Biocultural Knowledge Systems of Tribes of Eastern Himalayas

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This reference book describes use of culturally and medicinally important traditional foods of the Adi community in eastern Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Various sociocultural, economic and conservational values of indigenous biodiversity used in foods by Adi women are highlighted. Awareness of Adi women about prior informed consent (PIC) and implications of IPR over bioresources used in Adi foods are studied at primary level in participatory manner. The location specific traditional knowledge, cultural attachment with food based biodiversity and knowledge nurturing institutions are examined. The book provides an in-depth enquiry on present status of conservation of food resources by Adi women; an insight and future scope to scholars, conservation managers and policy makers to orient them about potential and prospects of bioculturally important traditional foods of Adi communities. The book could be a significant teaching and research resource to the scholars and students who are concerned with traditional knowledge, conservation of biodiversity and community based sustainable development.

Author of this book Dr. Ranjay K. Singh (b, 1974) is a Senior Scientist (Agricultural Extension) at CSSRI, ICAR, Kanal, India. The research reported in the book is based on the work when he was an Assistant Professor at the College of Horticulture & Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Dr. Singh did his M.Sc. (Agricultural Extension) in 1997 from University of Allahabad, India and Ph.D. in Agricultural Extension in 2002 from Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, MP, India with the specialization in technology & agro-ecosystem. He is an Ambassador of SSWG (Conservation Biology), USA and the Fellow of Centre of World Indigenous Studies (CWIS), Olympia, USA.

Dr Singh works at the interfaces of blocultural knowledge systems and community based biodiversity conservation in which he spent over 8 years in various parts of India. In this field he has made contributions to various international and national agencies Including Centre of World Indigenous Studies, Olympia, USA; Centre for International Research & Advisory Network (CIRAN), The Netherlands; The World Bank: CBD, Canada and NGOs and institutions of African countries. Dr. Singh has contributed more than 1800 Indigenous plant based practices of various use to National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad. Dr. Singh has significant publications to his credit and out of which over 50 research papers are published in various international and national journals of repute: 10 book chapters and more than 50 research notes in reputed sources of publication. He has also published more than 400 research Inventory on indigenous knowledge systems through ICAR, New Delhi. Dr. Singh has presented dozen of research papers in various forums at national and international level.

This reference book describes the use of ethnic foods by the traditional communities, primarily by the Adi women of Arunachal Pradesh, include continuation of traditional conservation of forest and kitchen garden plants species, collecting and using forest based plants in daily diet and medicines.

The work presented in this book shows that gender is important dimension of management of the local knowledge systems relating to food, medicines, nutrition, biodiversity, etc. Women's involvement in food processing and preparation with conservation practices such as preservation of ethnobotanicals is high in communities where they are the main food producers. Findings of this book depicts that women are traditional caretakers of not only genetic and species diversity used in foods but of crops and forest biodiversity, but also the nurture of culture and whole dynamics relating to knowledge and practices used in food, health, plants domestication, social capital and overall shaping the families' future. Learning with Adi women community depicts that they live in a richest botanical regions in India where they depend much on shifting cultivation systems and forest based food products for their food and nutritional security. The rich bio-cultural capital intermingled with spiritual belief and mythology have often been motivating factors to these Adi women to sustain their local biodiversity which are used in various purposes. The work narrated in this book shows that state is rich in indigenous knowledge systems with the existence of diverse culture, language and frequent interaction with nature. Since the time immemorial, rural women of Arunachal Pradesh has selected many wild plants and non-vegetarian food through trial and error while modern man has neither domesticated nor has he identified any new food plant in recent times, which are widely acceptable and consumable in the ethnic food items.

Women play a central role in the conservation, management and use of biodiversity, the Earth's rich animal and plant resources, on which life depends. Their contribution, however, is often overlooked. They are frequently "invisible" partners from grassroots to policy level. If biodiversity is to survive, women and men must play an equal part in its care and management. There is therefore an urgent need to consider gender who does or uses what and how and why in food and nutritional security as well as overall development efforts, to promote true partnerships and ensure sustainable conservation and use of biodiversity now and in the future. Tribal communities in India are mainly forest dwellers who have accumulated a rich knowledge of the uses of various forest ecosystems and forest products over the centuries. India possesses a total of 427 major tribal communities, and of these, more than 130 live in North East India, comprising of eight States: Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland. Arunachal Pradesh is inhabited by 26 major tribes and 110 sub-tribes and is one of the 12 mega-biodiversity centers of the world. Such a rich level of biodiversity in the State has provided an initial advantage to its inhabitants for observing and scrutinizing the rich flora and fauna and for developing their own traditional knowledge for foods, ethnomedicines, farming systems, etc. Over the years, people of this State have developed a immense traditional knowledge systems relating to the use of plants and associated products as foods and in curing various ailments.

Traditional resources are tangible and intangible assets and attributes deemed to be of value to local community for their foods, including spiritual, medicinal, aesthetic, cultural and economic. Resources describe all that sustain communal identity upon foods, dresses, shelters, etc, express history, manifest in nature and life, sustain the pride of unique heritage, maintain a healthy environment, and from which emerge sacred and spiritual value (Posey, 1996). More than half of the world's population depends directly on natural resources for part or all of their livelihoods, food, nutrition, medicines, water and many other needs - and this include a high proportion of the poorest groups (Johns, 1996; Turner, 2004; Turner, 2005; Pathak et al., 2005; Singh, 2007a,b; Singh et al., 2007a,b). Indeed, most traditional societies have belief systems and practices that demonstrate such an interest. However, in many areas traditional systems of indigenous resources use including foods and management have broken down in response to the processes of globalization, inappropriate government policies, malpractices in government and non-government organizations, and a host of threats. from wider economic and political forces (Alcorn et al., 2005; Molnar, 2005; Edwards, 2005; Berkes & Turner, 2005).