PARTICIPATORY VIDEO
Documentation of agrobiodiversity, agricultural practices and indigenous knowledge and stories through participatory video.
The access to autonomous communication and documentation systems for Indigenous communities has been recognised by the Indigenous Partnership as a fundamental role in the pathway to recognition. This includes their right to self-determined development and knowledge sharing. This identified access to autonomous communications media aims to push training in media as a key instrument to achieve the respect of their cultures and their independence from the dominant knowledge systems leaded by western ideologies. Therefore, with a support of the Indigenous Partnership, a Participatory Video Training was carried out in North East India and Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand - two key biodiversity hotbeds with indigenous communities as their custodians.
In collaboration with Insightshare, the first set of trainings took place in Northeast India, in the remote village of Nongtraw. It resulted in three short films about local food practices that were shown at Indigenous Terra Madre 2011 in Jokmokk, Sweden. Subjects ranged from local millet cultivation, medicinal root harvesting for tea, and beekeeping for honey collection, all seen an emerging local food resources, strongly related to local traditional culture.
Similarly February 2011 in Northern Thailand, Insightshare conducted the initiative hosted by IKAP and IMPECT (two local indigenous organizations) focusing on a Karen village and the indigenous food festival in Chiang Mai. The Karens, after years of fighting, have just gained a major concession from the Thai Government on the prohibition of traditional rotational agriculture. Eleven different tribes took part in the Chiang Mai Food Festival, where they represented their local and traditional dishes.
The PV program continues in these locations with partners like NESFAS and IMPECT and conducted by trainers providing tools to indigenous youth.