Winding down Researching Resilience

By Dev Kashyap, 2nd year MDP student

With just a couple weeks left in my University of Winnipeg field placement in south-east India, I can't believe how time has flown by. However, in reflection, the past month has been a whirlwind of visits to 'Adivasi' or Indigenous communities in and around our base of Kotturu, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Myself, along with my MDP classmate Manna Sainju and host organization Appropriate Reconstruction Technology Information Centre (ARTIC), have reached our goal of completing all key informant interviews and focus group discussions with our selected participating Adivasi communities in the month of July.

July took us through the beautiful landscapes of three local rural counties or "Mandals" as they are called in Andhra Pradesh; some of them accessible only by rugged roads. Part of what we have learned revolves around the similarities in Adivasi habitations in terms of the effects on them from changes over the past 30 years: globalization; emerging technologies and government programming and policies. What is certain is that all of these communities embody resilience in terms of their day-to-day living. Things that we take for granted in North America - such as constant electricity, piped water directed to our homes and easy access to irrigation - are amenities that require planning and hard physical labour in many cases here in rural India.

All in all, I am grateful for my experience here, the assistance I have had in my research from the team at ARTIC, and last but not least the willingness of the research participants to contribute to my higher learning about the rural experience of Adivasis in south Asia. Resilience is manifest in their processes of living day-to-day here and embodied in the daily tasks performed by Adivasi communities. Resilient communities carrying on in the face of externally-driven changes.

Dev, Prakash, Yamuna and Shrimaiji from ARTIC, and the research participants from the community of Bommika, Andhra Pradesh

On the Trail for Millets

By Dev Kashyap, 2nd year MDP student

After over a month in South Asia, I finally feel I am settling into a groove. The journey has led me to Kotturu, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The weather is hot and it is pre-monsoon season with temperatures daily hitting low-to-mid 30 degrees Celsius, but our arrival in this rural setting was just after a debilitating heat wave that caused somewhere around 1,000 deaths in the region. The hot days usually get relieved with evening showers, but by mid-afternoon a seat in front of a fan, bottled water in close proximity, is the appropriate posture.

 

Dev on top of ARTIC sign in Kotturu, India

Amidst the heat and humidity, the purpose of our trip to this part of the world has commenced: researching ‘Adivasi’ (the local word) or Indigenous resilience in the face of environmental and external-driven change in the region around Kotturu, Andhra Pradesh. Specifically, the research is revolved around the traditional crop of Millets, a nutritious ‘ancient world’ grain whose cultivation has been in steady decline in recent years due to the introduction of ‘non-native’ food crops and cash crops into the area. Our research has been possible with the help of our host and local NGO, Appropriate Reconstruction Training and Information Centre (ARTIC), who have been doing grassroots development work in the area for over 30 years.

Since millets production and subsequently consumption has been in such decline over the last few decades, the first month of our field placement can be summarized as being ‘on the trail for millets’.  The trail has led us to local government and administrative offices, meeting officials in agriculture, health, local development. Furthermore, community visits have been conducted in more than 10 villages to get an idea of which communities will be targeted as part of our research.