Traditional wisdom, modern challenges

In a cluster of villages inhabited by Tharu tribals in the terai area of Uttarakhand, a nutrition survey discovered that despite other problems, people had managed to avoid malnutrition to a remarkable extent.

- BHARAT DOGRA

The reason, as related by social activist Devyani working with this community, was linked to their traditional practice of having a lot of green leafy vegetables or saag in their everyday food - not only saag cultivated by them but perhaps more so the numerous varieties collected from forests which on the basis of their traditional knowledge they could recognize as being not just edible but having a high nutrition value as well.

Another activist, Anita Damor, working among Bhil tribal communities in Rajasthan, while agreeing with the high nutrition content of traditional foods in her region, raised a different aspect of prevailing practices in her community. In several villages, breastfeeding was being denied to newborn children due to superstition or wrong beliefs. So, it was necessary to have a campaign here to convince people and mothers regarding the safety and desirability of breastfeeding for newborn children.

These different aspects of traditional practices were revealed at a dialogue in Delhi where the consensus was on recognizing the high value of protecting traditional wisdom and utilizing it properly to meet existing challenges, while at the same time taking care to counter any harmful practices based on superstitions.

In particular the value of traditional knowledge and practices related to agro-ecology, nutrition and health was emphasized at this dialogue in the context of meeting the challenges of climate change.