations must have high levels of intellectuality to challenge them and dedication to work for forest based people. If you are dedicated to work for disadvantaged people you make much more differences working voluntarily from outside than working from the international organizations.  

      e.      The intention of my writing is not challenging the job of symbolically high profile people working in national and international forestry organizations. I can never do it. But I am sharing the realities of forestry problem to contribute on food security and nutrition.        

      Thanks for reading my points.

      Champak

      Manipur

    • Hi Eva and Fred

      You asked us to contribute our knowledge on this issue through this forum and you use the information in your paper and participate in the conference.  Is it your moral ethic? People of international agencies use name of poor people and tribal communities of developing countries to justify their activities particularly in forestry field. But the people get the most benefit of the activities themselves and make the poor people and tribal communities even ruined or marginalized.

      What are the key challenges and bottlenecks hindering a greater contribution of forests, trees on farms and agroforestry systems to food security?

      Yes the forests are main sources of food security of tribal communities who historical sacrifice their wellbeing for the forest resource conservation. The tribal communities did not destroyed forests in their communities as much it did by western and other societies for farming. They used small forest area used only a small land area to cultivate crops, despite the production was insufficient to feed their families. They used non-timber products and sustained their living. That is the fact to have a higher proportion of biodiversity rich forest areas around the tribal community areas. But other societies did not recognized the contribution in environmental conservation and importance of forest for their food security. Most traditionally used forestlands were managed in common which are registered as public forests now The areas are now excessively controlled by state authorities. The territories of the indigenous people are encroached by government policies and activities of other societies; and the communities are squeezed in marginal lands, and forced them to grow crop in sensitive lands and shorter rotation. The forest based people are blamed for encroaching on environmentally sensitive land and using forest resources but the fact of the resource uses are ignored. The forest management policies and activities of international agencies have never given attention of problems of tribal communities.  They have advised governments of developing countries to meet the interest of and benefit western and non-tribal ethnic groups, and frozen the opportunities of forest land use practices of tribal communities. They have taken advantages of gullible natural behavior of our communities. Even in the concept note of this paper you have not considered the way of lives and forest policy issues of our communities. Therefore the main enemy or problem of tribal communities for forest based food security is international agencies and policies. 

      What are some concrete examples of innovative approaches, or good practices that increase the contributions of forests and trees to food security and nutrition goals?

      Innovative approach of forest based food security is management of forest for multipurpose uses. 

      What is needed for food security policies and strategies to recognize the contributions and value that forests and trees bring?

      It needed to stop policies and practices of international agencies that ruin tribal groups and poor people. 

      In summary the people including you who work in international organizations are the main hindrance for forest based food security of tribal communities and poor people.

      Chapak Ishram

      Manipur, India