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After a fruitful Fellowship programme, the Fellows bid goodbye to Rome and head back to their communities with unforgettable memories, knowledge and experiences.

A couple of months back, four Fellows, from 3 different countries, representing 4 different matrifocal communities, embarked on a journey of sharing their indigenous stories and learning about tools for the revitalisation of their communities and indigenous food systems. Aided by TIP’s Youth Fellowship Programme, the Fellows gained unique international and intercultural experiences and skills to add to their profiles.

As part of the Fellowship Programme, on 10th July, 2019, the Fellows visited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, to share their case studies about renewal and enhancement of their indigenous food systems, which they formulated with the help of the training they received over 2 months. Owing to the uniqueness of a matriarchal society, the German Room at the FAO Headquarters was fully packed with participants from Bioversity International, FAO and IFAD, to learn about the Fellows’ case studies. FAO representatives from the Embassies of New Zealand, Norway, and Hungary came to specially listen to the presentations.

“The Fellows of the TIP Youth Fellowship Programme of 2019 have made me immensely proud by their outstanding performance. At FAO, on the concluding day of the Fellowship, the German Room was packed with Bioversity, FAO and IFAD staff and representatives from New Zealand, Norway and Hungary, where the Fellows, Nofri Yani, Merrysha Nongrum, Chenxiang Marak and Edgar Monte presented their case studies. In the presence of those high ranking organisations, Jeff Campbell, a Senior FAO Staff, said “It was the best technical session in FAO in 2019!”

The Fellows visited the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters to have a closer look at the work done by WFP  and to understand how humanitarian UN Agencies like the WFP work in disaster prone and conflict-ridden areas. At WFP, they met Uma Thapa, Senior Government Partnership Officer, who briefly described the different activities carried out by WFP, particularly in the area of nutrition.

Learning through personal experiences and resources always goes down better as compared to a one-way training. Over the span of 2 days, VIPP facilitator and trainer,  Timmi Tillmann, interacted with the Fellows and trained them on the Visualisation in Participatory Programme (VIPP) via exercises that involved Fellows sharing their individual experiences and knowledge. This was then used to formulate work plans for indigenous food systems, specific to the Fellows’ respective communities. The interactive and fun learning session made it easier for the Fellows to learn about the concept of VIPP facilitation and introduce it into their work plans.

Over the 3-day long session, the Fellows were oriented on the concept of system thinking and logframe training that they can take back to their respective communities, to design impactful roadmaps which would generate funding. Essentially, the aim of the session was to train the Fellows to put down their ideas in such a manner that they get due recognition and funds required to bring those ideas into execution, which would aid in bringing about positive changes in their communities.

Through the sessions that took place on 28^th June at Bioversity International, the Fellows were informed about the benefits of NUS through market surveys and case studies of success stories in Mexico and Peru. They were also introduced to the barrier analysis methodology and holistic value chain approach, especially while promoting neglected and underutilised species.

To make sure that the Fellows learn about the importance of rights of indigenous people and exercise them in their communities, the sessions held on 27^th June at Bioversity International, mainly focused at better understanding farmers’ rights, particularly rights of indigenous peoples, but were explained to the Fellows through varied perspectives and initiatives.

On 26th June, 2019, the Fellows, along with their new found friends in Rome, went for an agrobiodiversity walk to Giulianello which is 51 kms away from Rome. This session was specifically designed as part of the training session under the leadership of Martina, who is working at Bioversity International. Iseno Tamburlani, a knowledge holder of Giulianello took the team for a walk into their landscapes. During the walks, they identified around 12 wild edible plants.

A sharing session on Neglected and Underutlised Species (NUS) and Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition (BFN) was held on 25th June at Bioversity International, Rome, to learn how to identify and promote neglected and underutilised species with focus on nutrition.

