Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative

PRELIMINARY READINGS

AND STATEMENTS IN LINE WITH SJI OBJECTIVES

Note: Draft Profile of Samdrup Jongkhar is on the www.sji.bt website at http://www.sji.bt/assets/PDFs/SJI-PROFILE.DRAFT.pdf

May 2011

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Table of Contents

1-page Summary Overview of Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) Activities: December 2010 – May 2011 2 3-page overview for funders: The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI): A Model of Integrated GNH-based Development 3 

Excerpts from statements by HM 4th Druk Gyalpo 6 On economic self-reliance, citizen participation in development, environmental conservation, cultural promotion, urban migration 6 

Excerpts from statements of HM 5th Druk Gyalpo 15 

Honourable Prime Minister, Jigmi Y. Thinley 20 

Organic Agriculture 26 Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche: “We must become good farmers” (September, 1984) 26 Statement on Bhutan’s organic policy by Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y.Thinley 30 Kuensel: 8 May 2011: S/J farmers visit suicide families, learn organic 32 Dr Vandana Shiva at SJI Launch, 19 December, 2010 39 

Appropriate Technology ⎯ Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative 56 Draft Concept Paper on the establishment of Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) at Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic, Royal University of Bhutan, Dewathang 56 SJI solar engineer training for 6 Lauri Gewog village women at Barefoot College, Rajasthan 75 

Appendix: Zero Waste (Posted as separate PowerPoint files) 1.  Jayakumar Chelaton, Thanal, Kerala: PowerPoint Presentation on Zero Waste at SJI Launch, 20 December, 2010  2.  Shibu K. Nair, Thanal, Kerala: PowerPoint Presentation on Composting at SJI Launch, 20 December, 2010  

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1-page Summary Overview of Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) Activities: December 2010 – May 2011 (See www.sji.bt for details)

• The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) is Bhutan’s first major civil society-based

development initiative, and was initiated by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in March, 2010, as a potential model for the country. It aims to raise living standards in Samdrup Jongkhar dzongkhag (south-eastern Bhutan) in an ecologically friendly, self-reliant way that strengthens community and culture.

• The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) was officially launched on 18-20

December, 2010, in the presence of more than 500 leading Samdrup Jongkhar residents, with keynote presentations give by the Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan, and by Dr. Vandana Shiva and Bunker Roy. A zero waste workshop was led by Jayakumar Chelaton and Shibu Nair of Thanal, Kerala. SJI is in the process of registering as a Civil Society Organization.

• For the initiative to succeed, it must have a strong research and evidence base to

ensure that development actions are based in local realities and are not ‘pie-in-the-sky’ wishful thinking. This research is funded by the International Development Research Centre in Canada.

• To that end, a first draft 350-page Samdrup Jongkhar Profile, intended to serve

as an encyclopaedic reference source, has just been completed by GPI Atlantic researchers stationed in Samdrup Jongkhar for the past 5 months. An executive summary and slide presentation are currently under preparation, to be presented to key government officials, analysts, and scholars on 18 May, 2011. In the coming 3-4 months, further research and feedback on the draft will refine the report, with the final SJ profile expected to be released in September 2011.

• Organic farmer trainings in Samdrup Jongkhar were conducted by Navdanya, the

Organic Farming Association of India, and the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in December 2010 and February 2011. In March-April 2011, SJI, with funding from IDRC, conducted a 3-week organic farming study tour of India for 20 Samdrup Jongkhar farmers from all 11 S/J gewogs, plus the S/J District Agriculture Officer, three agriculture extension officers, and two representatives of the National Organic Program.

• As of May, 2011, two agriculture researchers are starting to collect baseline data

to document Samdrup Jongkhar’s transition to organic farming over a period of three years. They are working under the supervision of Dr. Vinod Bhatt of Navdanya, Ministry of Agriculture scientists, and other key experts.

• On the education front, a GNH-based school curriculum is presently under

development, and will be implemented at the Chokyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar in 2013. A proposal to create a Centre for Appropriate Technology at Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in Samdrup Jongkhar has received preliminary approval from the Royal University of Bhutan.

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3-page overview for funders: The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI): A Model of Integrated GNH-based Development

In March, 2010, local civic, educational, spiritual, and business leaders in Samdrup Jongkhar dzongkhag in south-eastern Bhutan joined to spearhead a major initiative to foster GNH-based ecologically friendly development there. The meeting that launched the initiative was called by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, Director of the Chokyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar, and occurred during a major week-long religious-cultural ceremony and celebration that brought together not only key elements of Samdrup Jongkhar society but also influential ex-Samdrup Jongkhar residents who had moved to Thimphu. The March 2010 Dewathang meeting was unique in Bhutan in giving birth to the first large development project in the country entirely initiated and organized by the civil society sector. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s remarks to the Samdrup Jongkhar community focussed particularly on fostering self-reliance and the responsibility of Bhutanese citizens for their own future. The Initiative was publicly launched on 18-20 December at the Chokyi Gyatso Institute in Dewathang, with participation of more than 500 leading residents. The Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y. Thinley, delivered the keynote address. Presentations were made by Dr. Vandana Shiva (supporting Samdrup Jongkhar’s proposed move to 100% organic farming), Bunker Roy, founder of the Barefoot College (on solar energy and rainwater harvesting), and Jayakumar Chelaton and Shibu K. Nair of Thanal in Kerala (in support of Samdrup Jongkhar’s intended move to a zero waste regime). Lively discussion groups analysed the current situation in the dzongkhag, expressed residents’ visions for the future, and proposed practical actions and commitments to achieve their objectives. On 21-26 December, immediately following the public launch, Dr. Vinod Bhatt and Negi Darwan ⎯ two top organic farmer trainers from Dr. Shiva’s Navdanya organic network ⎯ spent five days teaching 250 local farmers methods of composting, making biological pest control agents, enriching soil, and improving productivity. From 15-28 February, also as part of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative, five highly experienced farmer trainers taught Samdrup Jongkhar farmers from all 11 gewogs methods of solar drying and formation of farmer cooperatives to market produce effectively to local buyers like hospitals, the army, monasteries, shops, hotels, government agencies, and the Jigme

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Namgyel Polytechnic – all of which currently bulk-purchase food from India. In March-April, the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative sent 20 farmers from all 11 gewogs plus the S/J District Agriculture Officer, three S/J agriculture extension officers, and two representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Organic Program for three weeks to India for intensive training in organic agriculture at Dr. Shiva’s organic training farm in Dehradun. Dr. Shiva also took the farmers to the Punjab to witness the effects of the Green (chemical) Revolution, and they visited organic farming and marketing cooperatives in Ranikhet, Uttaranchal. While the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative remains a definite ‘bottom-up’ civil society initiative, it has garnered strong and enthusiastic support, backing, and offers of collaboration from local, regional, and national officials, including the Honourable Prime Minister, the Secretary of the GNH Commission, the Minister and Secretary of Agriculture, the head of the National Organic Program, the Royal University of Bhutan Vice-Chancellor, the Samdrup Jongkhar governor, and local village leaders.

Objectives of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI)

The long-term goal of the Initiative is to develop Samdrup Jongkhar in harmony with GNH values, principles, and practices as a model for the country as a whole. It aims to raise living standards rapidly and establish food security and self-sufficiency, while fully protecting and enhancing the natural environment, strengthening communities, promoting Bhutan’s unique culture, stemming the rural-urban tide, and fostering a cooperative, productive, entrepreneurial, and self-reliant spirit. The first project year (2011) intends: 1. To undertake a participatory consultative process within local

communities to identify the best ecologically-friendly development opportunities;

2. To develop a comprehensive and thorough profile of the dzongkhag through existing data analysis and field research. This initial research phase is also investigating and reporingt on best practices locally, nationally, and globally, which can act as potential development models for the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative. A first draft of this profile was presented to key government officials, scholars, and thinkers on 19 May, 2011.

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3. To promote greater food self-sufficiency, train farmers in organic methods, and create new marketing opportunities. Beginning in May, 2011, and under the supervision of top experts, the transition to organic growing is being carefully monitored, particularly to ensure economic viability.

4. To initiate responsible and sustainable waste management

practices that create economic opportunities, including composting for local farms; waste segregation for re-use and recycling industries; minimizing plastics; and turning Samdrup Jongkhar schools, clinics, monasteries, and other institutions into models of good waste management practices & exemplars for local communities.

5. To create a new, regionally renowned Centre for Appropriate

Technology at the Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in Dewathang, to function as a knowledge base for ecologically-friendly development in the region. This will specialize in low-cost village-level green technologies appropriate to rural areas, including solar energy, drying, and cooking; rainwater harvesting; sustainable building design; zero waste strategies including compost toilets; and organic farming methods. Student projects will work with and directly benefit local villagers, and the Centre will create direct and indirect employment opportunities for educated youth.

6. To support educational reform that introduces GNH-based curricular materials, supports ecologically-friendly community development initiatives, and enhances learning. In the fall of 2011, a pilot project on science classes that support school vegetable gardens, composting, and waste minimization will be introduced. The full-fledged curriculum will be introduced and tested at the Chokyi Gyatso Institute, Dewathang, in 2013. In the fall of 2011, the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative will launch a pilot youth and media project.

Future SJI development initiatives will explore greater economic diversification opportunities, including identifying, processing, and marketing of medicinal herbs, supporting crafts-based exports (including use of bamboo), and exploring eco-tourism and culture-based tourism opportunities. The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative is seen as an evolving long-term, multi-generational project to realize GNH in action. If seen to be successful, it can certainly be replicated in other parts of Bhutan.

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Excerpts from statements by HM 4th Druk Gyalpo

On economic self-reliance, citizen participation in development, environmental conservation, cultural promotion, urban migration

(Bold italic emphases added to note alignment with SJI objectives)

HM4 26 July, 1972: Royal Proclamation to the People of Bhutan On the occasion of the death of his father

Despite the small size of our country, the great kindness, wisdom and forethought of the Late King have protected us from the dangers of foreign enemies, internal dissension, epidemics and famine, whereas other countries in the world today have little peace and happiness. As if warmed by a sun shining between the clouds, we have been established firmly in a state of security and tranquillity…..the country has lost a King the like of whose kind has, till now, never been known…. Ours is a religious Kingdom and because of the compassion of the Lord Buddha and the guardian deities of our country, the strong and unbroken faith existing between the ruler and subjects, and because of the fact that the servants of the government are doing their utmost to serve the country, I feel that the Kingdom will not fall into serious decline…. With strong endeavours in each of our own tasks, we must unite our minds for the sake of the strength and progress of our country.

HM4: 10 September, 1972: Opening of National Assembly

The state of peace and happiness which our country has been able to enjoy up to the present is in general due to the fact that since ours is a Buddhist country, everyone is able to give recognition to the Lord Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha and, therefore, believe in the Law of Cause and Effect. In particular, our condition of peace and happiness is due to the strong and undefiled sense of faith and loyalty which has existed between the rule and the subjects. I believe that if the Monk Body, the government servant and the public give careful consideration to the welfare of the Kingdom and dedicate their full loyalty, the Kingdom will be able to enjoy its state of peace and prosperity for a long time to come.

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HM4: 1 January, 1974: Address at Sibsoo, Southern Bhutan

Initially our government envisaged and carried out development of the larger towns and areas around dzongs in the country. I now feel that we must aim at the development of our villages, since most of the population consists of farmers and cultivators. If the attention of the government is firmly focused on these people and on bringing about the general improvement of agriculture, then we can entertain the highest hopes of becoming self-sufficient in food grains. Therefore our government is giving the highest priority to agricultural development. You must never think, however, that every measure of development and every effort will be taken and made by the government alone. The efforts being made by the government most definitely require the support and cooperation of the people. If the government and the people combine their efforts and resources in the field of agriculture, not only will you benefit, but the nation will also find greater security. You, the citizens of Southern Bhutan, must never regard yourselves as aliens, because you and your forebears also, were born and raised in Bhutan and as such, all of you are Bhutanese. Regarding yourselves thus, you must look to the betterment and progress of Bhutan. All of us must remain united as one people and as one nation, and forge ahead together.

HM4: 2 June, 1974: Address to People of Bhutan on Coronation Day [T]he most important task before us at present is to achieve economic self-reliance to ensure the continued progress of our country in the future. Bhutan has a small population, abundant land and rich natural resources, and sound planning on our part will enable us to realize our aim of economic self-reliance in the near future. As far as you, my people, are concerned, you should not adopt the attitude whatever is required to be done for your welfare will be done entirely by the government. On the contrary, a little effort on your part will be much more effective than a great deal of effort on the part of the government. If the government and people

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can join hands and work with determination, our people will achieve prosperity and our nation will become strong and stable. …The only message I have to convey to you today, my people, is that if everyone of us consider ourselves Bhutanese, and think and act as one, and if we have faith in the Triple Gem, our glorious Kingdom of Bhutan will grow from strength to strength and achieve prosperity, peace and happiness. HM4: 16 August, 1976: Address at 5th Non-Aligned Summit, Colombo

Blessed as we are with a small population and adequate fertile land, we are confident that we will achieve our national goal of economic self-reliance in the not too distant future.

HM4: 26 August, 1977: At presentation of credentials of Indian

Representative

The attainment of economic self-reliance is the basic aim and policy of Bhutan…. I am confident that your country will continue to assist us in every possible way towards the accomplishment of our goal of economic self-reliance.

HM4: 13 September, 1978: Address at police passing out parade

It must be realized that outside assistance becomes meaningless unless we ourselves are prepared to overcome the difficulties and problems that confront us in the fulfillment of our responsibilities.

HM4: 17 Dec., 1978: Address to Nation on National Day, Gelephu

Today, when our country is passing through a crucial stage of development, the most important thing is for the government and the people to work hand in hand in all our country’s developmental efforts in order to achieve economic progress, attain self-reliance and strengthen our national sovereignty. This is very important, because some of our people must be thinking that large external aid and technical assistance are easily available. There is, therefore, the temptation for us to lie idle and rely fully on external assistance to accomplish our objectives and fulfill our national aspirations. It is important for us to understand that too much dependency on outside aid will only defeat our national goals and aspirations.

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…Today, for the future of our country, the most important thing is our people, and the destiny of our country lies in our own hands.”

HM4: 17 Dec., 1979: Address to Nation on National Day, Dungsam

The national policy of our country today is to consolidate and strengthen our sovereignty and independence and achieve greater self-reliance by producing within our country what we require for the development and prosperity of our country…. [L]eave alone the achievement of national self-reliance, not even a single district today is able to sustain itself. Therefore… great importance is going to be given to planning for achieving district self-reliance…. This task is a difficult one but if we give special priority in developing each district according to its own potential and if we are able to mobilize our manpower and other resources, there is no goal that we cannot achieve. NOTE: This theme repeated in 17 Dec. 1980 National Day address in Mongar, where HM 4 calls for “one plan for every dzongkhag specifically geared towards achieving economic self-reliance” with initial goal that “at least five dzongkhags can become self-sustaining.” And in 17 Dec. 1981 National Day address in Samtse: “The first policy is to bring about dzongkhag self-reliance…with the objective of making them economically self-sustaining in the shortest possible time, taking into account the local characteristics, potentials and needs.” And: “…the most important policy is to motivate and mobilize people’s participation in all developmental activities.” “All of us today must be aware of economic self-reliance. To stand on our own feet is vitally important for the sovereignty and independence of our country.”

