A group of Bt-cotton farmers from Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, arrived in India where they interacted with farmers from South India to learn about ecological agriculture in the face of climate change and environmental concerns. The South African scenario is distinct, the highlight being, there are no strict bio-safety regulations here. It is often a country like South Africa that becomes the entry point for biotech companies such as Monsanto. The research and development carried out by Monsanto is the sole basis on which the government approves the Gm crops in this country. South Africa being an influential country in the African continent, by getting easy approvals here, the companies quickly enter the food chain of different nations.

In such a context the visit by South African farmers signified the learning's and sharing of experiences with farmers involved in the organic movement in India. The exchange was facilitated by Dr Harald Witt from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Dr. Mariam Mayet, Director, African Centre for Biosafety in collaboration with Deccan Development Society and the South Against Genetic Engineering (SAGE) partners.

On the 16 day exposure visit and farmer exchange they traveled from 13th to 27th January 2009 across Zaheerabad and Warangal in Andhra Pradesh; Bangalore and nearby organic farms in Karnataka; Trivendrum in Keral and Trichy and Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The farmers interacted with various groups of organic, traditional and ecological farmers through exchanges and extensive farm and village visits. These interactions allowed for exposure to an array of local indigenous knowledge systems that have rekindled memories of African agriculture knowledge systems.

The farmers participated in the annual DDS Biodiversity and Seed festival and traveled around the south of India. It was a beautiful and economic way of cultivating. It was interesting to see women who were slaves now became the owners of the land by cultivating and moreover independent being self-reliant. Soil fertility, pesticides are different aspects of farming for us and we have never looked beyond chemicals, whereas here we saw wide alternatives locally available in the region. Mr Robert Mathenjwa, an irrigation farmer from the Ndumo area in Northern Kwa Zulu Natal, enthuses that he has learnt a great deal during his visit. "I am impressed by the seed saving systems and the natural insecticides used by Indian farmers." said Mathenjwa.

Some of the farmers also observed that- when they the soils here, we thought no farming could be possible on these lands, but on the second day itself we saw that: not only farming could be done but a better yield could be got from such kind of soils. Mr Gladman Tom from Pedi in the Eastern Cape Province says "the soil of the earth must be conserved for future generations and not be poisoned by chemical agriculture."

Mr Mathenjwa says that the visit to India reminded him of the “importance of farming ecologically as humanity was created to live on the soil until returning to the soil”. The South African farmers opined that, people of India still preserve the culture and traditional practices and put it to good use. And they have techniques and methods that have been practices by farmers from centuries. We saw that they are using age old herbs to cure diseases etc in their daily life. Mr Joseph Vilane, from the Hlokohloko Farmers Association, near Mboza in rural Kwa Zulu Natal, says he was hugely impressed by the significance of cattle in Indian agriculture. He says "Back home, cows are important sources of milk and meat whereas in India, cow products are integrated into the ecological agriculture process".

According to the South African farmers, a unique highlight of the visit was the interaction with the Kerla Biodiversity Board and the exposure to the Kerla State Organic Farming Policy, Strategy and Action Plan (2008) especially " the way the diverse stakeholders had worked together to produce the policy to preserve the diversity of their food crops".

They said that, they have learnt a lot on pest management and noted several interesting organic & ecological farming methods. Indians are practicing these traditional practices which we have lost completely. The farmers are looking forward to experimenting with the various techniques and farming systems they have encountered during their visit to India.

Some Media Coverage

INDIA - SOUTH AFRICA FARMERS EXCHANGE PROGRAMME JANUARY 2009

Indian farm practices impress South African farmers
29 Jan 2009
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South African farmers touring villages in South
27 Jan 2009
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Avoid GM seeds, farmers told
26 Jan 2009
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S Africans take home organic farming tips
CHENNAI
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SA farmers in India to learn about organic farming
22 Jan 2009
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SA farmers learn from state counterparts
21 Jan 2009
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