Nagaland stars in FAO report on community rights

India's northeastern state of Nagaland has been highlighted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a successful case of safeguarding community rights over land and for practising shifting cultivation based on customary law.

Also, a new publication on Shifting Cultivation, jointly released by FAO, has complimented indigenous communities for enhancing biodiversity, providing food security and having a smaller carbon footprint due to their simple lifestyle. It has also called for a new look at shifting cultivation and seeks to stress the "invaluable contributions" of indigenous peoples to conservation of nature, food security and solutions to climate change."

The publication titled "Shifting Cultivation, Livelihood and Food Security: New and Old Challenges for Indigenous Peoples in Asia" was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization Wednesday in Bangkok in collaboration with the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). The report analyzed seven case studies of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal and Thailand.

"Except for Nagaland in India, where the state recognizes the communities' rights over the land and shifting cultivation based on customary law, indigenous communities in all other case studies continue shifting cultivation without legal recognition and protection of their rights to land," the report says. This recognition of rights by the state stems from the special constitutional status for Nagaland guaranteed by Article 371A of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the ownership right of 'land and its resources' to the people.

Shifting cultivation or jhum, as it is widely referred to in the region, is the most common land-use practice across Nagaland.

The report pointed out that The Nagaland Environment Protection and Economic Development (NEPED) project was an exceptional initiative because it explicitly aimed at the improvement of traditional shifting cultivation and not at replacing it.

Examining the challenges faced by indigenous people, particularly in relation to shifting cultivation, FAO has called for "indigenous people's rights for shifting cultivation in harmony with environmental sustainability."

"Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable groups when it comes to food insecurity, therefore recognition of their right to shifting cultivation is central to their future food security and environmental sustainability. In order to reach the goal of Zero Hunger, indigenous people must be supported as a top priority," Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, said while releasing the report at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT).

(Bajinder Pal Singh is a freelance journalist based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at bajinder@hotmail.com)