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HM4: 16 March, 1982: Convocation Address at Nagarjuna Sagen University, India, and inaugurating Chair for Buddhist Studies

Today, as I address you, I am reminded of the profound spiritual and cultural bonds which have existed between our two countries for well over a thousand years. [His Majesty spoke of Nagarjuna (at length), Padmasambhava, the roots of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the translation of precious Buddhist manuscripts from Sanskrit and their preservation in Tibet and Bhutan…] Bhutan is a country which is steeped in tradition and where cultural and spiritual values which have come down through the ages still shape the lives of our people. Although the winds of change are now blowing across Bhutan, and we have embarked on an ambitious programme of modernization, we are still firmly committed to the view that we should not lose our cultural heritage in the name of progress. While hydro-electric projects, highways and factories may constitute the new temples of a resurgent nation, we believe that the roots of a people must be carefully nurtured and traditional values fostered, so that the trauma of material change does not destroy the cultural identity of a people. [To the new graduates:] I wish you a purposeful, productive, and happy life in the service of your people and in the never ending pursuit of learning and excellence. I hope the timeless values and ideals of your rich and ancient culture will inspire and sustain you as you through life, and enable you to meet its many challenges.

HM4: 17 Dec. 1983, Address to the Nation, National Day, Dagana

[W]e have managed to achieve substantial progress, but we have not been able to attain economic self-sustenance. We are still not in a position to stand on our own feet in economic terms. This is indeed a matter of great urgency and concern to us, and it will continue to be so until we can make our country self-sustaining if not self-sufficient.

HM4: 10 April, 1993, Address to 7th SAARC Summit, Dhaka

In Bhutan, we have been fortunate that a combination of small population and a traditional reverence for nature has delivered us into the last decade of the twentieth century with our environment still largely intact. 64% of our country’s land area is under forest cover. Bhutan believes very strongly in the concept of sustainable

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development and is fully committed to striking a harmonious balance between the environment and development….. We hold the view that environment conservation should extend across national boundaries….[this] will have far-reaching consequences for our future generations. HM4: 1993: Message: silver jubilee celebrations of Sherubtse College

The greatness of a country is determined by its people. The productiveness and character of the people is in turn determined by the quality of education they receive…. The destiny of our country likes in the hands of our younger generation.

HM4: 12 May, 1997: Address to 9th SAARC Summit, Male, Maldives

In Bhutan, sustainable development is one of our most important national policies, and we are fully committed to maintaining the existing forest cover of 72 percent of our land.

HM4: 2 June, 1999: Address during Silver Jubilee celebration of the

Enthronement of the 4th Druk Gyalpo

I have always pointed out that the future of our country, whether it is lifted high or brought down, lies in the hands of our younger generation. Your actions will determine the future of our nation and we place our complete faith and hope in you to fulfill our dreams and aspirations for our country. It is because of this that all of us are inspired to work hard today so that we can prepare our youth of Bhutan to shoulder this great responsibility, which lies ahead of us. ….I would like to remind our youth that television and Internet provide a whole range of possibilities, which can be both beneficial as well as negative for the individual and the society. I trust that you will exercise your good sense and judgment in using the Internet and television. It is my sincere hope that the introduction of television and Internet in Bhutan will be beneficial to our people and country. Bhutan is a Buddhist country that has been enriched by the teachings of Lord Buddha and blessed as a hidden paradise by Guru Rinpoche.

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HM4: 17 Dec. 2000: Address to the Nation, National Day, Trashigang

[I]t is very important for our people to participate more actively in the implementation of development programmes. This will reduce our dependence on the large numbers of outside workers in the country and ensure that the money spent for development works and projects is earned by our own people…. In effect, only one third of the money spent on the Eight Plan will remain inside our country…. One of the serious problems we are facing today as a result of the rapid socio-economic development taking place in our country is the increasing trend in rural-urban migration. If all the people migrating to urban areas are able to get good jobs and earn a good livelihood we should all be happy. However, people migrating to urban areas are not able to find suitable employment and even then they refuse to return to their villages. If we do not make any effort to change this trend of large numbers of our villagers leaving to seek employment in urban centres, there is every possibility that, within the next twenty years, most of our villages will become empty and even our ancestral homes and farms will be abandoned. One of the most important steps that must be taken to encourage our people to remain in their villages is to make farming profitable and to increase the income of our farmers. It is also important to provide our farmers with the same service facilities that are enjoyed by people in urban centres such as telephone links, roads and electricity. As most of our villagers live far away from urban centres, it is also important to develop satellite towns to boost economic activities in the rural areas. ….[W]e still have more than 218,000 acres under tseri farming by people who are dependent on shifting agriculture. In this day and age, how can we expect our people to progress and prosper if they have to depend on this unproductive method of farming? Therefore, it is important for the government to grant kidu land to our people who have little or no land holdings and are dependent on shifting cultivations. …As Bhutan is a small country with a small population we must never allow ourselves to reach a situation where we are unable to provide employment to our people.

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HM4: 17 Dec. 2001. Address to the Nation, National Day, Wangduephodrang

…[T]he most important measure of a nation’s strength and well-being is the ability to stand on its own feet by achieving economic self-reliance.

HM4: 17 Dec. 2002. Address to the Nation. National Day. Samtse

After exhorting our youth in the schools to study hard and serve the country well when they grow up, it would all be pointless if we cannot provide them with good jobs…. Every effort must be made to ensure that the Bhutanese people will always be able to find gainful employment. …In order to ensure the success of development activities in the rural areas,it is necessary for the government to ensure that kidu land is allotted to people who have insufficient land and to those who are dependent on shifting cultivation…. In many parts of the world today millions of people are facing serious problems and hardship from disease, famine, and war. In Bhutan, we are fortunate to be able to enjoy the benefits of peace, stability, and progress. We must never take such blessings and good fortune for granted.

HM4: 17 Dec. 2004. Address to the Nation. National Day. Mongar

[U]nder the policy of greater decentralization and empowerment of the people…the success of development programmes will now be determined by the decisions taken by the people and the quality of their participation in implementing them. I have every confidence that our people will shoulder their responsibility well…to ensure the progress and development of the dzongkhags, especially in the rural sector…. In the world today, it is an important measure of a nation’s status as a sovereign, independent country to remove the need for aid assistance and achieve economic self-reliance. Therefore, we must make every effort to fulfill this important national objective.

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National Day, 17 Dec. 2005: The level of economic self-reliance achieved by a nation is one of the important measures of its status in the world as a sovereign, independent country. Achieving economic self-reliance and being able to stand on our own feet is a very important national objective that we have always strived to attain for Bhutan….

I would like our people to know that the first national election to elect a government under a system of parliamentary democracy will take place in 2008. I would also like our people to know that the Chhoetse Penlop will be enthroned as the Fifth Druk Gyalpo in 2008. As it is necessary and important for a King to gain as much experience as possible to serve his country to his fullest capacity, I will be delegating my responsibilities to the Chhoetse Penlop before 2008. It is my wish and prayer that during the reign of Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the Palden Drukpa will remain strong and glorious, that our country will achieve greater prosperity with the sun of peace and happiness shining on our people, that all the national objectives of the country and the hopes and aspirations of our people will be fulfilled and the Bhutanese people will enjoy a greater level of contentment and happiness.

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Excerpts from statements of HM 5th Druk Gyalpo

(Bold italic emphases added to note alignment with SJI objectives)

HM5: 17 December, 2006: Address to the Nation, National Day, Changlimithang

For 34 years, His Majesty the King has been the heart and essence of the nation, her King and guardian, our parent and inspiration. The immense achievements of His Majesty including the legacy of a sound democratic constitutional monarchy are milestones not only in the history of our small kingdom, but of the world. I believe this momentous occasion is a time for reflection. For deep in our hearts as Bhutanese citizens, we will be able to see beyond the pain of His Majesty’s selfless act, and find that this special nation built by His Majesty, is left to none other than the people of Bhutan. Such devolution is a source of great optimism for our future. For I share His Majesty’s complete faith in the people and I believe that we will, as His Majesty has bestowed today, leave to our own children such a gift in 30 years…. To our youth, I say, that as leaders of the future you will find in His Majesty’s reign the inspiration, motivation and example for our own road ahead. Henceforth, our responsibilities will always be first and foremost, the peace and tranquillity of the nation; the sovereignty and security of our country; the fulfilling of the vision of Gross National Happiness; and the strengthening of this new system of democracy.

K5 Address to Graduates in 2007 I know that we all love our country. Now as you are about to shoulder greater responsibilities in life, I want you to love your country in the most intelligent manner. It is one thing to love your country, it is quite another to love it intelligently.

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HM5: 17 December, 2007: Address to the Nation. National Day

On this historic day, when the nation is gathered as one, I offer… our pledge to fulfill His Majesty’s vision for a nation founded on the philosophy of Gross National Happiness and the principles and ideals of democracy.

…Our unique hopes and aspirations, reflected in our respect for the environment, our culture and traditions and the philosophy of GNH, culminating in the efforts of the King to build a strong democracy, are historic, not only for our small landlocked nation, but the world.

To the Youth: When I speak of the future, I am speaking of you, our youth. I have always believed that a nation’s future is mirrored in the quality of her youth and that it is the government’s sacred duty to provide a good education and a conducive environment for you to become strong, capable leaders for the future.

Young citizens of Bhutan, I want you to remember that Bhutan’s success or failure will ultimately depend on the strength of your commitment – your willingness to embrace challenges and hard work. Unlike other countries, with our small population, it is not enough that a few of you excel – every single one of you must strive to be the best. This is the only way you can secure the future of our nation – through excellence.

To the People: …For our generation, the sacred gift of democracy from His Majesty the Fourth King will be our shared and primary endeavour. If we do not succeed and our nation and people suffer, it will mean that I have failed in my duty as King. For, it is my duty to ensure the peace, prosperity and happiness of the nation – a duty that I value above even my own life. And, if such a time were to come, when the King has failed to secure the success of democracy and the ills of a failed democracy distress our people, I will not find it in my heart to remain King.

My prayer on this special day is that … we will work as “One Nation, One Vision” towards achieving the goals of Gross National Happiness and building a vibrant democracy; so that the sun of peace and prosperity will continue to shine on our Nation – the Land of Buddha’s Teachings, blessed by the Guru Padmasambhava and our

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Guardian Deities and founded on the Vision and Legacy of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

HM5: 18 July, 2008: Address at signing of the Constitution of Bhutan

On such an auspicious occasion, on behalf of the people I offer gratitude to His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. During his reign His Majesty built a strong nation and secured the hopes and aspirations of the people through the process of democratization and the enlightened vision of Gross National Happiness….

In our own country, many generations into the future, the Constitution will continue to inspire our people as it stands testimony to a selfless and extraordinary leadership…. As it is granted to us today, we must remember that even more important than the wise and judicious use of the powers it confers, is the unconditional fulfillment of the responsibilities we must shoulder. Only in understanding our duties will the exercise of our powers be fruitful. If we can serve our nation with this knowledge and in this spirit, then an even brighter future awaits our country.

HM5: 2008: Coronation Speech The future is neither unseen nor unknown. It is what we make of it. What work we do with our two hands today will shape the future of our nation. Our children’s tomorrow has to be created by us today. Our generation of Bhutanese have been gifted a strong, dynamic nation by our forefathers. I am confident that as long as we are willing to work with their commitment and dedication and follow their example we can bring greater peace, happiness and prosperity to our country. You are the true jewel of this nation. As citizens of a spiritual land you treasure the qualities of a good human being – honesty, kindness, charity, integrity, unity, respect for our culture and traditions…. Throughout our history our parents have upheld these values and placed the common good above the self. As long as we continue to pursue the simple and timeless goal of being good human beings, and as long as we strive to build a nation that stands for everything that is good, we can ensure that our future generations for hundreds of years will live in happiness and peace.

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HM K5: December, 2009: Delhi GNH acts as our National Conscience guiding us towards making wise decisions for a better future…. Our foremost priority will always remain the happiness and wellbeing of our people – including the generations to come after us.

HM5: 17, Dec. 2010: Address to the Nation: National Day …[T]here is a higher responsibility – not written in any legal document but instead enshrined in humanity and history - a natural responsibility and duty that we all must shoulder equally, irrespective of who we are. Of paramount importance to the strength of a nation, is the ability of her people to live as one united family – a community in which interaction is marked by trust, understanding and cooperation. What is this natural responsibility? To me, natural responsibility means upholding values such as integrity, justice and compassion and above all living by that unwritten but absolute code of right over wrong, no matter what it is we are trying to achieve as individuals or as a nation. After all, while the objectives are important, the manner in which we achieve these objectives is a far more important indicator of our strength as a nation. We must achieve everything as a united harmonious family. I truly believe that it would be a great service to the nation if, as individuals, we always treat each other with respect and dignity. This is why natural responsibilities are important, for if we understand and fulfill them then, it is only normal that we will be a society in which there is complete trust in each other. And once this becomes the character of society, then regard, faith and respect will come naturally. I have always said these unwritten, unseen but profound values have been a part of our heritage inherited from our forefathers. However, I have also said that we face the danger that they might be weakened and lost over time, in the face of so many changes in the world and our nation. A family in which there is deep discord between parent and child or brother and sister is unlikely to achieve anything that leads to lasting happiness. As a nation, it is no different. Today we have great aspirations – the peace, stability, security and sovereignty of the nation; strengthening of our new democracy;

19

equitable socio-economic growth to achieve GNH and; nurturing our youth to one day lead a nation greatly strengthened by our hard work and commitment. To achieve all this we need trust and faith in our relationships – between the government and people; between institutions of government and; between people ourselves. With the harmony and unity born of these relationships, we will achieve our aspirations and find peace, prosperity and Gross National Happiness. In short let me say, if we uphold values such as unity, harmony, integrity, trust, justice and peace – if we respect their great importance – then it will be reflected in a strong civil society. A strong civil society is a fundamental pillar of democracy.

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Honourable Prime Minister, Jigmi Y. Thinley

(Bold italic emphases added to note alignment with SJI objectives)

Qualities of a GNH-educated graduate: Closing speech, Educating for GNH workshop, Thimphu, 12 December, 2009

How might a GNH-educated graduate manifest in practice? At the end of our week together, it still feels somewhat easier to describe what such a graduate is not. We know that what we want to see is very different from the economic animal that conventional educational systems so often seem to nurture, where success is measured by money, career, acquisition, fame, power, and self-aggrandizement. Knowing how different our vision and goals are, we know with certainty that what we want to see is nothing less than transformative — graduates who are genuine human beings, realizing their full and true potential, caring for others—including other species—, ecologically literate, contemplative as well as analytical in their understanding of the world, free of greed and without excessive desires; knowing, understanding, and appreciating completely that they are not separate from the natural world and from others; — in sum manifesting their humanity fully. I suppose the ultimate test is that a GNH-inspired education graduate will sleep soundly and happily at the end of each day knowing that she or he has given all to their families, to their communities, and to the world. If we and our young do not have this firm commitment, there is literally no future. In the end, a GNH-educated graduate will have no doubt that his or her happiness derives only from contributing to the happiness of others.

