A novel initiative helps Indigenous people in India exchange knowledge about locally available foods to enhance dietary diversity – a part of the UN Sustainable Development Goal related to food security and nutrition.
The project, coordinated by the University of East Anglia (UEA), is raising the visibility of the Santhal community, enabling essentially the most marginalized to voice their very own perspectives using cameras and filmmaking skills.
With support from UEA through the Global Research Translation Award entitled ‘Meeting the SDGs’ and an area NGO partner (PRADAN), 10 Santhal youth were trained to make movies about locally available foods and other problems with concern.
The nearly 50 movies they produced were broadcast on a YouTube channel and screened of their local villages. The group also took part in interviews and discussions with viewers who attended the screenings.
Prof Nitya Rao, professor of gender and development in UEA’s School of International Development, is the lead creator of ‘Cameras within the hands of Indigenous youth: Participation, movies and nutrition in India’, published today in Current Developments in Nutrition.
These young filmmakers are voicing a critical issue, whether endemic malnutrition or vast deforestation, as a call to policy-makers for remedial motion.
The role of self-expression, especially for Indigenous communities, is significant given their historical marginalization. By enabling their participation in governance and the political space, transformative change alongside improved health and dietary outcomes might be more achievable.
Using the YouTube channel as a digital ‘space’ created by the participants gave them a chance to set the agenda where they will speak without interruption about their on a regular basis needs and the challenges they confront.”
Prof Nitya Rao, professor of gender and development in UEA’s School of International Development
The young filmmakers are from the Jamui district of Bihar, among the many worst-off districts in India for meeting the SDGs.
While residing near forests, where they’ve access to highly nutritious foods, these communities are nevertheless more vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity in comparison with their rural counterparts. Forty-four per cent of indigenous children under the age of 5 years are stunted, 45 per cent are underweight and 27 per cent are wasted. Lower than 6 per cent of young children, women and migrating men have a weight loss plan that fulfills their minimum dietary requirements.
A majority of the movies drew on intergenerational and Indigenous knowledge about edible plants, insects, and rodents; skills in foraging and preparing food; awareness of the advantages of the food; and sustainability issues across the normal food systems.
The filmmakers initially focused on responding to community needs and showcasing Santhal cultural practices. Their later movies began to reflect on points of their culture that needed to be preserved, revived, or modified. Audience reflection supported this process, identifying each strengths and gaps.
There have been many suggestions for further movies that would document other food items and recipes, especially those linked to health and nutrition.
An 18-year-old female filmmaker said: “My grandmother becomes very blissful at any time when I ask her about local food and culture. She says that in her childhood there have been no phones or electronic media, or social media where she could have shared her knowledge. So it’s a superb thing that her granddaughter is attempting to preserve what’s their very own by making movies across the food they get from the forest and reach out to many individuals all over the world.”
The project also sought to challenge unequal power relations between ladies and men in Santhal communities. While women are generally accountable for the gathering and processing of all foods, it is crucial that men and upcoming generations study locally availably foods and preparation methods, because it has been shown that food security improves when nutrition information is provided to each female and male heads of households.
Prof Rao said: “Collective access to nutrition literacy is more practical than only women’s access to it.”
She cited a movie that featured young boys hunting and cooking bamboo tree-dwelling rats [banwar], wherein the filmmaker said: “Allow us to think if there are such a lot of advantages in eating banwar, can women and girls not cook it of their home and eat it too?”
Prof Rao said: “The filmmakers have identified a gender discriminatory norm and thru this film try to reconstruct this cultural norm in order that girls should not deprived of the advantages of this source of nutrition.
“As movies are made, they challenge a number of the biases and notions of ‘shame’, ‘backwardness’, or indeed ‘modernity’. In making a more respectful dialogue between different actors, we empowered essentially the most marginalized, giving them voice in a society where they typically remain unheard.”
The movies have gained international recognition, with some being chosen for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit Youth Challenge and the Science Film Festival, with screenings across South Asia. Moreover they’ve been utilized by universities in India as teaching and learning resources.
Local media coverage in regards to the Santhal youth filmmakers brought them to the eye of senior political leaders, illustrating the potential of this medium for reviving, but additionally modifying, Indigenous practices.
Prof Rao said: “This demonstrates the liberating aspect of the project where the participants had the chance to speak freely in their very own language about their very own perspectives and practices without fearing alienation by the dominant culture.”
Source:
University of East Anglia (UEA)