Collaboration is key: WFSCAN visits Assam

The World Food System Center Alumni Network (WFSCAN), founded in 2018 by alumni of the World Food System Summer School, aims to cultivate an active network that collaborates and drives change towards sustainable food systems. This year, in January 2020, the alumni network organized a workshop at Pabhoi Greens, the organic farm of alumnus Neelam Dutta, in Assam, India. The interdisciplinary alumni group joined forces to brainstorm on three challenges that Neelam faces on his farm: how to efficiently scale the different parts of seed production, to generatie effective seed marketing, and to improve the training of two women farming groups in the remote areas of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

A rich, nuanced environment

As part of the immersion into the farm and its context, the participants visited Neelam’s projects and local markets and also met with a range of stakeholders, including the women’s groups, socio-ecological leaders, university professors and NGO staff. The workshop created space for exchanging ideas, opinions and insights, self-reflection, and inspiration.

Collaboration is key

“Having the chance to bounce around ideas, on-site, with colleagues from different backgrounds was enriching,” remarked a participant, “each adds to the bigger picture.”

The workshop proved an excellent new format to strengthen the community, interchange and acquire knowledge, as well as support individual WFSCAN members. They were able to better understand the local food system and its dynamics and challenges. Discussing with each other, the participants considered different perspectives while connecting with fellow WFSCAN members. Facilitating the exchange with stakeholders and colleagues from other backgrounds not only led to broader discussions but also added to the personal and professional development of the participants. This highlights the power of interdisciplinary collaborative initiatives. After meeting with stakeholders, alumni generated ideas in an open environment to tackle the three target issues on the farm. Fine-tuning of these ideas is ongoing as they are shaped by the pressures of reality. The lessons learned were captured in a report and will serve as the basis for future WFSCAN workshops organized by and for the alumni.

Not over yet

The involvement of the alumni members with Neelam’s project continues. Regular on- and offline exchanges are planned to follow up on recommendations that resulted from the brainstorming activities during the workshop.

After the workshop, several participants developed a vision for Assam’s food system which was submitted to the World Food Systems Vision Prize from the Rockefeller Foundation: external pagePabhoi Greens the Organic Community Led Seed Bank of Assamcall_made. In addition, two participants of the workshop are currently helping Neelam to update the website for Pabhoi Greens, to better showcase its activities and opportunities to a broad audience.

With the goal of increasing seed sovereignty locally, Neelam had begun testing and producing organic seeds. These seeds are more suitable for growth in organic conditions and allow farmers to keep part of the harvest to plant for the following season. However, funding for such local projects can be difficult to obtain for farmers in rural India. As a response, the WFSCAN is supporting the coordination of a crowdfunding campaign for Pabhoi Greens, aimed at funding start-up investments in its seed venture.