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HPM: Opening Address: 6 Dec. 2009: Educating for GNH, Thimphu

In this globalised and interconnected world, what happens in any country has meaning for the larger world — for better and, sadly, often for worse. We have learnt the hard way that carbon spewed into the atmosphere in Houston, London, and Sydney will cause flooding and devastation in Tuvalu and Bangladesh, and threaten the livelihood of Inuit and the very survival of polar bears in the Arctic Circle. But equally, and perhaps ever more so, we know that the world is yearning for, and ever more desperately needs, working models of sane and responsible behaviour, and above all of a change in consciousness to which education is surely the key. At the United Nations recently, I was deeply discouraged to see a world faced with unparalleled challenges being offered only partial, disconnected and piecemeal solutions to this or that particular crisis, whether in energy, food, poverty, resource degradation, water shortage, economic collapse, terrorism, or climate change. What was patently missing — both in the analysis and in the solutions offered — was any understanding of the common disease underlying the symptoms and of the deep malaise that threatens our collective wellbeing and survival. In fact, many of the solutions offered — like financial stimulus packages designed to spur more growth and spending — will not only return us to the dubious temporary comfort of living in debt and delusion, but are the very cause of our most serious present global problems. To address the greed, materialism, and consumerist fallacy that have turned us into mindless economic animals, and are destroying the planet, requires nothing less than a change of consciousness and hence of lifestyle. Education is the key. The good news is that — even as current economic, financial, and natural systems collapse — there is also increasing awareness that the temporary material satisfaction of fleeting desires leads to misery rather than happiness. Until just a few years ago, we in Bhutan used to think that our esteemed King’s proclamation three decades ago that “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product” was our own unique and particular take on life, on development, and on the world. Never once did I even hear His Majesty use the phrase ‘economic growth’! So I guess we were content to think of ourselves as distant and isolated ‘odd balls” in a world obsessed with growth and materialism. In the last few years, however, we’re somewhat embarrassed to find our remote little country the subject of

22

increasing scrutiny and envy by a world deeply dissatisfied with its way of life. To be honest, we spent some years shying away from the responsibility of presenting GNH in acceptable terms and translating it amply into practical action by simply taking refuge in the vision, concept, and the term itself. I now know that this option no longer exists. For the world and for all living beings with which we share this planet, as much as for ourselves, we have no choice but to demonstrate that we are worthy of the scrutiny to which we are subjected, by practising what we preach. And I am absolutely convinced that there is no more effective, comprehensive, and far-reaching way to put GNH fully into practice and to realize our shared vision and goals — not in a frustratingly piecemeal way but so that our collective national consciousness naturally translates into enlightened action — than to infuse our education system fully and properly with the humane and ecological principles and values of Gross National Happiness. If we want to be of any service to ourselves, let alone to the larger world, there is no better way than to begin here. In short, I now know that what we do here…is not important only for this little Himalayan Kingdom, but for the world, for humanity, and for so many non-human species whose very survival depends on what we as humans do. …Of course we have to start with vision. Without that, we’d have no clear sense of purpose or direction, and we’d quickly drown in a sea of disconnected and incoherent ideas—however good and even brilliant they may be. But we in Bhutan have now spent several years trying to define, understand, and wrap our minds around what we ourselves mean by ‘Gross National Happiness’, and I believe we have come some way in that endeavour. What began really as an intuitive and felt sense has now been articulated, expressed, and even measured in some depth and detail: • First we have now clearly distinguished the ‘happiness’ component in

GNH from the fleeting, pleasurable ‘feel good’ moods so often associated with that term. We know that true abiding happiness cannot exist while others suffer, and comes only from serving others, living in harmony with nature, and realizing our innate wisdom and the true and brilliant nature of our own minds.

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• Second, we have defined GNH as a development path that

judiciously balances sustainable and equitable economic development with environmental conservation, good governance, and the dynamism and wisdom of our profound and ancient culture.

• Third, we have even developed a GNH index that measures key conditions of wellbeing like physical and mental health, community vitality, work-life balance, living standards, civic engagement, and the ecological integrity on which the whole human endeavour depends.

• And fourth, we have identified education as the glue that holds the

whole enterprise together. If we are ignorant of the natural world, how can we effectively protect it? If we don’t know that smoking, junk food, and physical inactivity are unhealthy, how can we have a healthy citizenry? If we are ignorant of politics and of national issues, how can we cast an informed vote? If we are ignorant of the extraordinary teachings of Guru Rinpoche, Zhabdrug Ngawang Namgyal, and other great masters who taught and practised right here in Bhutan, how can we appreciate our legacy, embody our own culture, and serve the world?

….Which brings us right to our present endeavour and challenge. We’ve actually reached the point where we no longer need to obsess too much more about definitions and concepts when we talk about GNH. If we want to help ourselves and the world, we now have to act decisively and effectively so that we embody what we express, and so that our behaviour and actions, rather than just our words and good intentions, not only realize the vision of our enlightened monarchs but act as a genuine and worthy example for a world desperate for sanity…. One reason I am urging such a practical focus is my own growing sense of urgency and immediacy that itself stems from three key factors: 1) So far, we have managed to conserve our forests, wildlife, and

natural environment rather more successfully than many other nations; our culture is still relatively vibrant; and we have been blessed with a century of enlightened leadership, peace, and harmony. But as Bhutan moves rapidly from a traditional value-oriented society to a modern economy, we ourselves are in serious danger of going off track in ways that are clearly visible to us in Bhutan (and increasingly even to

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casual visitors). I remember rather nostalgically, and not so long ago, how the road to the Dzong was brimming with people walking to and from work in the mornings and afternoons, cheerfully chatting and socializing. Going to work was a joyful ritual of social interaction – an opportunity for making and nurturing friendship. They’re mostly gone now, replaced by cars, a status symbol, burning fossil fuel —those who walk now see themselves as ‘have-nots’. These and other highly questionable changes are happening at a dizzying rate.

The sad thing is that even those who want to appear well off by owning a car very often cannot afford it, and take out large loans that expose themselves and their families to unnecessary risks. A recent survey here in Thimphu found that 75% of those who drive to work do not drive more than 3 km — the minimal daily walking distance considered essential for good health. It is truly frightening to see how rapidly the materialist ethos has grown from just a few years ago, and it is precisely that rapidity that engenders my sense of urgency in wanting to see GNH principles and values embodied quickly in our educational system.

2) Second, my sense of urgency stems from the very nature and

magnitude of our shared endeavour here—which is immense, unprecedented, and with the dauntingly high objective of transforming the consciousness of our people and nation….To my mind, the greatest risk…is that we become trapped by the enormity of our task, and substitute high-sounding pretension for real action….

3) Third, my sense of immediacy stems directly from the political

reality of our fledgling democracy—the youngest in the world. This government happens to be deeply committed to a GNH development path. But terms of office in a democratic system are limited, and we don’t know what the next government may do or what its priorities will be. It could easily go down the development path of almost all other countries—plundering the natural world in the name of economic growth, as communities disintegrate and our profound ancient culture becomes an antiquated museum piece replaced by McDonalds, Walmart, and such like symbols of development. It may be my own Buddhist background that gives me a deeply felt sense of impermanence, but I have a very strong feeling that if we don’t seize the moment now and achieve something tangible and transformative in these three years, we may not get another chance.

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Lest this talk of democratic changes of government be misconstrued as a political platform, let me assure you that my commitment to Gross National Happiness and to the vision of our compassionate and wise monarchs has nothing to do with political considerations. Quite the contrary…! The only measure of success in transforming our educational system is that the frame we create is truly indestructible and that it will thereby effectively withstand all challenges from an extraordinarily seductive and increasingly sophisticated, powerful, and manipulative materialist and consumerist world. Equally, that framework—based on the most profound human and ecological values—will transcend politics entirely and withstand any political attempt to dismantle it. We have a word for such indestructibility in our language—dorji—which means diamond-like—and it stems from our ancient teachings on the true and indestructible nature of mind that is characterized by innate wisdom and expressed in natural compassion. Whatever change we make in our educational system, however modest in curriculum or other practical terms, must be characterized by that indestructible wisdom, compassion, and humanity. It should be clear by now that, while much of my concern is motivated by what I see happening here in Bhutan and by my immediate responsibility to my people and to this country, there is nothing in the principles of Gross National Happiness that is not fundamentally universal.

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Late in the day, Rinpoche asked that we make arrangements for him to pay a

visit to a governmental agricultural research facility. After a flurry of phone

calls, Rinpoche was scheduled to meet with the director of the Canadian

Agricultural Department Research Station just outside of Charlottetown the

following afternoon.

As we entered the Research Station, the director and his staff received

Rinpoche graciously and showed him into a conference room. Jim Green

introduced Rinpoche as a prince from Tibet who was visiting the Maritimes to

gain a better understanding of the area's economy and agriculture. Rinpoche

asked questions about PEI's economy, exports, imports, sources of electrical

power, breeds of dairy animals, crop rotation, and more. The discussion

become quite lively as the director and his staff saw that Rinpoche genuinely

wanted to understand how the province worked.

At some point in the conversation, the director suggested that Rinpoche might

like to visit their experimental dairy facility. We drove a short distance to a

series of modern barns where Rinpoche was shown a number of different

breeds of dairy cows. He impressed the staff by distinguishing the various

breeds. He was also able to tell that certain cows were a mixture of two or

more breeds. About 12 employees gathered around as Rinpoche examined

the cows. At one point, he asked to see the animals' feed. A gentleman

brought in a wheelbarrow full of feed. Rinpoche reached into the pile of grain,

scooped up a handful and inspected it closely as he let it fall slowly back into

the wheelbarrow. After he had inspected several handfuls of the feed, he

turned and told the director that care should be taken not to put too many

wheatberries in the feed. He said that they could expand in the cows'

stomachs, and cause digestive problems. The man holding the wheelbarrow

set it down on the ground. He was quite excited and said that this is what he

had been trying to tell people for many years.

Karen Hayward remembers another poignant moment during our visit to the

dairy facility. A calf was crying and its mother was on the other side of the

barn bellowing. One of the staff members told us of the relationship. Rinpoche

said very sadly that we would never separate a calf from its mother like that.

A short while later, Rinpoche met an Indian gentleman who worked at the

facility. Rinpoche talked with him in Hindi. This man, who had lived on Prince

Edward Island most of his adult life, had not spoken Hindi for a very long

29

time. He was very animated and emotional as he spoke to Rinpoche in his

native tongue.

Here is an excerpt from my journal for that day.

September 13, 1984

As we drove away, the employees of the facility and the director

and his staff lined the driveway. They waved and smiled, some

had damp eyes. It seems that many of them had been moved in

a personal way by Rinpoche's presence.

Rinpoche was visibly delighted with the day's events, as well as

with the people he had met. His royal bearing was impeccable.

His interest was genuine and well received. His knowledge of a

wide spectrum of disciplines including economics, the feeding of

cows, and the cultivation of soil, was shocking and endearing to

all with whom he came into contact.

We who had the opportunity to witness Rinpoche in action today

learned that the magnetism which draws buddhist students to

him is no less powerful outside of a Buddhist context.

On the cool sea air

the islanders catch the scent of Shambhala.

Kingship and dairy farming

join on fertile ground.

___

*The College of the Ashe Prince was a school that was being developed by Trungpa Rinpoche during the last several years of his life as a training ground for statesmen, stateswomen, and diplomats. It was named after the current Sakyong, whose title at that time was The Ashe Prince.

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Statement on Bhutan’s organic policy by Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y.Thinley

Released 12 March, 2011

Making a Commitment to Organic Agriculture

A statement by the Honourable Jigmi Y. Thinley on the importance of "Living GNH," and welcoming the partnership with Dr Vandana Shiva.

Affirms Bhutan will be 100% Organic

Ever since His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo famously proclaimed that “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product”, this country has been on a unique development path that seeks to integrate and harmonize sustainable and equitable economic development with taking real care of our natural world, strengthening our rich culture, and governing wisely, responsibly, and selflessly in the glorious tradition we have inherited from our great monarchs. I have always seen His Majesty’s wisdom in leading us on this balanced development path as the greatest gift not only to this country but to a bewildered world that is obsessed with material gain, destroying our natural environment, and in desperate need of a sane path forward. For two decades, His Majesty’s proclamation remained a simple and intuitive shared understanding here that material gain was not the most important ingredient in wellbeing. We Bhutanese somehow knew what His Majesty meant! As we rapidly opened up to the world, particularly in the last decade, we were increasingly asked to define, explain, and even measure GNH, and I think we’ve now done that with some success: We have four GNH pillars, and even a GNH index with 72 indicators in nine measurable domains. Conceptualizing, understanding, measuring, and explaining GNH to ourselves and to the world might be seen as a second phase in the development of GNH. We have now entered the third and most important phase in the evolution of GNH ⎯ putting GNH into practice and action in all we do and in all our policies, and bringing GNH fully and

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completely into the very fabric of our society. It is time to live GNH fully.

• That’s why we’ve started to bring GNH into all aspects of our educational system.

• It’s why we’re now using the GNH measures as a policy screening tool to ensure that every new policy advances GNH principles and values.

• It’s why we’re creating a new GNH Centre in Bumthang as a living model of GNH in practice.

• And it’s why we are now bringing GNH fully into our agricultural sector by truly “going organic”.

In our 2008 DPT manifesto and in my State of the Nation address last year, we affirmed our goal that Bhutan will be the first sovereign nation in the world to be fully, 100% organic in its food production, with the ‘grown in Bhutan’ label synonymous with ‘organically grown.’ That will create significant economic opportunities for our farmers and for the country, establish Bhutan as a global training centre for organic agriculture, and provide a major spur to organic growing worldwide. Last year we took a big step forward in this area by creating a partnership with world-renowned scientist, ecologist, and pioneer of organic agriculture in India, Dr. Vandana Shiva, whose Navdanya network in India has trained more than 500,000 Indian farmers in sustainable and organic farming methods, and created India’s largest fair trade organic marketing network. Dr. Shiva came here in September to lead a full day seminar on the science and economics of organic farming and on training, marketing, and certification. She came again in December with her best farmer trainers to assist Samdrup Jongkhar farmers in going organic as part of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative. This month she and her team will train 23 Samdrup Jongkhar farmers at her organic training farm in Dehradun. Going organic is truly a GNH path forward ⎯ strengthening all four pillars of GNH. Going organic will enrich and keep our soils healthy and fertile in perpetuity rather than degrading and depleting them through use of synthetic chemicals. Going organic will protect our precious ground water and surface water from pollution and fertilizer run-off. It will protect our biodiversity and save our birds and animals from the deadly effects of chemical pollution.

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Going organic will create new economic opportunities for farmers and rural communities both by adding value to what they produce and by reducing the costs of farming, since they’ll no longer have to pay for expensive imported pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals. The Indian demand for organic products is growing so fast that the market will never be satiated. Going organic will empower farmers by reducing their dependence on foreign farm inputs, chemicals, and imported patented seeds, and by creating local seed sovereignty, and increasing reliance on local wisdom, traditional farming methods, and freely available local materials like manure, biomass, and leaf compost that fertilize and enrich the soil. I don’t see us just growing more organic food but developing our own organic fertilizers and pest control agents using natural materials based in the rich medicinal flora for which Bhutan is renowned. And maybe most importantly, going organic will strengthen our culture and rural communities. By creating good economic opportunities for our educated youth in rural areas, we can begin to stem the massive rural-urban migration that has created such serious demographic, economic, and social stresses. That in turn will keep our rural communities ⎯ with their networks of social supports, vibrant extended families, and mutual dependence ⎯ strong and vital. Going organic is living GNH. Going organic is not only fulfilling an explicit promise this government made in 2008 and affirmed again in my State of the Nation address. It is also key to putting GNH fully into practice and action in this country. I am most grateful to Dr. Vandana Shiva and her farmer trainers, as well as to those first-rate experts from the Organic Farming Association of India who came last month to train our farmers, for their kind and generous assistance, even taking the long and bumpy road to Samdrup Jongkhar to assist local farmers in going organic, and for working with us nationally to take ‘organic’ from the fringe to the mainstream in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Kuensel: 8 May 2011: S/J farmers visit suicide families, learn organic

Posted at Kuenselonline: http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=320

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8 May, 2011 - On 10 March this year farmer Bal Bdr. Singh, 35, from Balran village, Punjab, committed suicide by swallowing a farm pesticide. Less than two weeks later, a busload of Samdrup Jongkhar farmers arrived in Balran village. It wasn’t planned that way. In fact, the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative organic farming study tour to India, including the stop in Punjab, was planned months in advance.

But the sad reality of chemical farming in India is that you’ll encounter what our Bhutanese farmers experienced almost any day you arrive in India’s pesticide-

laden countryside. In the last decade, more than 200,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide - that’s an average of 55 every single day for 10 years!

