The Navdanya Movement
The collective work of Navdanya, Navdanya International and Friends of Navdanya constitutes the Navdanya Movement which is organized around six primary themes: Seed Freedom, Agroecology, Food for Health, Climate Resilience, Economic Democracy and Earth Democracy.
Seed Freedom
Seed is the first link in the food chain and affects all life on earth, every human being. Historically the growing and free exchange of seed among farmers has been the basis of maintaining biodiversity and our food security. For millennia farmers have bred open-source seeds for health, nutrition, taste and diversity. The current industrial food system based on monocultures, widespread use of agrochemicals, commercial/patented seeds and genetically modified seeds is a major contributor of the disappearance of plant genetic diversity, corporate control of seed stock and nutritionally-deficient food. Seed Freedom is food freedom. Seed Freedom is about the rights of farmers to produce and exchange healthy seeds that produce healthy food. Learn more about Seed Freedom at Navdanya International
Agroecology
Agroecology is an ecological approach that views organic agriculture as a collaborative part of the larger ecosystem. Principles of agroecology revolve around the beneficial relationships between plants, animals, microorganisms, and farmers that all interact with each other and the environment. Learn more about Agroecology at Navdanya International
Food for Health
Food, how we produce, distribute, and consume it, is increasingly at the center of multiple crises we face today. Whether it is ecological crises of biodiversity decline and climate change or the health crises of hunger, malnutrition and the spate of diseases like cancer linked to pesticides and toxics in our environment and food chain, these crises are linked to food. Navdanya International convened a working group of experts to brainstorm ideas and contributions that became the basis for the Manifesto “Food for Health: Cultivating Biodiversity, Cultivating Health”. “Food for Health” aims to create convergence among consumers, producers and stakeholders for a common vision of sustainable development in line with the Millennium Development Goals. Learn more at Navdanya International.
Climate Resilience
The climate change debate cannot avoid considering how the dominant technological and economic model, in particular industrial agriculture, is based on fossil fuels. Furthermore, the debate has been blind to the living processes that create living soil as well as to the fact that the fate of societies and civilizations is intimately connected to how we treat the soil and how we grow and distribute the food we eat. Climate resilience is found in local ecological agriculture and food systems, local circular economies, local seeds and care for the soil which has the ability of taking back carbon dioxide from the air and putting it into the ground. Learn more at Navdanya International
Economic Democracy
Economic democracy is a social, political, ecological imperative that we participate in democratically shaping our economies and our systems of production and consumption by replacing competition with cooperation. Corporate globalization has put profits above people and the planet and led to the polarization of society between the 1% and the 99%. The unprecedented concentration of wealth is now a cancer in society threatening the very systems it feeds on. While the cancer cell does not know when to stop growing, all living systems from the tiniest microbe and cell to the largest mammal and the planet as a whole are self-organized systems and are regulated to maintain their health and wellbeing. We can use the principles of economic democracy to participate in the decisions that shape our lives and take back our power to stop the present destruction. Learn more at Navdanya International
Earth Democracy
Earth Democracy is a new vision for a Planetary Citizenship that is rooted in caring and compassion for both earth and society. It represents a world view in which humans are embedded in the Earth Family, where ecological responsibility and economic justice (based on the Law of Return) are central to creating a livable future for humanity. Learn more about Earth Democracy at Navdanya International
