Browsing by Author "Ranjay K. Singh"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Adaptations of culturally and nutritionally important traditional foods in Eastern Himalaya: A case study with Adi women of Arunachal Pradesh
(2012) Anamika Singh; Ranjay K. Singh; Rakesh Bhardwaj; A.K. Singh
Adi tribal women living in far-flung areas of mountainous ecosystems of Arunachal Pradesh have evolved tremendous amount of traditionally knowledge (TK) to identify, collect, process and use biological resources as foods, nutrition and ethnomedicines. In this article, we discuss about the use of culturally important indigenous biodiversity used by Adi women as food, nutrition and ethnomedicines. Data reported in this study is based on three projects completed with Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh. Information pertaining to study was collected using conventional and participatory methods. Results reveal that Adi women are knowledgeable in accessing indigenous biodiversity to use in making culturally, nutritionally and medicinally rich foods. A number of uncultivated indigenous plants and crop resources are adapted to prepare traditional foods. Beside, a large number of wild animals and insects are integral part of food system. Most of the foods are consumed in boiled forms, fermented and alcoholic beverages. Few most commonly consumed indigenous plants are onger (Zanthoxylum rhetsa), poi (Basella rubra), dhenkia saag (Diplazium esculentum), marsang (Spilanthes acmella), ongin (Clerodendrum colebrookianum), kalmu (a creeper) and rori (a herb) and considered most dependable food plants. These ethnobotanicals are source of income and as well as the part of adaptive strategies on food security during the climatic variability. The other species such as banko, champa, fayong, gende, kekir, kopi, koppir, kordoi, mamang, marshang, onger, ongin, oyik, paput, etc. are observed as part of both food and ethnomedicines. A number of fermented foods and alcoholic traditional beverages are consumed by Adi tribe, and make them novel in food habits from others. Adi have rich socio-cultural capitals to sustain adaptive practices associated with traditional foods.
Biodiversity and recipe contests: Innovative socioecological approaches to capture ecological knowledge and conserve biodiversity in Arunachal Pradesh
(2013) Ranjay K. Singh; Anamika Singh
Despite the continued efforts being made by government and policy makers to articulate ways of preserving biodiversity and its associated knowledge systems, a limited success has been recorded in environmental learning for conservation. The 'biodiversity contests' among younger generations of native people, and 'recipe contests' of uncommon forest plants and field crops among rural women are two important methods that have been devised to reduce erosion of indigenous biodiversity based knowledge systems. This paper demonstrates about the contests based approaches applied in mobilizing rural and school children, and elders of Adi tribe to enhance their ecological knowledge about local plant species. These contests were organized among Adi school children and rural women, respectively of East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Different events including radio talks, public meetings, contact with key individuals, circulation of posters and pamphlets and group discussions were organized to sensitize the members about events. In second phase, individual schools and villages were contacted to set-up the biodiversity and recipe contests. Results indicated that school children demonstrated encouraging results by presenting systematic herbaria of local plants, including uses, ecology and source of learning. The children from rural backgrounds had more knowledge than those from more settled areas, and were able to contribute more than 100 forest and semi-forest plants in their collections. Sampling and preparation of herbarium excelled knowledge among children about local species. Creation of vertical knowledge networks among school children, and group contests resulted in revealing more knowledge about local biodiversity as compared to individual participation, thus reflecting synergism. During recipe contests, Adi women showed a sound knowledge of local biodiversity, presenting as traditional foods with more than 50 indigenous forest based plants, many of which are locally uncommon. Significantly, the Gaon Burha (village headman) helped in diffusion of knowledge on plants and expanding learning networks created by children and women. It is concluded that creating a platform on which contests based ecological knowledge of community is collaborated with formal knowledge systems, can ultimately contribute in conserving biodiversity more sustainably.
Mainstreaming Local Food Species for Nutritional and Livelihood Security: Insights From Traditional Food Systems of Adi Community of Arunachal Pradesh, India
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021) Ranjay K. Singh; Rakesh Bhardwaj; Anamika Singh; Temin Payum; Arvind K. Rai; Anshuman Singh; Lobsang Wangchu; Sanjay Upadhyay
This study brings out the critical role of lesser-known local plant species in the food, nutrition and livelihood security of Adi community in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Considering women as a major custodian in knowledge and practices on foods, a total of 90 Adi women and 60 key knowledgeable community members (thus a total of 150 participants) were selected from East Siang and Upper Siang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Data were collected using combination of methods including recipe contest, focus group discussion, personal interviews and laboratory analyses. The results indicated that Adi women were able to identify 39 bioculturally important species from a range of locally available plant species. Used alone or with other foods, these plants remain central to the Adi people's cultural identity and livelihood security. In addition to improving food and nutritional security, these species accessed from different land use systems, are also sold on the local markets to generate decent incomes. Of the species identified by Adi women, 28 were culturally shared and used frequently in food and ethnomedicine. Laboratory analyses of the selected 22 species revealed exceptionally high levels of minerals and other nutrients, such as proteins and anti-oxidants, supporting their traditional use for health benefits. Our study results provide valuable insights to the researchers to explore the vast hidden potential of these and other similar species for improving nutritional well-being of local communities in marginal areas. Adequate policy support is needed to enable Adi and other such marginalized communities to cope with challenges being posed to traditional food systems. © Copyright © 2021 Singh, Bhardwaj, Singh, Payum, Rai, Singh, Wangchu and Upadhyay.
Women's wisdom and indigenous human healthcare practices
(2009) Ranjay K. Singh; Anamika Singh
In the study, an effort was made to explore the diversities of indigenous knowledge systems pertaining to human health among rural women of the purposively selected villages of eastern part of Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. Data pertaining to study were collected by using the participatory approach, group discussions, participant learning and personal interview methods. Results indicate that women are having their ancestral wisdom to cure many diseases. A range of indigenous fruits and tubers are utilized during drought and food scarcity to meet nutrition requirement for maintaining health. These indigenous practices of health were found to be appropriate on account of low cost, good efficacy and easy local availability.