In fact, three members of Bal Bdr. Singh’s family had already committed suicide before him. And 12 farmers had already taken their own lives in just the three Punjab villages our Samdrup Jongkhar farmers visited.

And those same villages were once among the most fertile, prosperous, and agriculturally productive in all India. But years of increasingly heavy chemical use have killed off the healthy microbes that naturally fertilize the soil and made the soils dry and unproductive.

The Punjab farmers told our 26 Bhutanese visitors that they now have to pump ever more chemicals and inorganic fertilizer into the soil to get it to yield anything at all. And every time they do that, the soil quality deteriorates even further. They are caught in a vicious cycle from which they cannot escape.

With output falling and the price of chemicals rising annually, the farmers have gone deeper and deeper into debt to the point of despair and suicide. And that’s why Bal Bdr. Singh swallowed pesticide and killed himself on 10 March, 2011.

Samdrup Jongkhar farmers meet relatives of Punjabi farmer suicide victims

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Punjab’s “Cancer Express” But chemicals were not Bal Bdr. Singh’s only cost.

While these farmers used to pass on their own local seeds from generation to generation, they are now paying ever more for the costly imported so-called “high-yield” seeds that require heavy inorganic fertilizer and chemical use.

And the village water supplies are now so heavily contaminated with agricultural chemicals that they’re totally undrinkable. These poor villagers told our Samdrup Jongkhar farmers that they now have to buy mineral water for drinking – “just like the tourists” they said with a sad smile!

And suicide is not the only cause of death attributable to India’s so-called ‘Green’ (chemical) Revolution. Far larger numbers of farmers die of cancers caused by those same agricultural chemicals - either inhaled through pesticide sprays, digested in poisoned water, or from bodily contact in their fields.

Punjab now has a train they call the “Cancer Express,” which travels regularly to hospitals and is filled with cancer patients and their families.

Not everyone is hurting now. Big companies, like U.S.-based Monsanto, which market those “high-yield” seeds and chemical fertilizers and pesticides to India and other nations, are profiting handsomely, as are the banks, middle-men, local suppliers, and loan sharks to whom those farmers have gone so deeply into debt.

Shocked – but not surprised! World-renowned scientist and pioneer of organic agriculture in India, Dr. Vandana Shiva, who accompanied our Samdrup Jongkhar farmers, gently told the Punjab villagers the reason for their visit. Speaking softly, she looked at them with tears in her eyes, and said: “They don’t want to make the same mistake as the farmers of Punjab and so they are here to see with their own eyes.”

The Samdrup Jongkhar farmers were shocked and almost speechless – deeply moved by what they had heard in the past days and by the human and ecological tragedy they had witnessed. But some, like Kinzang Dorji, age 49, from Momling village in remote Lauri Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar, were not surprised:

“Five years ago, I used half a bag of urea because people said I’d get more yield,” he said. “I did get more yield that year. But next season I noticed the soil was drier and not as healthy looking. And when I pulled out weeds, I saw their roots were clumped together – not separate and easy to extract like before. I never used that

Samdrup Jongkhar farmers practice organic composting at Navdanya farm

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urea stuff again, and I never will – specially not now!”

And a Dewathang farmer reported that, following the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative launch in December, local shopkeepers had vowed to stop selling inorganic fertilizers like urea, and to bury their remaining supplies under a memorial stupa commemorating the end of chemical farming in Samdrup Jongkhar.

In the presence of the Punjab villagers, Dr. Shiva deeply thanked the Samdrup Jongkhar farmers for travelling so far, and for the service they are doing for their soil, their country, the world, and all sentient beings, by setting such a good example in going organic. And she praised their natural, earthy intelligence and compassion that was guiding them the right way.

Into the light – Going Organic And then, truly as if journeying from the darkness to the light, Dr. Shiva took our 20 Samdrup Jongkhar farmers (from all 11 S/J gewogs), the S/J District Agriculture Officer, three S/J agriculture extension officers, two National Organic Program representatives, and the accompanying Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative coordinator, to her celebrated Navdanya organic training farm in Dehradun.

Early on, Navdanya soil scientist Sri Hari Raj Singh taught the Bhutanese group about the relationship between soil, the living organisms in the soil, and human beings, and expounded the basic Navdanya philosophy simply and clearly: “If you want something from the soil,” he said, “then give something back. This is the basic principle of life and of being human.” He then taught how to differentiate the various soil types, what the basic needs of soil are, and how to take soil samples properly.

Over the next 11 days, under the skilled and brilliant guidance of Navdanya’s top scientists and farmer trainers, our Samdrup Jongkhar farmers learned the very best in organic farming methods.

With rapt attention and palpable enthusiasm, they studied and practiced in the fields a range of organic composting methods, soil sampling, pollination and terracing methods, healthy soil fertility management, how to make organic and biological agents to control insects, pests, disease, and weeds, and how to select and properly store local seeds.

Over and again, our farmers vowed that the first thing they would do returning home was to make and apply these organic manures and pest control substances and to improve their soil fertility in all the ways they were learning.

Their only concern, in the words of one farmer, was: “We need someone from SJI to follow up with us on this training, particularly the composting methods. Otherwise we will forget or make mistakes, because most of us cannot read and write.” Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative staff has made that commitment, taken detailed notes from the training, and will visit the farmers for follow-up.

Navdanya’s gracious hospitality extended beyond farm training. To their delight and

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surprise, the Samdrup Jongkhar team was taken on an extraordinary sacred pilgrimage to nearby Mindroling Monastery, where they were blessed by Khenchen Rinpoche and taken inside the monastery’s revered big stupa – a rare privilege not afforded to visitors or even to most monks at the monastery itself.

It was a tearful departure from new-found Navdanya friends. The Dzongkhag Agriculture Officer, Tashi Dawa, expressed sincere and profound gratitude and appreciation to Navdanya for helping the farmers of Bhutan learn and experience the organic way of living. Each Samdrup Jongkhar participant then individually thanked the Navdanya staff and organization for all they had learned and for the precious knowledge they would now take back home and put into practice.

This SJI organic study tour to India as well as earlier organic farmer trainings conducted in Samdrup Jongkhar in December and February have been funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre.

Taking the initiative Following their intensive Navdanya training, the Samdrup Jongkhar farmers went high up into the Himalayan hill country of Ranikhet, Uttarakhand, where the steep slopes reminded them of their own Samdrup Jongkhar terrain. But here, every single plot of arable land was not only farmed, but carefully terraced to retain the soil nutrients on the slope.

Dewathang farmer Rinchen Wangmo was amazed: “Most of the steeper land is uncultivated in our place and most of our people don’t do terracing,” she remarked, “and I think that is why soil nutrients are washed away during rainy season. If we terrace like this, we could use so much more of our land, we could keep our soil healthier, and we could grow so much more.”

But what impressed the Samdrup Jongkhar farmers most were the people they met. Kindly hosted by Grassroots India, they visited organic cooperatives that were successfully marketing organic hand-knitted woolens, natural fruit preserves and pickles, honey, produce, and other foods. Self-help groups were restoring degraded local environments, planting trees, improving water supplies, and training local youth in masonry, carpentry, and as “barefoot engineers.”

Staying in the homes of local village families, our farmers could not stop talking later about how inspired they were to see and learn how ordinary villagers can take such wonderful initiatives by themselves to improve their environment and lives, and how local village youth had taken on such interesting and meaningful work, thereby effectively stemming the rural-urban migration trend in that area.

Training for the common folk And when our farmers got home to Samdrup Jongkhar and sat down together with the DAO and extension officers to talk and reflect, there was almost an air of disbelief at what they had just experienced - with literally everything being new.

None, for example, had been on a train before and most had never even been to

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Thimphu, let alone a huge city like Delhi.

And any kind of training abroad is a privilege usually reserved for civil servants - an opportunity no common farmer ever expected to have. In this respect too, the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative is breaking new ground, as it also did in March when it sent six illiterate village women from Lauri Gewog for six months training in India as ‘solar engineers’ at the Barefoot College in Rajasthan to learn how to install, maintain, and repair solar energy devices for both electricity and drying produce.

As Namtong, age 38, from Wangphu Gewog, said: “I am very thankful to Rinpoche and to the SJI for giving this opportunity to people like us which I would never have thought possible.” He was referring to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, who last year started the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative to develop that dzongkhag in a self-reliant, ecologically friendly way.

And something they had not anticipated at all, or ever expected to experience in their lives, was literally being ‘ambassadors’ for their country. As one participant said: “This was such a great cultural exchange between our two countries and we were there representing our country, Bhutan.”

But with all those new experiences, their deepest impressions were still as farmers. They could not get the despair of the Punjabi farmers out of their minds. Talking to them as farmer-to-farmer, our Samdrup Jongkhar farmers felt the Punjabi villagers’ pain as if it were their own.

And when they came home to Samdrup Jongkhar, our farmers vowed never to go down that deadly chemical road or to let their country do so. It was as if they dedicated that vow to Bal Bdr Singh of Balran village who had taken his own life just one month earlier, and to his 200,000 compatriots who have committed suicide in India over the past ten years.

And then there was the other side too. All they had learned at Navdanya and Ranikhet about organic farming methods, terracing, forming cooperatives and so much more, gave our farmers a new confidence, energy, determination, and enthusiasm to apply all they had learned, to make a real difference in their villages, and to serve their dzongkhag, their people, and their country in a way they had never thought possible. In the words of Karma Tenzin, age 44, from Phuntshothang Gewog: “This training gave me lots of encouragement to work as a farmer, and now I am really and truly proud to be a farmer.”

Another farmer put it more broadly: “We’re enjoying the new charm in our lives” that this experience produced. Three weeks after setting out, the farmers returned to their Samdrup Jongkhar villages with smiles on their faces!

For further information, visit www.sji.bt. The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative training and research are kindly funded by the International Development Research Centre, Canada. Contributed by Cheku Dorji in Dewathang S/J

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Dr Vandana Shiva at SJI Launch, 19 December, 2010

Address at launch of Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative on 19th December 2010, at Chokyi Gyatso Institute, Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar, in presence of the Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan and more than 500 residents of

the dzongkhag.

Honourable Prime Minister, the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative coordination team, monks of this monastery and, of course, farmers who are gathered from villages far and near: It’s a pleasure to be a part of this Initiative. And I say “part of it”, because I don’t see myself as an outsider. I see myself as part of the team that’s going to make this Initiative work. Perhaps Bhutan is not a little island: It is a lighthouse for the way the world should be, if the world has to have a future. And this is so clear in the area of agriculture. And in the way it relates to the environment, to our biodiversity, to our soil, to our water, to our atmosphere. There are two roles for agriculture, anywhere in the world, for any farmer, for any community, for any country. The first is the role I started to talk about briefly yesterday. It’s the role that really started in the great wars where chemicals were created to kill people, and after the wars those chemicals were deployed to agriculture. This is what Sir Albert Howard, who was sent by the British as an imperial agriculturist in the year 1905, wrote in his book The Agriculture Testament. He talked about how agriculture had been reduced to the NPK mentality ⎯ Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium ⎯ and he wrote that vested interests entrenched in a time of national efforts in the war have now gained a stranglehold over agriculture. These chemicals came out of warfare; they were applied to agriculture; and they have turned agriculture into a wild, warlike situation. If you use the test of compassion from Buddhism or you use the test of ecological sustainability from modern science, these technologies are totally inappropriate for dealing with a very fragile web of life. And the sad thing is they don’t even do the job they’re supposed to do, for example, controlling pests or increasing soil fertility. Synthetic fertilizers actually destroy the fertility of the soil.

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One gram of soil A scientific study analyzed a cubic metre of soil, just one cubic metre, and found in it 50,000 small earthworms, 50,000 insects and mites, 12 million round worms. One gram of soil, just one gram, contains 30,000 protozoa, 50,000 algae, and 400,000 fungi. Now when we apply chemical fertilizers we don’t see how all of this amazing biodiversity in the soil is being killed. For example, fungi include this amazing function of microrising soil, and in one cubic inch there are eight miles of these fungi. Eight miles in one cubic inch! And what do these fungi do? Eight miles long, it goes to a plant far away, where there’s some potassium, picks it up and brings it to the plant that needs it. I always feel that our model for compassion and cooperation has to be the microriser fungi ⎯ how it constantly helps. It brings what’s needed from where there is abundance to where there is scarcity, and constantly establishes equilibrium and harmony. On the wonder of compassion, we can learn from the microriser. Or take another organism in the soil, the earthworm. Darwin is known as a great biologist, but he wrote a book at end of his life dedicated to the earthworm, in which he said it may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a role in the history of creatures. He called it the most significant of species. The little earthworm working invisibly in the soil is actually nature’s alternative to the tractor and the fertilizer factory. By their movement through the soil, these earthworms create channels for the air and channels for water. And plants have 30% more air to breathe in the soil. The aeration increases by 30% due to the work of these earthworms. There’s been a lot of talk, including an exchange I had with farmers on the 17th, about how there’s intense rain in this region and then it’s dry. So in a dry period the most important challenge is having enough soil moisture. Soils in which the earthworms have worked and created channels have 20% more water. And the earthworm casts, which can be up to 40 tons of weight per acre per year, contain more nutritive material than artificially fertilized soil. The castings of earthworms add 5 times more nitrogen, 7 times more phosphorous, 3 times more magnesium to soil, compared to soil without those castings, and 11 times more potassium and 1.5 times more calcium than chemically fertilized soil. Is that clear? So you could think of adding all the nitrogen, phosphate, potassium from outside, but if you are killing the

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original organisms that make these elements and more, you’re actually going to have a nutrient deficit, and that is why in chemical farming, after a while, your yields go down. Soil, food, nutrition, and health Now soil that doesn’t have all the nutrients will not produce food with enough nutrients, and therefore we will have nutrients missing in our lives. Studies by scientists across the world have found that, on average, organically farmed soils produce foods that have more nutrition in them. The same carrots if farmed chemically will have less nutrition, and farmed organically will have more nutrition. In the western countries, where this kind of chemical farming was started in the 40’s, from 1940 to 1991 vegetables have lost on average: 24% of their magnesium, 46% of their calcium, 27% of their iron, and 76% of copper.

Now magnesium, which is a trace element, if you are not putting it in as fertilizer, if it’s not there in your food, you get attention deficit disorder and failure to concentrate. They did an experiment in British schools where the children were very restless and violent and troubled, and they fed them organic food, and because it made up for the deficiency in magnesium, the children could start becoming calm and started to concentrate on their studies. In Bhutan you find it very strange that kids can’t sit still, but you know it’s really true. Children can only pay attention for three minutes — that’s the highest level of concentration in the West ⎯ just three minutes. It’s called attention deficit disorder. You can’t have a GNH society with attention deficit. So you can’t have a GNH society with a deficit of magnesium, or with a deficiency of calcium, which is necessary for children for growing bones or teeth.

In the United States, every third American is suffering from the disease of obesity. I’m fat, but they’re fatter. And in India, since our children started to eat the American way for the past 15 years, Delhi schools now have 25% obesity. A lot of people think this is because of over-eating. But these children are not eating — they’re nibbling. Obesity is a result of a disturbed metabolism, and metabolism is the body’s self-regulating capacity to manage its balance. The deficiency of calcium, scientists have told me, blocks the ability of the body to release the fat. It arrests the fat, so the fat keeps accumulating.

