Tibet goes organic, certified by the Dalai Lama

The Tibetan government, in exile in India, has not wasted time and on suggestion from the spiritual leader has recommended that all Tibetan settlements in the country completely renounce to using pesticides and all non-natural fertilisers. Since 2002 all Tibetan farmers have begun to comply and Tibetans in India have become true experts in the field of organic farming.

The cultivated fields in the settlements have, over the past 40 years (the Tibetan diaspora began in 1959) become overexploited – water tables have been turned into swamps and many environmental problems have followed. “The move to organic farming is a choice that is consistent with Tibetan principles”, explains Elisa del Vecchio, from an NGO called Cospe that is carrying out a project to enhance organic farming in the settlements. “Since the sixties refugees have adapted themselves to the farm technologies available here – chemical fertilisers and mechanical technologies – but these have proved harmful in the long run and resulted in decreasing crop yields” adds del Vecchio. Cospe has worked with Tibetans since 1997 and had already started experimenting with organic farming before 2002, however the Dalai Lama’s support has accelerated the process.

The communities are committed to create and support a traditional farming system also to give young people new opportunities and encourage them to stay rather than to seek their fortunes abroad. “With

“Organic farming that is environmentally friendly”, explains Tenzin Yega, from the Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives, “contributes to improving the quality of life for future generations”.  There are currently 25 settlements that are working to achieve food self sufficiency, which is not a simple objective, given that today there are 61,700 Tibetans living in exile, compared to the 26,600 there were in 1959, and an increasing number escapes from China every day. “For the time being our products are consumed by the families of the farmers and the rest of the harvest is sold inside the community. With a substantial increase of cultivated lands we would be able to feed all Tibetans living in India”.  But, says Yega, there is anther advantage as well: “There is a big potential market for organic products”.  A large investment would be needed in order to become competitive, but even today Tibetans take part in fairs, markets and festivals throughout India (and not only” to promote their products and share their experience. One of the main problems they have had to face has been the lack of skills. There are few local agronomists, many escaped to America and the few who stayed are tempted to do the same. “We had neither the knowledge of organic farming nor the technology nor the machinery. But the experience we have acquired now will enable us to extend the practice without much difficulty”.

 

One of the aims of this return to organic farming is to safeguard the settlements themselves, the last stronghold of Tibetan culture and traditions, crushed in its homeland by Chinese propaganda and
virtually non existent in the communities abroad.

Translation by: Cristina Barbetta