Sustainable Livelihoods and Lifestyles in Uttarakhand, India

Ajay Mahajan

Mountains worldwide are marked by diversity, remoteness and fragility. In these times of ecological crisis, its likely that the greatest mountain range of them all, the Himalayas and its habitants have something to share with us about sustainability.

Agriculture and animal husbandry or pastoralism have long been and still are the mainstay livelihoods and occupations of the human communities in the Himalayan state of Uttarkhand. Closely and symbiotically interlinked, both of them are deeply dependent on the neighbouring forests and ecosystem for sustenance and viability.

Agriculture in 8 ! of hill Uttarakhand is rainfed. It is distinguished by its organic cultivation methods and marked by e"ceptionally rich biodiversity. #he farmers of $ahikalan, a village I%ve been closely associated with grow up to &' different crops in a year.

#he following e"ample illustrates the diversity, associated knowledge and sustainability of traditional farming systems in this area.

Baranaja

is

mi"ed

farming,

companion

planting

system,

a veritable

community(society of crops that are planted together on the same terraced fields in the kharif/chau masa or monsoon season.

)mongst the grains *cereals(millets+ there will be mandua *finger millet+, ramdana *amaranthus+, kuttu/ogal *buckwheat+, jwar *sorghum+ and makki *corn+ ,ulses and beans like ra-ma, lobia, bhatt, gehat, naurangi, urad and mung .ilseeds like til, bhang-eer, sann, bhang /egetables like ogal, chollai, kheera, lobia 0pices like -akhiya and til *sesame+. 1ibre plants like sann and bhang /ines of pulses leap onto sturdier crops like corn and millets and climb far, in e"change they share the e"tra nitrogen that they fi" in the soil 2 works well for both.

)s plants grow and flourish at different levels( storeys much like a natural forest, they utili3e multiple levels of space. #his system implies more overall productivity, meeting of diverse food and nutritional security of humans and cattle, minimi3ing risks due to climate and pests and sustained soil fertility.

Important and hard tasks like weeding, hoeing and harvesting are still undertaken together by working on each others fields in turn, as is the sowing of paddy. /illage typically go together to gra3e cattle or fetch fodder and fuelwood. 4hat is missing is the earlier music, song and dance though they still talk and -oke a lot.

Agroforestry: In between rainfed agri5terraces are numerous trees of astounding diversity and so too all over the agricultural 3one. #heir numbers run into *even tens

of+ thousands of trees for a single village. 4ild bushes, grasses and herbs too abound here. In the monsoon its easy to mistake the agricultural 3one for a forest.

#his ama3ing traditional agro5forestry system importantly provides diverse fodders, foods, fuelwood, fibre, firelight, medicine, timber etc. 6esides minimi3ing erosion on steep slopes they create wonderful nutrient cycles and micro5climate for crops and enhance livelihood security and accessibility.

)griculture here is completely powered by cattle #he most critical component of organic manures is cowdung. )nd all tilling of the land is done by bullocks. )long with this symbiotic link with agriculture, cow and buffalo milk and milk products are critical to food and nutritional security and livelihood risk reduction. Its likely a climatically and ecologically surer livelihood option than rainfed agriculture.

,erhaps the single most important feature that determines water availability, above mainstay livelihoods and other needs including determining where habitations are located is forests.

1orests here provide critical livelihood needs like fodder for cattle, resultant cowdung for manures, leaf mulches for crops, 7uality fuel woods, wild foods, medicines for humans and cattle, wood for housing, furniture and implements and importantly a congenial micro5climate for several special hill crops. #hey are the critical factor in sustained water availability8 through springs, streams, rivers, pools and ponds etc.

#he well being and 7uality of life in these mountains is directly linked to the health

and diversity of the neighbouring forests, especially those above villages. 9ittle wonder they have a special place in :arhwali folk music and culture.

1or centuries do3ens of wild food plants comprising flowers(buds, fruits(berries, leaves, wild tubers etc. comprised a very crucial part of the food and particularly nutritional security of local communities.

!hreats and "hallenges to Sustainability 6ut these mountains are no 0hangri5la, despite such inherent strengths there have been and are several challenges.

#he earliest modern challenge was attempts to take over control of forests by the 6ritish followed by the Indian state. .ften leading to alienation, forest felling, attempted commerciali3ation, and local resistance movements and initiatives.

)pplication of the dominant industrial development paradigm to these Himalayan regions through government policies especially in sectors of energy, mining, agriculture, road building etc. are a big challenge. )s they see even these, the worlds greatest mountains and its civili3ation defining rivers as merely natural resources to be e"ploited. #he effects on communities, livelihoods and environment, local and all the way downstream is neglected, underplayed and ignored. Can this ever be sustainable for the Himalayas or these mighty rivers and all the life that is linked to them.

)t the same time local livelihoods, lifestyles, folk knowledge *significantly of

agriculture and forests+ and cultures were singularly neglected, ignored and regarded as backward, leading to economic, social and cultural devaluation. 4ith the above thrust this lead to shrinking economically viable livelihood options and changing and growing *especially economic+ aspirations. )dd to this woeful neglect of health and 7uality education needs of villages and small towns and cultural influences of television, films and big cities. #he result has been widespread migration from the hills.

)t the local level, rain fed farming communities across Uttarakhand are today struggling with the vagaries and unpredictability of changing swinging climate8to which they have made virtually no contribution.

.ver the last two decades forest fires have become the most widespread local threat to forests 2 with their increased fre7uency, wider range and severity. Climate change induced fre7uenter long dry spells or severe heat spells along with alienation of communities due to government forest policies are primary causes. ;esult is enormous eminently avoidable harm to forests and communities, releasing massive pollutants and stored carbon, even as carbon sinks are destroyed, adding significantly to global warming and climate change.

)nd yet, organic biodiverse agriculture, natural forests and dependence on them have changed far less in the hills of Uttarakhand especially :arhwal, compared to other western Himalayan states. !he sustainability of these primary livelihoods, lifestyles and their core characteristics have enabled the sustainability, integrity and perhaps survival of these mountain ecosystems over centuries

0ignificantly, the last four decades have seen several remarkable efforts by local communities to protect forests, mountains, water sources, agriculture and linked livelihoods 2 often fighting apathetic :overnments, money and muscle power, timber mafia and politicians, the arrogance of modern science and economics.

<Caption = for #he agri fields agroforesty foto...<

6iodiverse .rganic farming with )groforestry on rainfed agri5terraces in the Indian Uttarakhand Himalayas ma"imises possibility of meeting diverse needs of humans and cattle in times of changing climate even as it conserves soil, its moisture and fertility...

<Caption for photo > <

) family threshing )maranthus seeds from the -ust harvested organic biodiverse crop varieties, in $ahikalan village, Uttarakhand, India.