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Yield ⎯ of what? I’m giving these details because all the time when the discussion starts about organic farming — and many questions came up also in the farmers’ exchange the other day — the first question asked is: will the yield be enough? But the question to ask is yield of what? The thing about food ⎯ and agriculture is food ⎯ is that it is the ultimate relationship between the environment and our bodies. And our body knows how to recognize nutrition, and it knows how to recognize absence of nutrition. Our body’s cells cannot be fooled — like a supermarket shelf, can we? You can fool people in the supermarket, but the body you can’t fool. So what we are doing is producing more and more empty mass. There’s no nutrition in it. It is empty mass, and it works fine as commodity but doesn’t work right as food. I see food as a gift to us from all the sentient beings who share this life with us. Food is not just a commodity for sale. And when we treat food as a commodity we can see what the final consequences are if we look at the industrial agriculture of the United States. Because when it is a commodity, then it doesn’t matter whether humans eat it or animals eat it or cars use it. More food is going to run cars as bio-fuel than for feeding people now — 30% of the food grain in America goes to run cars. They make petrol and diesel out of food, out of soya and corn. And your cows ⎯ cows in Samdrup Jongkhar ⎯ are free cows, because they graze freely on the grass. They’re designed to be herbivores. They eat grass. In the U.S. the cows are in prison, and these imprisoned cows eat 60% of the food grain in America. They inject the cows with hormones; they inject them with antibiotics to bring them to the market very, very fast. So we are always told the United States produces a lot of food grain, but that food grain is not available for people. It is going to run cars and in animals. So it is not enough to talk of yield. We need to think about yield of what and where is it used, because then you really have the objective of self-reliance in food, which is what Rinpoche’s message yesterday was. I haven’t visited the farms here but I’ve read about them, and I know they will be similar to farms in our area in Uttaranchal because in the mountains we have small farms with a lot of diversity. You will always be told your farms are unproductive, because productivity is usually defined in terms of a mono-cultural yield of a single farm. So we have done a major study on what does a farm that is bio-diverse

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and organic produce, compared to a farm that is a chemical mono-patch. I’ll take just one example: In a mixed farm, the maize was four quintals but it also produced radish of two quintals, mustard greens of a hundred bundles, and beans of two quintals. The mono-cultural farm had five quintals of maize and that is compared to the four quintals of maize in a mixed farm, but the mixed farm is producing nine quintals of food and that is what should be measured. So when you shift to a mono-culture, you might increase the maize by one quintal, but you have decreased the food by four quintals. But it isn’t just the difference in overall food production per acre, because when we measure yield we must measure the yield of everything our land produces. Switching to a mono-culture, we also actually have a decline in nutrition, because all of that additional radish and mustard greens was giving us nutrition. I am not going to bore you with the details but we are actually now calculating the nutrition per acre and health per acre in organic farming systems, and we’re finding that it’s way above anything grown with chemicals. Net vs gross income In terms of income ⎯ because that was another question that came up again and again ⎯ we do have to increase our income. But to increase income means two things: one, we have to decrease your costs because if you have very high costs, your net income is lower, and second, you have to improve the quality of what you grow. Net income is expenditure subtracted from the gross income. So if you want to increase your net income, you have to decrease the expenditure and you have to increase the value of what you produce. In 1991 in India we had what is called structural adjustment ⎯ the World Bank tells you how you must change because of your debt. And one-third of our debt at that time was for agriculture. Well, our farmers were told to grow cash crops ⎯ cash crops like tomatoes. Every farmer grew tomatoes, and so there was no one to buy the tomatoes. The seed had cost one lakh. The women were giving away the tomatoes for free because they didn’t have the heart to plough them back into the soil. Now typical mixed farming that is organic will give a farmer a net profit of around fifteen thousand rupees per acre, compared to the net profit in a mono-culture farm of less than eight thousand. In every system that is based on external inputs, your net profit is lower, and on internal inputs your net profit is higher. So even as a system of human

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development, what Rinpoche said about self-reliance is actually economically beneficial to the farmer because self-reliance means higher attainment. Let me tell you what happens when this self-reliance is sacrificed with the false illusion of earning more — but not doing the real calculation, or not having the full consciousness, of what are the costs and the benefits of any system you’re adopting. Here’s an example: When costs exceed income The latest technology that has been sold for seeds is genetic engineering in which a gene is taken from one organism that is not related to the plant and is put into the plant, which reminds me of the Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist values. It’s playing with the lives of sentient beings. Normally rice is bred with rice and wheat is bred with wheat. But now they can take a gene from a soil-bacteria and put it into a plant. And one application of this new technology is to put a pesticide into the plant ⎯ to put the toxin into the plant so the plant makes its own pesticide; it makes its own poison. And this is called “bt toxin” because bt is a soil organism from where this gene is taken. So at this time this genetically engineered cotton was sold in India with amazing images: Farmers were told: “you will get 1500 kilograms per acre”, and all our divinities were used to advertise the new cotton breed ⎯ Hanumanji, Laxmanji and Guruji ⎯ every one was used in advertising. And the farmers thought, “I am going to become a millionaire,” because this is the season of everyone becoming millionaires. Well, this yield was not 1,500 kilograms ⎯ it was 300 or 400 kilograms per acre. The seeds had to be bought earlier. The seed cost, which used to be five rupees, jumped to 3,200 – 3,600 rupees. Of this, 2,400 rupees was royalty, because now the companies say: “I have created the seed. I am God. You will pay me royalty for every crop you grow.” And the pests didn’t get controlled, so they became super pests. In the meantime, new pests were created, and thirteen times more pesticide was having to be used on these cotton crops. So with these very high costs ⎯ it’s about 100,000 or 200,000 rupees per acre ⎯ a farmer is in such deep debt that the debt has become un-payable. So when the agents who sold him the seeds and the chemicals on credit against the value of the land come to take the land, they say “the land is mine because you can’t pay what you owe me”. That day the farmer drinks pesticide to end his life because he is

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so ashamed that he has allowed his land to be slipped out of the family hands. So in India we had 200,000 suicides of farmers in the last ten years. 200,000! All of them are related to indebtedness, and all indebtedness is resulting from the farmer thinking he is going to get rich, but actually sinking deep into debt. And another very important aspect related to this is that, while in the earlier period of the Green Revolution the government got the seeds to the farmers, the government is no longer the public supplier. It now all comes from one company, and five companies rule over that one seed supplier. That’s the reality of agriculture change in the world today. Organic farming protects biodiversity So, by contrast to that, organic farming in a way fulfills every one of the principles of Gross National Happiness. It respects cultural values. It promotes the protection of the natural environment. And in the area of agriculture, the key elements of the natural environment are biodiversity, diversity of the species, the soil, the water, and the air ⎯ the biodiversity of the soil, water, and air. And these elements become more important with climate change, because the climate is changing. And the climate is changing because of the pollution of the air. We have done studies over the last three years comparing chemical farms and organic farms in terms of carbon return to the soil ⎯ taking in carbon from the air. Because, while chemical farming is based on industrial external inputs of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, organic farming is based on recycling of organic matter ⎯ of every kind of organic matter. And organic matter is a way plants take carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into oxygen for us through the process of photosynthesis. As I already mentioned, bio-diverse organic farms actually produce more food and are the path for food security. But they’re also the best way for climate adaptation, adapting to an unpredictable change in climate. Our research has shown that you can increase the carbon content of soil, and that means sequestering that much more carbon out of the air ⎯ up to 100% more ⎯ through organic methods. And globally one could take out about 300,000 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere if we would go organic across the world. So how must all this scientific background become part of a transition, as part of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative? What we want to do is to replicate what we have done in India through Navdanya in the

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movement for biodiversity conservation in organic farming. And we have started this in 1987. We have started really as a non-violent, compassionate way of farming in the face of the very violent supermarkets. Can you imagine they now want to make seeds that they call “terminator” seeds ⎯ that means they are sterile, and that means farmers would no longer be safe even in having seeds. Taking away the life of the seed in order to force farmers to buy seed every year ⎯ terminating life ⎯ is such an anti-life thinking. And we have stopped it so far through the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, but that is why farmers say their living seed becomes an absolute priority. Community seed bank at monastery

Agriculture is part of culture ⎯ it has the word “culture” in it ⎯ culture of the land. And just like there’s a culture of clothing, there’s culture of eating, and there’s a culture of speaking, there is a culture of farming. You all look so beautiful in your Bhutanese clothing because you’ve decided that pants weren’t going to be the standard of advanced dressing. While in a similar way when we dress the earth in her diversity, she is beautiful. And yet the seeds of the farmers are called the “primitive cultivars” and the seeds that come from the market are called “advanced cultivars”. Into that a cultural inferiority is being bred. But just as our language is not inferior, our clothing is not inferior, our food is not inferior, so our plants are also not inferior ⎯ they’re just different.

So the first thing we begin with is taking stock of the natural wealth and the wealth our ancestors have given us, which is biodiversity and is knowledge related. And in your area, the biodiversity is both in the forests as well as in the farms. We document this biodiversity by putting grandmothers and grandchildren together, and by putting all this knowledge in community biodiversity registers, which become the education about the natural environment, about our cultural evolution, and they become the place where the children learn how to protect this rich inheritance. The second thing we do is to re-claim the seed as a common inheritance ⎯ not as private property and commodity, but as a common heritage of the community. So we create community seed banks. I hope the next time at gatherings like this the farmers will bring their seed diversity, and this monastery can become the first community seed bank for this region. The community seed banks are the first step in self reliance because if your seed is in

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your hands, then your agriculture is in your hands because seed is the first thing. And the first aspect of this self-reliance has to be the ability to be self reliant, and to protect the environment and practice compassion and all the values of GNH. Then the next potential dependency to avoid is in terms of chemical inputs, for which organic farming has much more sophisticated alternatives ⎯ whether it is for soil fertility, weed control, or pest control. My team, my colleagues from Navdanya, will be here for six days doing practical training in organic systems with the farmers. And of course we welcome a group of trainers from here to our school and our farm in Dehradun, so that whatever doubts remain in their minds, they can see how wonderfully organic works to improve food productivity, improve net incomes, and to improve resilience of agriculture. Three issues on “labour scarcity”

There are two questions that kept coming up from the farmers. One was always the issue of labour scarcity. Now on the issue of labour, there are three things we need to keep in mind. First, in organic farming every other species is working with you. It’s not just the farmer who is working. The earthworm is working. The bee is working. All the species are working and they’re sharing your work burden. A good agriculture in equilibrium won’t have pests because nature will control the pests. It won’t have weeds because your farming planting system will control the weeds. So the idea that “oh my god, it’s all on my head” goes away, because you are sharing in the work of the production of life with the way of life. Nature’s working with you, you’re not working alone. Nature’s working with you.

The second issue about labour is: In chemical farming with monocultures there’s a peaking of labour demand ⎯ at the same time everyone transplants, at the same time everyone harvests. So of course there are labour shortages at those times. But in an organic mixed system, there’s distribution of labour demand, with labour needed throughout the year rather than the peaking at particular times. So the labour scarcity is really a created scarcity because suddenly everyone needs to hire labour at the same time. You saw the film about Punjab last night. Punjab used to get trainloads of labourers from Bihar at transplanting and harvesting times. But now we have the rural employment guarantee scheme, so people in Bihar and elsewhere are putting their hopes into getting a

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hundred days of employment at home and are no longer seeking work in other states. So now there’s a crisis of labour in Punjab. And the third issue about labour is that when there is a real scarcity of labour because the youth have migrated and there’s only old people left on the farms, there’s still a way to address the labour shortage, and that is through community enterprise. Every farm doesn’t have to have its own burning compost or earthworm compost unit. Ten farmers can share one unit, or one young unemployed youth can create a system by which he or she supplies to the farmers. So the community coming together where there is too little availability of labour is a very, very important way to help the organic infrastructure role. Self-reliant vs dependent market strategy A second question that constantly comes up is about markets. I personally believe that if you want to have self-reliance, if we want to take responsibility, then we must look at the market from within ⎯ from ourselves, from our farms, from our communities, and look to the market outwards, rather than have the market dictate what we will be as human beings, or what our farms will look like. A self-relying marketing strategy first states: (1) this area can grow this crop well without harming nature; (2) it can grow this without undermining our food security; and (3) it can grow this without adding additional cost burdens to our lives. By contrast, a dependent marketing strategy allows big interests to determine how agriculture should be done. So instead of your farm finding a market, the market finds your farm and sells you what it wants. And a dependency-creating market tells you that everything you have is wrong. These wonderful mandarins that are delicious and juicy and sweet — they don’t transport well for 6 months, so it’s the very hard oranges that get planted that are harder to peel. They have hard oranges that are now bred in Florida and other places that are made for processing and long distance marketing, and they will say the juicy mandarins are inferior ⎯ say your produce is inferior. You know, we have 1,500 banana varieties in India, and Del Monte, this big processor, says they should all be wiped out, and we should get the Del Monte banana from Central America to plant in its place. The tastiest apples I’ve had since childhood ⎯ in childhood in the mountains we had wonderful apples ⎯ but the apples that were given to me after my last trip to Thimphu were delicious, because what you get in the name

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of apples in the markets anywhere in the world these days is pure starch and pure cellulose. They have no juice, no taste, no flavour. So what a self-reliant marketing strategy for organic would be is first ⎯ food security. And then the unique products that Bhutan has on the basis of its biodiversity ⎯ both cultivated as well as wild ⎯ and to develop these bounties in healthy, natural products, which will become more and more important as time goes because these products will be less and less available. Growing real food and real human beings In Navdanya we save the seeds of old grains and we call them “forgotten foods”. People used to laugh at us and say: “Do you really think people will give up beaten rice to eat this millet?” Today the biggest queue at Navdanya retail is for the old grains. I notice buckwheat is a very important product of this region. I also notice when I travel in Europe that every second European has wheat allergies, an allergy to wheat. Buckwheat would be a wonderful export opportunity. And of course your wonderful nuts and fruits as well as your handicraft products ⎯ for example land-based products. The agricultural system that is destroying the planet, destroying our farmers, destroying our land, destroying employment, is based on two assumptions that are really vile assumptions. And these have been spoken about more and more in consciousness raising debates around the world. The first assumption says that farmers should not use their heads. Maybe the farmers giving up their heads could be considered development; maybe the farmers giving up the use of their hands could be considered development. But that is creating waste out of talented, skilled, knowledgeable human beings. The second thing we know is that only farmers working with nature, with the soil, with the biodiversity, with the water, with the sun, can produce real food. But at a meeting on food security, one expert said to me: “Let’s get used to the idea that we will not need farmers, we will not need food, we can live on pills.” And it is this arrogance and this hubris which is at the basis of the violence to the earth and to human beings, and which constitutes the second vile assumption about so-called ‘modern’ agriculture. For us in Navdanya, good agriculture, organic farming is not just about cultivating a good crop. It is about cultivating real human beings with compassion, with responsibility, with a sense of

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interconnectedness, and with the joy of living on this beautiful planet. As you have said, Honourable Prime Minister, organic farming is living GNH. And there is no more fertile ground for beginning that initiative than here in Samdrup Jongkhar, and we are at your service. A lot of farmers still had their hands up at 8:30 at night the other day, so I’m sure you have questions. So if there are any unanswered questions, any doubts, please do ask them. (applause). Question period: (NOTE: Due to problems recording with the wireless microphones used on the floor during question period, most questions were inaudible in the recording. An effort has been here made to summarize the basic question content.) 1. Question (inaudible) concerned Dr. Shiva’s comparison of output in mono-culture vs organic farming: “If you were to cite an example, how would that apply?” Answer: I actually picked an example from a terrain that’s exactly like this and where maize is the mono-culture and where the associated crops that are given up when you become cultivators of chemically fertilized things are usually beans and pulse. I’m absolutely sure it’s the same here. Maize alone, as I mentioned, as a mono-culture can be found at five quintals. Maize together with an organic mixture with four quintals of other foods, which would be peas, which would be beans, which would be vegetables, produces more food and more output overall. One other thing: You know, we have made a commitment from Navdanya, that we would help monitor the transition to organic farming here. And as far as monitoring, we will do the kind of research we’ve done in all other areas. We’ll actually work with you all to see what are you growing today? What is your production? What is your soil fertility? What is the health of your soil? How many soil organisms are there? And as the years pass with organic cultivation: How has the soil improved? How has the food output improved? How has the health of your plants improved? All that will be part of what we work on with you if you participate. 2. Question (inaudible): “Thank you for your time. My point is this: You mentioned how there are so many uncountable beings in the soil. So the question is: Yes, the ones you described are beneficial, but

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there are some organisms that are harmful. How do you manage those?” Answer: In a healthy balanced soil, the organisms manage each other and they prevent the harmful organisms from growing too much in population. That’s why you need diversity in the soil, so the healthy fungi and the healthy bacteria keep the others under control. The same for insects and pests. When you have enough diversity, then one kind of insect will eat another kind of insect. For example caterpillars and lady bird beetles are very, very good pest control agents. If you have caterpillars on your farm, you can be sure they are controlling the pests. When you spray the pesticides, you kill all the beneficial species, so there’s no control and the nasty ones increase in number. Similarly in the soil when you kill your beneficial organisms, then your fungi that cause damage, your viruses that cause damage, increase in numbers, which is why we need bio-diversity as a way of controlling the bad infestations. A parallel is, you know, that human beings now are getting infected with what is called the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ⎯ AIDS. Immune deficiency means any infection will catch you. The same happens to the eco-systems. When your soils are depleted, they lose their resilience and any infection can infect the plant. 3. Question (inaudible) had to do with sunlight reaching plants. Answer: “Well, even in the forest floor, you have herbs that are growing because little bits of light are filtering through. 4. Question: (inaudible) Translator says that people are expressing how fortunate they are to have you sharing your skills and to have this interaction with other people. The question is: “If you use the urea, what is the impact of urea and how will it also impact your health? Will it also affect the crops in the other nearby plots where urea is not utilized?” Answer: As I mentioned, you know, urea is a very partial diet for the soil as well as for plants. And not only is it a partial diet, it kills the organisms that could provide the full diet. The earthworm is one example. And one of the steps we take in letting farmers become aware of how violent their farming is, is take earthworms and sprinkle them with urea ⎯ they start to die. And if you’re applying urea again and again, of course, all the soil organisms are being killed.

