JOINING IN STRUGGLES...

NARIGRANTHA, UBINIG and Odhikar jointly organised activities to celebrate 100 Years of Women's Struggles to defend life, livelihood, dignity and community from 6 – 8 March, 2010. Bangladeshi women are proud of the strong base of the movement although women everywhere in the world are yet to achieve the goal defeating patriarchy, reinforced by economic, social and political oppressions.

In the following pages you will find reports on the following activities: (a) WOMEN IN BLACK, (b) EXHIBITION (particularly 100 years of quilt weaving -- women expressing their lives creatively) (c) ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION and (d) WOMEN"S TRIBUNAL Please contact Narigrantha Prabartana. 2/8 Sir Syed Road, Muhammedpur, Dhaka -1207, Bangladesh. Tel: 9118428, 9140812 e-mail:

Do not forget to join Women's Adda s on every Monday of the week at Narigrantha.

The high proportion of uncultivated food in the diets of people living in communities where local biodiversity has been conserved is significant, especially considering the nutritional contribution of micro-nutrients supplied by these food sources, in contrast to the carbohydrates provided by rice alone. Leafy greens, tubers and small fish are the main sources of nutrition that keep the rural population active, productive, and relatively disease free. The contribution of uncultivated food in this context is not merely a matter of satisfying hunger or overcoming stress conditions, it is an essential part of the diet that must be ensured, along with community relations linking fishers, farmers and trades people in a web of economic and social transactions.

The link between poverty and drgradation of uncultivated food sources is generally ignored in policy decisions. This section will cover the role of uncultivated food for the livelihood and survival of the rural population.

What is GMO?

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. GMOs can be any organism including plants, fish, animals and you name it…

What does GMO mean? It means 'manipulation' or even 'mutation ' of life forms in order to destroy the naturally given or naturally evolved integrity of the being for purposes other than what we are familiar in nature. It is actually engineering of life at the level of the 'gene' in order to mortify the living processes in nature, which is a unified process of movement, change and manifestation.

Genetic engineering is done now mainly to fit the marketing strategy of the corporations to ensure their market share and rate of profit. Countries like Bangladesh, where regulatory regime is weak are the main target of the companies.

In Bangladesh we are resisting genetically modified crops simply because they have no agronomic value and the biological and health risks are very high. At present the major threat is coming from the introduction of the so called 'golden rice', BtBrinjals and some other products that are in waiting line before entering into seed market.

Under this campaign theme you will learn: (1) GM foods won’t solve the food crisis (2) GM crops do not increase yield or yield potential (3) GM crops increase pesticide use and destroys the greens (4) There are better ways, such as Nayakrishi, or biodiversity-based agricultural practices to feed the world (5) There are increasing evidence that GM foods are not safe to eat (6) GM crops will destroy our farm systems, biodiversity, water and land in other words our agriultural systems (7) GM and non-GM cannot co-exist, risk of bio-pollution is high in a biodiversity rich country like Bangladesh (8) GM companies wants to monopolise food chain, they want us to control (9) Farmer women will lose their seed, losing her power and command over agrarin production (10) Agriculture will be transformed into industrial food production by few companies.

This page is to introduce UBINIG and its various activities.UBINIG is a policy and action research organization in Bangladesh, formed in 1984 by a group of activists to support peoples' movement for social, economic, political and cultural transformation. It started as a study circle searching for alternatives to the mainstream development intervention. The objective was to make policy making oriented to people and the process more transparent and inclusive serving the interest of the majority of the people.

(New Agricultural Movement) is by now a major ecological movement in Bangladesh involving over 300,000 farming families (as of October 2009). The strategic focus of agriculture at present is biodiversity and genetic resources. The Nayakrishi distinguishes its practice from commonly familiar ‘organic’ agriculture for various reasons. Emphasis is on the biodiversity based life activities, developing an operational notion of ‘ecosystem’, ensuring various natural cycles of water, elements, nutrition, energy, evolution and demonstrating the validity and authenticity of experiential knowledge. These are some key features that distinguish Nayakrishi practice from commonly known ‘organic’ agriculture.