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The Navdanya Foundation India ... Part 1

"Navdanya" is a model of organic agriculture, protecting our natural resources and food basics, but also of practising real democracy, true emancipation and a better education.

"Navdanya" was initiated by VANDANA SHIVA ...

Vandana Shiva (Hindi: वंदना शिवा; b. November 5, 1952, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, India) ...

is a physicist, environmental activist and author. Shiva, currently based in New Delhi, is author of over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals.
Shiva participated in the nonviolent Chipko movement during the 1970s. The movement, whose main participants were women, adopted the tactic of hugging trees to prevent their felling. She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization ( along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin and others ) , and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement.
She has argued for the wisdom of many traditional practices, as is evident from her interview in the book Vedic Ecology (by Ranchor Prime) that draws upon India's Vedic heritage.

Chemical agriculture and genetic engineering are threatening public health and leading to nutrition decline. Costs of production, which includes hybrid and genetically engieered, seeds, chemicals and irrigation, are increasing with every season pushing farmers into the debt trap and also to suicides.

Thousands of farmers have given their life in India in the last two decades because of the debt. As an insurnace against such vulnerability, Navdanya pioneered the conservation of biodiversity in India and built a movement for the protection of small farmers through promotion of ecological farming and fair trade to ensure the healthy, diverse and safe food. The movement is now spread throughout India through our partner organisaitons and farmer's networks.

Navdanya's pioneering research on the hazards of chemical farming, the costs of industrial agriculture and the risks of genetic engineering have led to a paradigm shift. Our research has proved that contrary to the dominant assumptions, ecological agriculture is highly productive and is the only lasting solution to hunger and poverty.

Navdanya have so far trained above 2.000.000 men and women - farmers, students, government officials, representatives of national as well as international NGO's, Voluntary organisations on biodiversity conservation and organic farming. We have also trained several large groups like Yuvacharya of Art of Living, NGO led by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The group is presently working in about 5000 villages of India. Navdanya trained secretaries and Extension Officers of the Tibetan Gov' in exile and now their settlements across the country are in conversion to organic. Biodiversity based farming has changed the economic status of the member farmers across the country.

Organic agriculture is not just a source of safer, healthier, tastier food. It is an answer to rural poverty.

High cost corporate agriculture is having adverse impact on livelihood of farmers. The increasing cost of production and the falling price combined with the decline in farm credit is putting great burden on farmers, which is pushing him to suicide. Since 1997, more than 25,000 farmers from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Punjab have taken their lives. Since then, RFSTE has been monitoring the impact of trade liberalisation policies on Indian farmer and Indian agriculture since the New Economic Policy (1991) and WTO rules of the agreement on agriculture (1995) came into force.

In celebration of non-violent organic agriculture, every year Navdanya organizes Albert Howard Memorial Lecture on 2nd October, initiated in the year 2000 to tribute to the two messiahs of sustainability and non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi and Sir Albert Howard.

Organic agriculture is saving the Earth and farmers' lives.