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Will other land be affected? It depends. If the water ⎯ if I have a field and I apply urea and the water carries it to the next field, it will get affected. And what you accumulate is nitrates in the water, which are very bad for you, both for human life as well as for fish life. Nitrogen fertilizer run-off is the biggest reason for what they call the dead zones in the oceans. Where the rivers enter and they carry all this nitrogen fertilizer, no fish can live. Nitrogen fertilizers are also a very important source of nitrogen oxide, which causes damage to the atmosphere ⎯ 300 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. 5. Question: “If we stop using the urea, how do we make the transition to a urea-less farming ⎯ because the addition of urea has helped increase the output. Now, how do we make a transition?” Answer: I’ve already mentioned with the earthworms, with vermi-compost, compost made using earthworms, you actually have far more nitrogen than urea provides. And you have absolutely no loss in terms of the narrow NPK ⎯ you actually have a gain. The transition is a wonderful transition. And it’s the time it takes to start making the different kinds of compost. You get the compost with earthworms. You can make the compost with organic matter from the farm. You can make compost with animal waste. And I think we need to start seriously thinking of making compost with human waste. Compost toilets in remote areas are probably the most ecologically sustainable way to go, where the urine gets separated and the waste gets composted into fertilizer. And human urine is about ten times more nutritious than even cow urine. Human urine is the richest and we’re wasting it and turning it into pollution for our streams and our rivers through the flush toilet. Another place for making a transition to urea-less farming is to re-introduce nitrogen fixing crops. All the beans and legumes fix nitrogen for free. And if you have a mixture with nitrogen rich crops they’re already providing your nitrogen fertilizer. 6. Question: (inaudible). The question was about pest management: “In a traditionally Buddhist nation, the teachings of the Buddha are about respect for life, so we should not use chemicals and pesticides, especially if we use pesticides that are killing both beneficial and harmful pests. But what are the other options available?” Answer: There are 3 big alternatives available to toxic chemicals that kill the beneficial species and actually turn the pest into a super

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pest. There has been a 1,200 times increase in pests because of the use of pesticides. So they’re are not succeeding in controlling pests; they are succeeding in destroying life on earth — 70% of the bees on this planet have disappeared because of damages caused by pesticides. And I think this area will be very rich in bees, because you still have so much forest, which would be very, very fortunate as a conservation role ⎯ a safe zone for bees. So the first way to manage pests organically is to increase the diversity in your eco-system, whether it’s forests or it’s the farming eco-system ⎯ because different insects feed on different plants. And when you have many plants of different species, you have many insects of different species. And they manage what is called the pest / predator balance. This is the most effective way to control pests. On our farm, the first two or three years we had a few pest attacks when we started the organic farming and then we used the second alternative, which is botanical pesticides like neem. Neem was patented because it is an effective pest control agent. And our team will bring in booklets of all the things you can use as alternatives to toxic pesticides. But on our farms now we have absolutely no pests. We’ve lots of species. We got lots of pollinators. I think our pollinating population has increased by 5 times by stopping any chemicals. But the third very important aspect of pest management that’s forgotten was studied brilliantly by a French scientist called Chabuso, who studied plants that were fed organic food, which means organic fertilizer, and plants that were chemically fertilized. The plants that got organic food had more resilience to pests; the plants that were chemically fertilized were more vulnerable to pests. And he did this very systematically. My research on Punjab, on the Green Revolution, has also shown that agriculture that is chemically based, promotes pests, first because the plants themselves are vulnerable to pests. Second, when you grow only one mono-culture, one kind of pest thrives and becomes damaging. And third when you spray with pesticides, you create an imbalance and therefore create super resilient pests, which can’t be controlled by any spray, which is what’s happening to the bole worm in India now. And it’s what’s happening to weeds in America, where weeds are becoming resistant to Round-Up. And what’s sad is they’re paying $12 an acre to farmers, to tell them to break the contract and use a more lethal herbicide.

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So there are alternatives. They’re tested, they’re tried. They’re part of government policies around the world. They’re part of the FAO no-pesticide management systems. So this is a no risk path; to give up pesticides is absolutely no risk for farmers. 7. Question: (inaudible) “There are pests that are destroying our crops. How do we manage once they are destroying our crops?”

Answer: The first thing is that pests become damaging pests

because the agriculture is in disequilibrium; the agriculture has gone out of balance. Good agriculture will not have pests. They will have insects, but they will not have pests, which become economically damaging.

And I quoted Sir Albert Howard on the fertilizer issue. He was sent to

India to improve Indian agriculture with chemicals. And he said our soils were fertile, there were no pests in the fields. “I decided to throw away my spray guns and turn the pests into my professors.” He then wrote The Agricultural Testament, which is called the bible of organic farming. But the pests were its feature — how many pests are there, and how do we get organic balance? And it was the understanding of the ecological relationship of balance that was important.

So the way to not allow individual insects to become pests that are

damaging is to grow biodiversity, to insure harmony among different species, and to give healthy food to the plants, which is organic food, so that the pests can be resisted. Just as in society, a vulnerable person will get an infection — a vulnerable person will be swayed by whatever is a negative value — a plant is vulnerable if it is not getting the full diet for resilience. So the way to control pests is not to treat individual insects as the problem, but to treat the imbalance that has allowed that insect to become dominant as the problem, and to reintroduce the equilibrium. Organic farming is a way of reintroducing equilibrium.

8. Question: (inaudible) concerns spraying crops.

Answer: But if you love to spray, you’re dying to spray, then spray natural sprays and spray neem oil. The Navdanya team will tell you exactly how to create biological, natural sprays for controlling pests. They will give you exact amounts to be mixed, and tell you how to make them and how to make neem oil.

Translator: Last question.

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9. Question and Answer: (inaudible) asks what the government’s

position is on using urea. Although also inaudible, the Honourable Prime Minister indicated that the Agricultural Ministry representative should answer the question. However, this answer was also inaudible. …………………….

The talk ended with an expression of warm appreciation for Dr.

Vandana Shiva, sincere thanks for her promise to help the farmers of Samdrup Jongkhar transition to organic agriculture, and a robust round of applause. Both she and her Navdanya staff have pledged to continue to train the Samdrup Jongkhar farmers and to help monitor the progress of those who participate.

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Appropriate Technology ⎯ Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative

Draft Concept Paper on the establishment of Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) at Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic,

Royal University of Bhutan, Dewathang Note: Preparatory research conducted in 2010-11 by Luke Raftis as background for this proposal investigated the curricula, activities, operation, management, and funding of centres for appropriate technology globally. Luke Raftis’ subsequent draft concept paper was discussed in depth and detail over a period of several months in joint consultations between Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic management and faculty and Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative staff and representatives, and the proposal was endorsed and approved in principle by the Royal University of Bhutan Vice-Chancellor, Dasho Pema Thinley. The CAT paper was then revised and modified extensively based on input received, and particularly based on recommendations and feedback received at an extensive joint SJI-JNP meeting held at JNP on 1st March, 2011. Based on that, this present proposal was then developed by Mr. Denten Zangpo ⎯ the appointed JNP faculty and focal person for the proposed new JNP Centre for Appropriate Technology ⎯ with further suggested minor edits and revisions from Mr Raftis and SJI working group members. The next steps are (a) SJI search for and appointment of an interim SJI appropriate technology coordinator as outlined and described below, and (b) formal approval of this proposal by JNP and SJI management (with any further final amendments), after which it will be submitted to RUB for formal approval. As soon as SJI is formally registered as a Civil Society Organization (anticipated by mid-2011), a Memorandum of Understanding between SJI and JNP will then be developed on the basis of the approved proposal. 1. Introduction 1.1 Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic (JNP) is one of the constituent colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan and is located in Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar, in southeast Bhutan. JNP is seen as one of Samdrup Jongkhar’s key assets and resources, and a potential

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powerhouse and knowledge base for Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative development actions. JNP was formerly known as Royal Bhutan Polytechnic, established February 22nd, 1974 in Dewathang. In 2002, while the institution was situated at the Rinchending campus in Phuentsholing, it was upgraded to a degree-granting institution, offering undergraduate degrees in Civil and Electrical Engineering, and was renamed the Royal Bhutan Institute of Technology. 1.2 The institute was relocated back to its original campus in Dewathang in June 2006 and renamed as Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic. It is currently offering diploma courses in Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. The institute aims to expand its offerings in future with a degree level program in Mechanical Engineering, a diploma in Electronic and Communication Engineering, and a diploma in Information Technology. The institute also plans to offer other professional services through engaging in materials testing and certification, and carrying out consultancy and community services including research. 2. Origin of the creation of Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) 2.1 The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) is a civil society organization founded on the vision of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, which aims to improve living standards within Samdrup Jongkhar dzongkhag and establish food security and self-sufficiency ⎯ fostering GNH-based, ecologically-friendly development in harmony with the government goals, while fully protecting and enhancing the natural environment, strengthening communities, stemming the rural-urban migration trend, and fostering a cooperative, productive, entrepreneurial, and self-reliant spirit. 2.2 Following the initial 2010 request from SJI for consideration of creation of a new Centre for Appropriate Technology at JNP, both the JNP Director at that time, Lopen Kezang Choddar, and Dasho Pema Thinley, Honourable Vice Chancellor, Royal University of Bhutan, have strongly endorsed and supported the creation of the new centre at JNP in collaboration with SJI to achieve this noble objective. JNP had also reflected the intention to start this new Centre for Appropriate Technology in the current version of its strategic plan.

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3. Outcome of first full joint meeting on Centre for Appropriate Technology 3.1 After many prior informal discussions, the JNP faculty and SJI representatives held their first full formal meeting on 1st March 2011, where they jointly expressed that the proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology will be a remarkable opportunity for JNP to become a regionally renowned educational institute, attracting a new breed of socially and environmentally conscious students from throughout the country and region, nurturing GNH values and principles, and providing tangible benefits to the region and the country at large. It would also provide opportunity for greater institutional autonomy for JNP and could also fulfill the stated goal of the Royal University of Bhutan to diversify the courses. 3.2 The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative sees JNP as one of the dzongkhag’s major assets, and the new CAT as a potential knowledge base for SJI, particularly in some of its key initial focus areas like rainwater harvesting systems, solar drying for fruits, vegetables and herbs, solar lighting, solar cookers, and other rural-based needs in the region. Since a key objective of SJI is to identify and build on the region's existing strengths, it sees the new JNP Centre for Appropriate Technology as a core component of its project actions and as a key means to achieving the objectives outlined above. 3.3 The JNP will also integrate appropriate technologies into the current curriculum by creating components for inclusion within existing modules ⎯ particularly in the 5th semester practicums. It is planned that SJI and JNP will formally sign a MoU after the SJI receives full Civil Society Organization (CSO) status (anticipated by June, 2011). 4. Vision 4.1 The Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic Centre for Appropriate Technology will be a collaborative venture between Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative and Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic. The Centre aims to improve the living standards of rural Bhutan by providing well-informed, ecologically-friendly technological support to address problems faced by the residents.

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5. Mission 5.1 The mission of the new centre would be to establish Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic as a regionally-renowned Centre for Appropriate Technology that serves the local community and responds to community needs, strengthens JNP as a regional asset, provides a practical knowledge base for ecologically friendly and culturally appropriate development in the region, and creates good, interesting, and meaningful jobs for local youth. That, in turn, is seen as helping stem the present massive tide of rural-urban migration among youth. Overall, the centre will endeavour to nurture GNH values and foster greater environmental and social awareness in its students. 6. What is Appropriate Technology? 6.1 The term appropriate technology refers to a wide range of ecologically- friendly and generally low-cost technical and socio-technical solutions which are compatible with the social, cultural, environmental, economic conditions of the people they serve. In practice, the focus is usually, though not exclusively, on rural and agricultural populations, primarily because mainstream technological solutions are more likely to be out of reach financially or otherwise impractical for them.

6.2 Appropriate technology is designed with special consideration of the environmental, ethical, cultural, social, political, and economic aspects of the community for which it is intended.

With environmental and ethical goals in mind, appropriate technology methods require fewer resources, are decentralized and easier to operate, maintain, and repair (generally by local residents with modest training), and have less of an impact on the environment, compared to techniques from mainstream technology, which are often wasteful and environmentally polluting, highly centralized, and require advanced technical skills (often from outsiders) for operation and maintenance.

6.3 Appropriate technology is considered particularly suitable for use in developing nations or less developed rural areas of industrialized nations. In this form, labour-intensive solutions are preferred over capital-intensive ones, although labour-saving devices are also used when capital or maintenance costs are low. In practice, appropriate technology in developing nations is sometimes described as using the simplest level of technology available to achieve effectively

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the intended purpose in a particular location. In industrialized nations, appropriate technology often refers primarily to engineering solutions that take special consideration of social and environmental ramifications.

6.4 The term appropriate technology came into some prominence during the 1973 energy crisis and the early environmental movement of the 1970s in the west. The term is therefore typically used in two arenas: utilizing the most effective technology to address the needs of developing areas, and using socially and environmentally acceptable technologies in industrialized nations. Often the type of appropriate technology that is used in developed countries is called "Appropriate and Sustainable Technology" (AST); or appropriate technology that, besides being functional and relatively cheap (though often more expensive than true AT), is also very durable and lasts a long time.

