A Unique Way of KutiaKondh’s Revitalisation of Indigenous Food System in Odisha

Abstract

Indigenous food system that is based on centuries of accumulated wisdom is crucial for both food security and food sovereignty, as well as for cultural identity, spiritual wellbeing, and responsible stewardship of the environment. Under changing social-economic-political conditions, small scale and indigenous food systems have been declining in developing countries primarily as a result of agricultural industrialisation, commercialisation of crops, and food globalisation. Various studies show that eroding indigenous food systems have resulted in greater poverty, food insecurity, poor health, and malnutrition among Indigenous communities. These include millet in general and finger millet in particular.
This paper is focused on BurlangJyatra, an Indigenous rural community seed festival traditionally and historically celebrated by the KutiaKondh Indigenous millet farmers in the district of Kandhamal in Odisha, which has declined, but has been revived in recent years through civil society intervention.This paper provides two key learnings.First, to recognize the deeper significance of such festivals in reconnection and sustainability of biodiverse farming at the individual and community levels, we must go beyond a simplistic celebratory and promotional discourse around rural, historical, socio-cultural traditions.As key to social-ecological resilience, it emphasizes relationships, adaptation, and reciprocity as values of Indigenous knowledge systems. Second, the paper provides new insights into the use of a social-ecological framework for revitalising Indigenous food systems for food and nutrition security, biodiversity conservation, and biocultural diversity at the community level.