As part of its ongoing celebration of the Year of Rice Action (YORA), the All Nepal Peasants Federation (ANPFa) hosted an interactive rice workshop in Kathmandu on the 15th and 16th of August. The successful event was one of a number of activities organized by ANPFa to bring attention to the issue of rice in Nepal and featured presentations on genetically engineered rice, the importance of rice to the Nepalese economy, the System of Rice Intesification and rice culture.
A total of 50 participants attended the workshop, representing a diversity of backgrounds including peasants, indigenous people, women, scientists, researchers, media, and non-governmental organizations. The two-day program showed that genetic engineering and biologically-based ecological agriculture are topics of urgency and importance to Nepal.
A presentation by Dr. Nanda Bahadur Singh entitled ‘Genetic Engineering and Recombinant DNA Technology’ educated participants on the process of GE, its uses, and the outcomes of GE so far.
Mr. Keshav Lal Shrestha, Deputy President of ANPFa, discussed his research paper ‘Organic Farming in Nepal: Prospects and Challenges’ which focused on the potential of organic farming in Nepal as well as some possible barriers to success.
A presentation on GE rice was given by Mr. Hari Parajuli, Secretary of ANPFa. During his presentation he provided various points supporting why we should say ‘No’ to GE rice. According to Mr. Parajuli, biotech companies argue that patented rice is essential to feed the world because of a gap between food production and human population. He said that in reality this is untrue, and that the real cause of hunger and malnutrition is poverty and lack of access to food, issues that cannot be addressed by GE technology. He pointed out that 78% of malnourished children in the developing world live in countries with food surpluses, illustrating the fact that the problem is access, not supply. He provided examples of various health and nutrition, technical, and environmental problems on the basis of which GE should be opposed.
As an alternative to GE technology, the System of Rice Intesification was discussed in a presentation by Mr. Nahendra Khadka. Finally, Mr. Balram Banskota shared information about the Save Our Rice Campaign, its issues, and challenges. Following the presentations there were serious discussions among participants including genuine solutions and practical suggestions on how to tackle the threats to rice culture in Nepal.
For more information on how you can get involved in YORA, please visit www.panap.net/yora
YORA is jointly organized by people's organizations in China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh in collaboration with the Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP). It runs from 4 April 2009 to 4 April 2010.
Contact:
Contact: Mr. Balram Banskota, Deputy Secretary General
All Nepal Peasants' Federation (ANPFa)
Mailing Address: Madan Nagar Balkhu Kathmandu, Nepal
Telephone: 977-14288404; Fax: 977-14288403
E-mail: anpfa@anpfa.org.np, balram@anpfa.org.np