Day 5 in Rome: Sharing session on Neglected and Underutilised Species (NUS) and Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition (BFN)  
Day 4 in Rome: Session on landscape approaches for biodiversity conservation and livelihoods improvements  
Day 3 in Rome: Fellows visit the Campagna Amica farmers’ market  
Day 2 in Rome: TIP and Procasur explore possibilities of a future collaboration  
Day 1 in Rome: The Fellows visit Bioversity International  

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.

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