Navdanya

Navdanya is an Indian-based non-governmental organization which promotes biodiversity conservation, biodiversity, organic farming, the rights of farmers, and the process of seed saving. One of Navdanya's founders, and outspoken members, is Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist, physicist, and author. Navdanya began in 1984 as a program of the Research Foundation for science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE), a participatory research initiative founded by world-renowned scientist and environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva, to provide direction and support to environmental activism.^[1] "Navdanya" means "nine crops" that represent India's collective source of food security.^[1]

Vandana Shiva one of the founder of Navdanya

Navdanya is a member of the Terra Madre slow food movement. Navdanya is a network of seed keepers and organic producers spread across 16 states in India.

Navdanya has helped set up 54 community seed banks across the country, trained over 500,000 farmers in seed sovereignty, food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture over the past two decades, and helped set up the largest direct marketing, fair trade organic network in the country.

Navdanya has also set up a learning center, Bija Vidyapeeth (School of the Seed) on its biodiversity conservation and organic farm in Doon Valley, Uttranchal, north India.

Navdanya is actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture. It has created awareness on the hazards of genetic engineering, defended people's knowledge from biopiracy and food rights in the face of globalisation and climate change.

Navdanya is a women centred movement for the protection of biological and cultural diversity.

Save a Seed

Chemical farming is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions which are causing climate change. Saving seeds of climate resilient crops is a vital safe guard in times of climate change. Millets use only 200 to 300 mls of water but give 40 times more nutrition than industrially and chemically farmed rice which required 2500 mm of water and loses all nutrients when it is industrially processed. You can source your open pollinated organic seeds from Navdanya’s Seeds of Freedom campaign.

GMO Free Campaign

Navdanya has led the national and international movement for biosafety and against the dangers of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. Working with citizens' movements, grassroot organizations, NGOs and governments, they have made significant contributions to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Biosafety Protocol.

Navdanya's research and campaigns have highlighted the deepening crisis of hunger and starvation, debt and farmers suicides caused by high cost but unreliable GM and hybrid seeds. In the field of food and agriculture, Navdanya has raised serious concerns about the ecological and health impacts of GMOs. Since 1991 they have been campaigning against the commercialization of GM crops and food in India and have highlighted the dangerous effects of these crops and foods on our biodiversity, environment and health. One of Navdanya's goals is to educate the public at large on the harmful effects of biopiracy.

Since 1997, Navdanya is actively monitoring the GM related activities and development in India Freedom from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and conducted field surveys on the performance of Bt. cotton every year during the field trials as well as after its commercialization and proved companies and governments’ claims deceitful and fallacious. Through The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE), they have also filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court in 1999 against US seed giant Monsanto and Indian authorities for the illegal and unauthorized introduction of GMOs in India through field trials of these crops, bypassing and violating environmental laws, without involving and informing the local authorities and the local public.

Navdanya has also been involved in and leading campaigns against GMOs on an international level. During the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial, Navdanya joined 740 other organizations in presenting their opposition to WTO's attempt to undermine the right of individual countries to take appropriate steps to protect their farmland, environment and consumers from the risks posed by GM foods and crops. In India RFSTE and other concerned groups have demanded that the Government fulfill their obligation towards the Indian farmers, Indian consumers, the environment, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture by imposing a 10 year moratorium on the impending release of GMOs in India.

Biopiracy

RFSTE/ Navdanya started the campaign against biopiracy with the Neem Campaign in 1994 and mobilized 1,00,000 signatures against neem patents and filed a legal opposition against the USDA and WR Grace patent on the fungicidal properties of neem (no. 436257 B1) in the European Patent Office (EPO) at Munich, Germany.

Along with RFSTE, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) of Germany and Ms. Magda Alvoet, former Green Member of the European Parliament were party to the challenge. The patent on Neem was revoked in May 2000 and it was reconfirmed on 8 March 2005 when the EPO revoked in entirety the controversial patent, and adjudged that there was “no inventive step” involved in the fungicide patent, thus confirming the ‘prior art’ of the use of Neem.

In 1998, Navdanya started a campaign against Basmati biopiracy (Patent No. 5663484) of a US company RiceTec. On Aug 14th 2001 Navdanya achieved another victory against biopiracy and patent on life when the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) revoked a large section of the patent on Indian Basmati rice by the US corporations RiceTec Inc. These included:

• The generic title of the RiceTec patent No. 5663484, which earlier referred to Basmati rice lines;
• The sweeping and false claims of RiceTec having ‘invented’, traits of rice seeds and plants including plant height, grain length, aroma which are characteristics found in our traditional Basmati varieties
• Claims to general methods of breeding which was also piracy of traditional breeding done by farmers and our scientists (of the 20 original claims only three narrow ones survived).^[2]

Navdanya vs. Monsanto

The next major victory against biopiracy for Navdanya came in October 2004 when the European Patent Office in Munich revoked Monsanto’s patent on the Indian variety of wheat “Nap Hal”. This was the third consecutive victory on the IPR front after Neem and Basmati, making it the third consecutive victory. This was made possible under the Campaign against Patent on Life as well as against Biopiracy respectively. MONSANTO, the biggest seed corporation, was assigned a patent (EP 0445929 B1) on wheat on 21 May 2003 by the European Patent Office in Munich under the simple title “plants”. On January 27, 2004 Research Foundation for Science Technology and Ecology (RFSTE) along with Greenpeace and Bharat Krishak Samaj BKS) filed a petition at the European Patent Office (EPO), Munich, challenging the patent rights given to Monsanto on Indian Landrace of wheat, Nap Hal. The patent was revoked in October 2004 and it once again established the fact that the patents on biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and resources are based on biopiracy and there is an urgent need to ban all patents on life and living organisms including biodiversity, genes and cell lines.

Through the citizens’ actions, Navdanya has won three biopiracy battles and have thus contributed to the defense of farmers’ rights, indigenous knowledge and biodiversity. Navdanya’s focus on collective, cumulative innovation embodies in indigenous knowledge has created a worldwide movement for the defense of the intellectual rights of communities.^[2]

Citations

1. ^ ^{a b} "Introduction to Navdanya". http://www.navdanya.org/about-us. Retrieved 19 April 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Biopiracy Campaign". http://navdanya.org/campaigns/biopiracy. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 

External links

• Navdanya Website