6.5 Examples of technologies that have been proposed as potentially appropriate for Samdrup Jongkhar, and which require further exploration and investigation to assess appropriateness, feasibility, and capacity to contribute to local livelihoods and environmental wellbeing include:

1. Solar drying of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

2. Wildlife deterrent devices.

3. Rainwater harvesting systems.

4. Food storage and processing equipment.

5. Composting and biogas units, compost toilets, and zero waste solutions.

6. Natural cosmetic and soap making equipment using local soap berries.

7. Processing devices for locally available medicinal herbs and other non-wood forest products.

8. Mud brick fabrication systems.

9. Natural bamboo curing and preserving to support bamboo-based craft industries.

10. Organic farming aids, such as compost bins, biological pest control agents, and bio-dynamic preparations.

11. Solar lighting.

12. Solar cookers, etc.

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13. Solar hot water systems for off-grid areas and electric boosted solar hot water systems for urban application.

7. Long-term vision and phased implementation 7.1 This concept paper presents the long-term vision for the proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT), recognizing that there will be an initial development phase, and that all the proposed activities will not commence immediately or at the same time. Furthermore, this visioning paper describes a broad array of proposed activities which could eventually be undertaken by the Centre. Again, however, these activities would only be undertaken as resources permitted. 7.2 As the Centre develops over time, it will be up to the discretion of the management of the Centre, in close consultation with JNP and SJI, to allocate available human and financial resources in a manner that best serves the Centre’s overall mandate and the needs of the region. While there would likely be some core CAT activities, such as curriculum, which would be running continually, other activities might be undertaken at less regular intervals, and new projects would not be initiated without the availability of funds. It is anticipated that each major new project will require separate fund-raising before it is initiated.

7.3 In sum, this concept paper should be seen as a potential long-term vision for the proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology at JNP, describing how it might function and what roles it might perform in the long term, by 2030 for example. However, the actual development of the Centre will clearly be gradual, with that phased development particularly necessitating different personnel, program, and resource requirements at different stages. Thus, for example, an extensive 1st March meeting between SJI and JNP staff recommended an initial phase of incorporating appropriate technology components into existing JNP courses, particularly into the 5th semester practicum projects work. This approach and phased development was also seen by both JNP and SJI representatives at the 1st March meeting as having the particular advantage of “mainstreaming” appropriate technology methods and solutions, rather than considering them a separate eco-social ‘silo’ or approach different from the regular JNP engineering curriculum. The latter was thought to be more of a danger if the proposed new Centre is established full-blown at the start as a separate unit. Instead, beginning the CAT development by bringing appropriate technology

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components into existing JNP curricula offerings will create a more natural way for faculty and students to see appropriate technology methods, approaches, and solutions as a normal, and indeed essential, dimension of engineering and student training. 7.4 Thus, it was suggested that the fifth semester practicum course in particular could be easily geared to the design, fabrication, field testing, implementation, and improvement of appropriate technologies of direct use to local communities. This initial developmental phase might also include the design and teaching of an overview Introduction to Appropriate Technology course. SJI will play a lead role in creating, phasing in, and establishing the new Centre in full consultation and collaboration with JNP, including mobilizing resources, designing initial projects, and developing project proposals. 7.5 This proposed phased development, therefore necessitates the appointment of an SJI appropriate technology coordinator during the initial developmental phases. In the longer term, it is anticipated that SJI will be the primary conduit between local communities and the new Centre, making community needs known to JNP faculty, assisting in mobilizing resources for the development of the appropriate technologies, and facilitating implementation of CAT projects in local communities. To take the lead in the initial one to two-year developmental phase-in period, SJI will search for and appoint an SJI Appropriate Technology Coordinator by mid-2011. 8. Management 8.1 In the long-term, it is proposed that the Centre for Appropriate Technology will be a joint, collaborative venture between Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic and the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative, based on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two partners that will outline their respective roles and responsibilities. For example, SJI may function as a conduit to communicate community challenges and needs to JNP Centre faculty, to raise funds for particular projects, and to ensure effective dissemination of JNP projects in local communities, while JNP faculty will likely focus on teaching functions and on the more technical design, training, and testing functions of appropriate technology solutions in which they have expertise. 8.2 To ensure the effective operation of the partnership, therefore, the MoU will clarify responsibility for academic activities, such as courses and practicum projects, as well as the research, project development,

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networking, fund-raising, and community resource centre roles more typical of a civil society organization. 8.3 The new Centre should eventually be headed by a full-time director, who will oversee all of the Centre's activities, both academic and applied. The director will be responsible for ensuring that the Centre will operate as outlined in the MoU. As the Centre develops in stature, reputation, and number of students ⎯ and as it potentially becomes self-supporting through its new designs, inventions, and applications ⎯ full-time staff members with expertise in particular areas (e.g. energy, agriculture, waste minimization) may eventually be recruited. The Centre director, who will be responsible for both the the academic and applied appropriate technology activities of the Centre, will report to both the JNP and SJI management from time to time on progress. 8.4 A joint JNP-SJI task force will oversee and give direction to the Centre's ongoing and overall operations, ensuring that it is making efficient progress towards its objectives, that it is working in a way that benefits both JNP and the SJI's broader societal goals, and that both organizations have sufficent knowledge of the Centre’s operations and opportunity to provide informed input. 9. Funding 9.1 As committed by SJI in the joint SJI-JNP 1st March 2011 meeting, it is proposed that some core funding will be raised for the Centre's basic operations, including academic activities beyond current JNP offerings (such as the proposed Introduction to Appropriate Technology course), and some of the Centre’s core research and networking activities geared to undertaking the first initial design, fabrication, and testing projects. For example, it has been proposed that an initial project might be development of solar drying units, funding for which might include travel by a JNP faculty member to the Barli Development Institute in Madhya Pradesh that has effectively developed such units, and purchase of essential materials for fabrication. Identifying suitable sources for such initial core funding will be one of the main tasks of the interim SJI appropriate technology coordinator to be appointed by mid-2011. 9.2 The MoU will also outline the proposed longer-term funding structure for the Centre. Based on effective functioning of similar appropriate technology centres in other parts of the world, and beyond such initial core funding, it is proposed that other larger or smaller

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scale implementation projects would be funded separately from the project-specific funds raised by SJI and the Centre. For example, zero waste projects may be funded by organizations and donor agencies with a particular interest in waste issues while agriculture-related appropriate technologies may be attractive to other funding sources. The interim SJI appropriate technology coordinator and (in the longer term) the Centre director will explore such potential area and issue-specific funding sources for different proposed dimensions of the Centre’s activities. 9.3 Based on the experience of other such appropriate technology centres globally, which were investigated in the preparatory research conducted for this concept paper, it is also anticipated that many of the projects on which the proposed new Centre collaborates will involve other partners, such as government agencies, international NGOs, or farmer and enterprise groups, some of which may be able to fund certain components of projects according to their own interests and activities. It is anticipated that such partnerships will allow the Centre to work on more projects without drawing on its core funding. 9.4 One of the responsibilities of the interim SJI appropriate technology coordinator and the longer-term Centre director will be to write proposals, raise funds, and build the capacity of the Centre by seeking out such partnership opportunities in addition to other grants that would be able to provide project-specific funding. 9.5 It is likely that some of the new Centre’s innovations will eventually provide opportunities for patents, and for securing royalties from use of its inventions. Universities throughout the world frequently use such research contributions as a source of funding for their institutions and for further research and innovation. Rather than become ‘factories’ themselves for the innovations they design and test, such research institutions may sign agreements with external organizations, businesses, and government agencies that would take responsibility for actual fabrication and large-scale production of effective and tested innovations that result from the research. Such an approach would be entirely in line both with RUB’s intention to give its constituent colleges greater autonomy and financial independence, and to enable the new Centre for Appropriate Technology to become gradually more self-supporting over time.

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10. Time-line 10.1 In order to develop the proposed new Centre's capacity to undertake all of the actions outlined above, there will need to be an initial period of capacity-building, where background research is further developed, networks are developed, pilot projects are initiated, sample curricular and practicum units are developed, new funding sources are identified and sought, and formal agreements are arranged. As described below, and as agreed in the 1st March joint SJI-JNP meeting, it is proposed that SJI begin work immediately on the research, networking, and fund-raising tasks, and that both organizations continue to work together towards developing a formal agreement, initiating pilot projects, and developing initial curricular and practicum units. 11. Short Term (mid-2011 – mid-2012) 11.1 It is proposed that SJI hire a staff person by mid-2011 as its appropriate technology coordinator, whose work would be devoted entirely to the preliminary development of the Centre. Please see attached terms of reference for this position. This person would be tasked with further research, networking, fund-raising, and curriculum, pilot project, and practicum development, as well as working with JNP to develop a formal memorandum of understanding, and serving as a conduit between the two organizations and with the local community. During this period, and following approval of this proposal by SJI, JNP, and RUB, all the necessary details of the partnership and of the new Centre’s function and structure will be discussed at length through proper and extensive consultation, and a more detailed strategic plan for the Centre will be developed to include specific pilot projects and implementation mechanisms. This agreed plan will then be submitted to the Royal University of Bhutan for formal approval and also used as the basis for core fundraising proposals, which the SJI appropriate technology coordinator will develop and submit after full consultation with JNP. 11.2 As agreed at the 1st March SJI-JNP meeting, one of the most important tasks during this initial period is to lay the foundations for the proposed new Centre by bringing appropriate technology components into the existing JNP structure. This approach has the dual advantage both of rousing interest and enthusiasm among faculty and students by gradually demonstrating the utility, relevance, and potential benefit of an appropriate technology approach, and also of

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mainstreaming appropriate technology by seamlessly integrating it into existing conventional structures (such as mechanical and electrical engineering and information technology) rather than regarding it as something ‘different’, ‘alternative’, or ‘fringe’. 11.3 At the initial phase, appropriate technology components will be integrated into existing JNP modules and courses, both as theory or workshop projects. JNP faculty have noted with particular interest and enthusiasm that the design, fabrication, testing, and implementation of appropriate technologies would make excellent projects for the fifth semester practicum course, which often searches for relevant, practical subjects and applications. As well, this initial period would see the development of a basic Introduction to Appropriate Technology course that would provide both a theoretical and practical overview of the subject and approach. Following the February, 2011, SJI-organized visit of the co-directors of the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Madhya Pradesh, where effective low-cost solar drying units have been designed, developed, and widely applied, it has been recommended that this solar drying technology can be a very useful, manageable, and low-cost initial SJI-JNP appropriate technology project for the 2011-12 year. Following a presentation to JNP faculty and students and further discussions with JNP faculty and management, the Barli directors kindly and generously offered to make their solar drying design plans and training available to the SJI and JNP. JNP faculty expressed confidence that they could adapt those plans effectively to Samdrup Jongkhar conditions based on study of type and quantity of local products to be dried, local market demand for dried products, and cheap and locally available materials for fabrication. Such an initial year one project, perhaps incorporated into one of the fifth semester practicum moduless, will demonstrate the utility of the appropriate technology in a very practical way. A second initial project that would fit well into existing SJI activities is use of other solar powered devices like solar hot water systems, particularly in remote Samdrup Jongkhar villages. In off-grid solar electrified villages, there will also be need for local operation and maintenance of solar lighting systems to increase village self-reliance and reduce dependence on external agencies like Bhutan Power Corporation and Department of Energy. To that end, six village women from remote Lauri Gewog are currently undergoing six months of ‘solar engineering’ training at the Barefoot College in Rajasthan. Before their return home in September-October, 2011, the women will visit the Barli

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Development Institute for 15 days of training in solar drying technologies and methods. It has been proposed that SJI could fund the costs for a JNP faculty member to meet the women at Barefoot College towards the end of their training to see what they have learned, and then accompany them on the 15-day Barli Development Institute training. Following the return to Samdrup Jongkhar of these newly trained ‘solar engineers’, such projects ⎯ solar drying and solar lighting in off-grid solar electrified villages, and electric-boosted solar hot water systems for on-grid Samdrup Jongkhar locations ⎯ might become initial JNP appropriate technology practicum projects in collaboration with the villagers and with SJI. 11.4 The SJI appropriate technology coordinator will be responsible for working closely with JNP faculty to accomplish such immediate tasks, which are not dependent on formal establishment of the new Centre or even on prior existence of an extensive, formal MoU between SJI and JNP, since this initial approach of bringing appropriate technology elements into existing courses and practicum modules entirely respects and works within the existing JNP structure, framework, and offerings. In sum, this is a way of beginning the appropriate technology process at JNP and in Samdrup Jongkhar without delay and with minimal cost and risk. This approach will also work to develop a good working relation between JNP and SJI which will form the basis for the more formal development of the proposed new Centre. 12. Medium Term (Mid-2012 – 2014) 12.1 Once a formal agreement between SJI and JNP is established, and sufficient funding sources are in place, the new Centre can be formally inaugurated, if only on a modest initial basis, and can begin to work in all the functional roles outlined above. During this period, appropriate technology courses will gradually be developed and put in place, and will be refined and broadened as necessary. Research will be conducted on key issues in the dzongkhag, and some key demonstration projects will begin to be implemented. 12.2 A strategic plan will be developed and new sources of funding, student interns, and volunteers will be investigated and secured. The Centre will begin to engage with the community, to arrange its first training sessions, and to begin networking on a continuous basis. As the Centre will still be in its infancy, there will undoubtedly be some

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early missteps, which will constitute key learning experiences, and plans will likely have to be adjusted and modified accordingly as the new Centre gradually identifies and defines its functions. Indeed, the outcomes of the short-term (2011-12) activities noted above will undoubtedly define and generate the needs and activities that characterize this medium-term period. For that reason, it is not possible to specify precisely at this stage the activities of this medium-term phase. As noted above, it is proposed that there be a task force or advisory board, which would be comprised of members from JNP, SJI, the community, and the dzongkhag administration, to guide all developmental activities. 13. Long Term (2014 onwards) 13.1 As the new Centre grows and matures, its activities will continue to expand, guided by its strategic plan, its faculty, and its board members. As the Centre gains an ever stronger regional reputation for excellence and innovation, it will be better able to secure funding from a wider range of sources, and will gradually develop the capacity to undertake larger projects, conduct more training sessions, expand its academic offerings, and attract more and better qualified students from throughout the country and region. 13.2 The Centre will be able to offer a continually expanding realm of expertise on appropriate technology issues, eventually becoming a centre for excellence in the field, and collaborating with organizations from across Bhutan and abroad. By 2014-15, Samdrup Jongkhar and its residents will be experiencing tangible benefits from the appropriate technologies developed to date, and some of these technologies will begin to be applied nationwide based on successful testing and appropriate modification within the dzongkhag. 14. Capacity Building / Human Resources Development 14.1 In order to fulfill the above expectations, the Centre needs to recruit skilled personnel with expertise in the specific subject areas, and will be able to train other staff as necessary. 14.2 During the winter of 2010-11, SJI and JNP hosted the founders and directors of the Barefoot College in Rajasthan, and Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore, Madhya Pradesh,

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who came to showcase some of their appropriate technology activities. Both institutes invited staff from JNP and SJI to visit their respective campuses to get a better understanding of the work they do. Therefore, it would be of great benefit to the development of the new Centre for Appropriate Technology for both the JNP focal person and the SJI appropriate technology coordinator to have hands-on experience with the specific technologies involved in both institutes, since those technologies will likely be taken up as initial projects. SJI will undertake to raise funds to make that possible. It is also recommended that key members of the Samdrup Jongkhar Appropriate Technology working team may undertake a study tour to already existing appropriate technology institutes in India (e.g. Mysore) and possibly also to successful appropriate technology projects in Nepal or Bangladesh, in order to bring back and apply in Samdrup Jongkhar what they see and learn in these neighbouring countries. 15. Infrastructure 15.1. In the initial phases of CAT development, the workshops, classrooms, and other facilities already existing at JNP may serve the initial requirements. At later stages, however, as courses, practicum modules, and activities are further developed and expanded, and as appropriate technology faculty and students increase in number, an expanded Centre will demand more space and facilities, which will require further investment as these requirements are assessed. 16. Equipment and machinery 16.1 The present equipment and machinery available at JNP may be able to carry out some initial manufacturing and fabrication work ⎯ for example in initial experimentation with solar drying units. Again, however, as projects expand in both scope and number, there will certainly be some special equipment requirements, which JNP does not presently have, to carry out key components of new projects. Only after the initial short-term developmental phase described above, and the proposed study visit to some of the existing appropriate technology institutes also described above, will it be possible to specify precisely what such new equipment and machinery requirements might be. However, as appropriate technologies are generally quite ”low-tech” and low-cost, and since they attempt as far as possible to use local