As part of the Fellowship programme, Fellows were asked to profile their own indigenous food systems before they come for the training both in India and Rome. While conducting this exercise, one of the tools that they applied was to make a village map that enabled them to understand the different land use systems. In the process, Fellows found it quite difficult to make an assessment of their own indigenous food systems whether their systems are resilient enough or not in the face of climate change. Therefore, the workshop that was held on 24th June 2019 was useful for the Fellows as they were able to learn the different indicators of Resilience in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes (SEPLs) which they can go back to their own respective communities and start having a dialogue with the communities.

With the support of new found friends in Bioversity International: Martina, Eliot and Arturo, the TIP Fellows visited a Farmers’ Market in the heart of Rome, Italy on 22nd June, 2019. Promoted by Coldiretti, Fondazione Campagna Amica was founded in 2008. Its main aim is to promote direct selling of local and seasonal food products by farmers.

The 2nd day of the TIP Youth Fellowship programme in Rome was highlighted by the visit to the IFAD Headquarters in Rome, Italy. The Fellows got a chance to interact with and learn from the initiatives of Procasur while they also gained ideas from NESFAS’ work that they can execute back in their communities.

Sessions:

Sadhana Forest Reforestation Project by Arturo Turillazzi, from Italy, MSc Human Development and Food Security.

Short brief on Bioversity by Elisabetta Gotor, Head of Development Impact Unit

Matriarchal society by Violet Black, from Malawi, MSc in Human Development and Food Security

In situ conservation and management of plant genetic diversity in indigenous land use systems of the Teenek in the Huasteca Potosina by Claudia Heindorf, Phd student

After an insightful stay in Meghalaya, the Fellows proceeded to Rome for the 2nd half of the TIP Youth Fellowship programme. On reaching Rome, the Fellows visited the Bioversity International office where they were briefed about the Fellowship programme by Phrang Roy, Coordinator, TIP and Andrea Selva, Managing Consultant, TIP, Bioversity International.

The TIP Fellows 2019 joined the NESFAS Team and partners SSC (Social Service Centre) and SURE (Society for Urban and Rural Empowerment) that came together to share updates, ideas, local solutions and knowledge at a three-day retreat

TIP Fellows Chenxiang Marak and Edgar Osvaldo, accompanied by Lukas Pawera, visited the Garo hills today. They first observed the diversity sold at the local market and later car-climbed to Dare Chikgre village, where they collected samples of food plants during an agrobiodiversity walk. Successively, they named the plants and performed a categorisation exercise (grouping plants into local categories). The concept of Dietary Diversity was explained, followed by which the plants were further categorised into the Dietary Diversity categories. The categorisation exercise helped the group to realise the difference in local views and standard food grouping.

Later, the conditions and plans for setting up a seed bank were analysed. Lastly, the group had a discussion about the sustainability of harvesting wild plant resources. This was accompanied by open discussions, pictures and listing of the wonderful food that could be served at a future planned Mei-Ramew cafe.

Meghalaya welcomed indigenous youth from around the world for The Indigenous Partnership (TIP) Youth Fellowship Programme 2019. The North-East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), their local partner, who is hosting the first leg of the programme organised an introductory gathering with its team.

Lukas Pawera, Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences of the Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, who trained the Fellows on Ethnobotany during the TIP Youth Fellowship Programme 2017, shares his experience and takeaways from the Programme.

Pius Ranee, Associate, NESFAS, and Fellow at the TIP Youth Fellowship Programme 2017, shares his experiences from the pilot Programme of the TIP Youth Fellowship in 2017. Through this interview, he highlights what he gained from the Fellowship Programme and what future Fellows and youth can look forward to.

Subsequent to the success of the Indigenous Youth Fellowship Programme in 2017, NESFAS, a local indigenous organisation, will host the programme for 2019 while bearing most of the cost of this hosting locally and nationally, making it a truly local-global partnership building initiative for indigenous communities.

The pilot programme aimed at creating a platform for exchange among young minds from indigenous communities and syncing them to world views and actions, while maintaining their identities.

Our festivals, researches and programs are a medium to capture the rooted stories of indigenous people.  We share this rich narrative and invite your journey too.

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The indigenous world is rich with festivals and ceremonies that celebrate and earmark significant aspects of mother earth in different parts of the world. We invite your contributions to this rich harvest.