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materials, it is not anticipated that equipment requirements will be overly onerous. 17. Additional Societal Justifications 17.1 Bhutan has embraced a development path, which seeks to balance and integrate sustainable and equitable economic development with environmental conservation, cultural promotion, and good governance. This approach, as summarized by His Majesty the Fourth King in the proclamation that “Gross National Happiness [GNH] is more important than Gross National Product”, constitutes a direct challenge to the dominant global development paradigm that sees economic growth and conventional industrialization as the key to progress. 17.2 Bhutan has a long history of wise and benevolent monarchy and this reliance on good government has carried through into the democratic era. At the same time, Bhutan’s civil society, grass roots organizations, and entrepreneurial sector remain relatively undeveloped. 17.3 In the course of its work, JNP’s proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology can potentially play an important role in nurturing and strengthening these civil society and entrepreneurial sectors, which are so crucial to an active, effective, and functioning democracy. Because appropriate technologies are almost always decentralized and low-cost, and can be mastered, maintained, and repaired by communities, they are can simultaneously build the self-reliance and local confidence that are prerequisites for a strong and active civil society and entrepreneurial approach. As well, the direct, substantial benefits that rural communities can potentially reap from application and use of appropriate technologies that improve agricultural productivity and rural economic viability in ecologically friendly ways, may provide good and interesting local job opportunities for educated youth, stem the rural-urban migration tide, and strengthen GNH values in harmony with both SJI and government objectives. In these ways the proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology can potentially contribute directly to broader social and national goals. 17.4 Samdrup Jongkhar dzongkhag is presently one of the poorer regions in the country, and like much of Bhutan, it is still predominantly rural. It faces high levels of rural-urban migration, particularly among youth. In Bhutan, as in many countries, technical education has traditionally been focused entirely on the industrial sector, with little

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attention paid to the agricultural sector, thus encouraging tertiary graduates to seek employment in urban areas. There are government agencies and organizations in Bhutan that do work on agricultural technologies, but these presently have a somewhat limited scope, and do not have the resources to expand their focus to a sufficiently wide array of rural issues and challenges. JNP’s proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology could potentially draw together the resources necessary to research and address more fully and comprehensively a wide range of related pressing challenges facing rural communities. That, in turn, can certainly create new opportunities in rural areas that could help stem the tide of rural-urban migration that is presently depleting rural areas of much of their youthful talent, energy, education, and experience. 17.5 In summary, building on the existing technical knowledge of the Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic, the proposed new Centre for Appropriate Technology will therefore be able to support the development of the entrepreneurial and civil society sectors in Samdrup Jongkhar and beyond. By developing strong community connections and serving local communities in highly constructive ways, and in conjunction with other innovative activities of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative, the new Centre can potentially interest JNP students in improving livelihoods and quality of life both in the Samdrup Jongkhar region and throughout rural Bhutan. In these ways, the new Centre can potentially serve wider social and national goals in harmony with GNH principles and values.

Vacancy Announcement Title: Appropriate Technology Coordinator

The Director, SJI Appropriate Technology, will represent the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative in working closely with the Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic (JNP) in Dewathang, to establish a regionally renowned Centre for Appropriate Technology that serves the local community and responds to community needs, strengthens JNP as a regional asset, provides a practical knowledge base for ecologically friendly and culturally appropriate development in the region, and creates good jobs for local youth. Until such a Centre is formally established, the Director will work closely with JNP to: a) integrate appropriate technology components into existing JNP

courses and 5th semester practicums (including practical design, testing, fabrication, modelling, training, and modification),

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b) design a full year Introduction to Appropriate Technology course that includes classroom teaching, reading, practical workshop exercises, and field work,

c) collaborate closely with JNP to establish the new Centre – including

proposal writing, consultations, budgets, fundraising, creating MoUs, marketing, and whatever else is required to create the Centre,

d) serve as a conduit between SJI and the SJ community on one hand

and JNP on the other to identify key community needs and how particular JNP appropriate technology projects might meet those needs. This will include ongoing outreach to local Samdrup Jongkhar communities to understand their needs and keep them informed of SJI activities,

e) mentor subordinates, peers, and volunteers, with a view to building

community capacity, sharing knowledge about appropriate technologies, cultivating future community leaders, creating regional opportunities for Samdrup Jongkhar youth, and building self-reliance,

f) initiate the waste minimization dimension of the SJI in ways that are

relevant to the appropriate technology mandate of this position and objective; and

g) work with JNP faculty to design such particular projects, including preparation of budgets for equipment, staff time, student internship costs, field trips, and visits to existing model projects, to fundraise for such projects, and to oversee and ensure their effective implementation and dissemination to the community.

In addition, the SJI Appropriate Technology (AT) Coordinator will follow up on and ensure effective implementation of existing SJI AT projects, including design, fabrication, testing, and dissemination to S/J farmers of solar fruit and vegetable drying units, and facilitating meaningful and gainful employment that benefits S/J communities for the six Lauri Barefoot College ‘solar engineers’ upon their return to S/J in Sept/Oct 2011. The latter will require careful interim investigation of solar lighting needs in non-electrified villages of S/J and beyond, and preparation of communities for adoption of appropriate solar technologies.

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Remuneration and application information: Salary negotiable, depending on qualifications and experience.

The position will be on a contract basis, initially for one year and renewable by mutual consent. Applicants should include CV, covering letter, university transcripts, and names, titles, and contact information for at least three referees. Please submit application package in confidence to info@sji.org before 4 April 2011. We thank all applicants. However only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

Qualifications: • Demonstrated experience in project management and

implementation • Strong research skills: a methodological and rigorous approach to

information gathering and quantitative and qualitative data analysis, ability to understand detail and synthesize

• Strong understanding of and/or willingness to learn quickly in most of the following areas: agricultural principles and practices of sustainable development, appropriate technology, and practices in southern and eastern Bhutan

• A graduate degree in engineering, agriculture, or other studies relevant to appropriate technology plus at least three years related work experience.

• Capable of a high level of accuracy and consistency in numerical and written work

• Strong interpersonal skills: able to relate confidently to a diverse range of people, and display diplomatic personal conduct

• Proficient in academic research, internet research, and office software

• Flexible, reliable, enthusiastic and self-motivated • Willing to travel to rural and/or remote areas to monitor and

supervise projects • English and expressed willingness quickly to learn and master

Tshangla-lo (or Sharchopka) ⎯ the local dialect in Samdrup Jongkhar.

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Location: Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic, in Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar. Vision: Samdrup Jongkhar Centre for Appropriate Technology The Samdrup Jongkhar Centre for Appropriate Technology will be a collaborative venture between Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic and the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative. The Centre aims to improve the standard of living in rural Bhutan by providing well-informed ecologically-friendly technological support to address problems faced by residents. The centre will conduct research on an ongoing basis to maintain a detailed knowledge base of the current practices, problems and trends in the area as well as ecologically-friendly solutions that have been tried successfully elsewhere. It will promote technology transfer and best-practices dissemination where appropriate, and act as a resource for the rural community, providing training sessions, advice, and support for new technologies, agricultural practices and agro-enterprises. The Centre will provide job opportunities for educated youth and support all the objectives of the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative listed below. About Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic: Based in Dewathang, Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic is one of the constituent colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan, and offers diploma programmes and certificate courses in information technology, mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering. About the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative: The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative is a civil society organization which aims to improve the living standards in Samdrup Jongkhar and establish food security and self-sufficiency, while protecting and enhancing the natural environment, strengthening communities, stemming the rural-urban tide, and fostering a cooperative, productive, entrepreneurial, and self-reliant spirit.

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SJI solar engineer training for 6 Lauri Gewog village women at Barefoot College, Rajasthan

Report prepared by Cheku Dorji, Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative,

Dewathang

1. Introduction

The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative (SJI) is Bhutan’s first civil society based organization founded on the vision of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. This vision was publicly launched on 18th 19th and 20th December in the presence of His Excellency Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley, high Government officials and people of Samdrup Jongkhar at Choki Gyatso Institute for Buddhist studies in Dewathang. The SJI aims to improve the living standards of people in Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag and establish food security and self-sufficiency, while fully protecting and enhancing the natural environment, strengthening communities, stemming the rural-urban migration trend, and fostering a cooperative, productive, entrepreneurial, and self-reliant spirit. The four pillars of the SJI are:

• Organic farming • Appropriate technology • Zero waste and • Education Reforms

In collaboration with the well renowned Barefoot College in Rajesthan, India, the SJI has sent six women from the very remote Lauri Gewog in Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag for six months to be trained in solar lighting.

2. Objectives of the training

To solar electrify 500 households in remote villages in Lauri Gewog that currently cannot be reached by electricity.

To train six women solar engineers who will be able to install and

maintain the solar energy systems in their villages

Provide rain water harvesting systems for five schools in Lauri Gewog.

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Spread the benefits of solar electrification more widely within

S/Jongkhar It should be noted that it is most unusual in Bhutan for illiterate villagers, especially from remote villages, to be sent abroad for training ⎯ a privilege and opportunity that is normally reserved for civil servants. The Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative is breaking significant new ground, as it also did in sending ordinary farmers recently for three weeks of organic farming training in India, in having training programs for ordinary villagers like these six women from Lauri gewog.

3. Profiles of 6 women who were selected for Barefoot Solar

Engineer Training from Lauri Gewog

Dorji Pemo Jambay Yangzom Dorji Tshomo

Kinzang Choden Kelzang Lhadon Tshering Zangmo

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4. 10-11 March briefings

On 10th March 2011, six women from Lauri Gewog arrived at the SJI office in Dewathang around 7:00 PM. Their arrival coincided with the farewell dinner for SJI researchers and the women were asked about their views on the training and how they felt about being separated from their families and small children. On 11th March 2011, Dr. Tashi Colman briefed six of them about the training and when they heard they would not have a translator at Barefoot College, the women were quite worried. Moreover, they left behind little ones, which became a cause for concern for everyone. We sought advice from Mrs. Thinley from Tarayana Foundation who had experience in the past dealing with and escorting some women to Barefoot College through Tarayana Foundation. She confirmed “there is no problem without translator and everything will be okay with time.” We also consulted Ugyen Wangchuk at Chokyi Gyatso Institute, Dasho Neten Zangmo of the SJI Executive Committee and others about our concerns. All agreed that the Bhutanese rural extended family system in the villages would ensure that the women’s children would be well cared for and that the life-opportunities provided to these women would greatly benefit their children in the longer term and far exceed the costs of their leaving their children in the care of relatives. Everyone we consulted told us not to worry and this eased our considerable initial concerns. The women themselves expressed to us greater concern about translator and economic issues than about the issue of leaving their children with relatives. They were particularly concerned about not being able to work their fields for the coming six months, and that this might imperil their food supply and ability to feed their families for the next season. We checked this concern with Bunker Roy by telephone, who told us the women would get about $US 500 each after completion of the course. When we translated that to ngultrum and informed the women, they were quite satisfied on this score, and felt that this monetary compensation would certainly compensate them for lost production and enable them to feed their families for the succeeding season. On 12th March 2011, Linda Pannozzo, one of the SJI researchers, met with the six women solar engineers to discuss their views and concerns. They convinced Linda that they were feeling very insecure about

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traveling by themselves in an airplane. They had never even travelled outside their gewog and could only speak Tsangla Lo. They were not able to either understand or read English or Hindi and so were quite afraid of how they would manage in Guwahati and Delhi en route to Barefoot College. Kuenzang Choden from Momring village said “I have never seen a plane, just I heard and there is no way we can go by ourselves. My husband even told me to come back if there is nobody escorting us until our destination.” We discussed this issue and Linda Pannozzo followed up with a phone call to Dr. Tashi Colman and it was decided that ⎯ to ensure their psychological wellbeing and ease their very palpable expressed fears ⎯ they would be escorted to Delhi by Ms. Sonam Keba, Assistant lecturer at the Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic and SJI volunteer, who would personally pass them over to the Barefoot College representative at Delhi airport who would transport them the same day to Barefoot College. The women were very relieved at this assurance, and then seemed confident enough to go.

5. 13th - 17th March 2011 As per the schedule, the six women were supposed to leave on 15th March 2011 via Guwahati airport but unfortunately due to a strike in Assam they had to stay back till 17th March 2011, and Tashi Colman arranged for their air tickets to be re-booked for that day instead. On 17th March 2011, they started their journey from Dewathang- S/Jongkhar and to Guwahati with me, Cheku Dorji, and Ms. Sonam Keba. We reached Guwahati airport by 2 PM and the flight was scheduled to take off at 3:30 PM. After that, Sonam Keba took care of everything en route and in Delhi, and I returned to Dewathang. According to Ms. Sonam Keba, the women were really excited with everything new and were especially excited when the flight took off into the air. They reached Delhi airport around 6 PM and were received by Bunker Roy’s people who came from Barefoot College to greet them. On the same day they were taken to Barefoot College in Tilona and arrived at approximately 1am. All their expenses for transportation to and from their villages and fooding were borne by the SJI except for one week of accommodation in Dewathang, which was provided free of charge due to the kind generosity of Dasho Tashi Dorji, at his residence. The women’s return

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air tickets were paid by the Indian Embassy in Thimphu through arrangements with Bunker Roy’s Barefoot College.

6. Phone conversation with the six women Recently, I had a 35-minute telephone conversation with the 6 women solar engineers from Barefoot College and tried to picture what is happening there. It seems everything is fundamentally fine and okay. I had a conversation with each of the six women in turn, and I think right now the key adjustment they face is that they are not so familiar with the atmosphere there and are still getting used to their new surroundings. They reported that their training started from 21st March 2011. Kinzang Choden said “As per the trainer, the six of them from Bhutan are learning better than the other 16 women from other countries at Barefoot College.” Classes start at 9 am each day, and run until 5 pm including lunch break. They learn in a very practical way. Each of the women also received one mobile each, Rs 1000/- for their voucher so that they could call home, and each of them was given two pairs of clothing. Kelzang Lhadon said “Difficulty we are having is language problem but I think it will work out may be after one month.” Dorji Pemo said: “Training is good as far as I’m concerned.” Unfortunately, Dorji Tshomo got sick and was admitted to the hospital for a couple of days. Now she is better and feeling fine. They were all so excited to talk with someone from Bhutan in Tshangla-lo which they have missed for a long time. Jambay Yangzom said “Here the place is very remote and there is nothing to hang out nearby and we hardly see any shops also. I think this is very good but sometimes it is very hard to learn because we cannot read and write. We are hoping to learn as much as we can and we will implement the same thing in our villages.”

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7. After the completion of six months course from Barefoot College in Rajasthan, Tilona, India:

• The six Lauri women will be sent to Barli Development

Institute for Rural Women in Indore for 15 days training in solar drying techniques.

• They will be taken for a religious pilgrimage in Bodhgaya

• Upon return to Samdrup Jongkhar, they have to report to SJI office in Dewathang with training completion certificate

• They should certainly benefit the people of Samdrup Jongkhar as a whole, especially in presently non-electrified villages, other than those of Lauri Gewog alone.

• They have to be stationed in their local communities for a minimum of 5 years following the training in order to implement and maintain solar electrification and other specified projects.

Prepared By Cheku Dorji, SJI Staff, Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar