The Indian state of Sikkim is the first to be certified 100% organic and is now ready to export its model to the rest of the world. Its delegation has explained to us how.
A journey that begins in a small Himalayan state, Sikkim, and ends in Rome at the FAO, by way of the Italian Parliament. A journey that promises to continue for a long time to come, because the message is a powerful one — and one capable of contradicting the mantra of the agri-food industry, which over the years has enriched itself at the expense of the environment, small and medium-sized local producers, and citizens' health: converting conventional production to organic is not only possible, but necessary, and is even more profitable for local economies.
No more theories and proclamations, then, but a concrete, certified experience that the Sikkim delegation, led by Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling, intends to export to the rest of the world. As members of the government delegation explain to us, what is at stake is not merely the fortunes of one Indian state, but the fate of the entire planet. Sikkim's message is clear: the alternative is possible, but what is needed is a genuine political will to set aside vested interests and return to serving those of citizens, farmers and our planet.
The Sikkim delegation's journey to Europe begins in Dehradun, a town in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, known worldwide for hosting the organic farm and Earth University of Navdanya, the organisation founded by Vandana Shiva that actively contributed to Sikkim's organic transition.
The International Biodiversity Congress marks a key milestone at which the Chief Minister announces, together with Vandana Shiva, the project for a 100 per cent organic and biodiverse Himalaya, and the intention to export to the rest of the world what can now be defined as the Sikkim model. "There is no time to waste," the Chief Minister explains, "all governments must take responsibility and set themselves the goal of a fully organic world by 2050." An ambitious but realistic target, as demonstrated by Sikkim's experience: exactly twenty-five years ago, the state began its political journey towards a model free of harmful substances and respectful of biodiversity.
But who are the architects of the Sikkim model, and what path was taken to achieve the 100 per cent organic result? We asked Prem Das Rai, a member of the Sikkim Parliament and Indian scientist: "To understand the success of the Sikkim model, we must start from the fact that our party, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), has led the country for nearly twenty-five years. This is an important point, because conversion to organic is not a policy that can be implemented in the short term — it requires a great deal of time. Our political project began in 1994, and we saw the first concrete results only in 2003, when the Chief Minister had a resolution passed to make Sikkim a 100 per cent organic state. At that point we moved to the next stage: certification, a process that took a further ten years. Sikkim today has the best human development indices in India, and it is this figure in particular that demonstrates the success of this journey."
A journey that appears to be yielding positive results on every front — including the economic one, given that farms practising organic and biodiverse agriculture are 20 per cent more productive than farms based on monocultures using chemical products. The formula behind this success is explained to us by Khorlo Buthia, Secretary of Sikkim's Department of Agriculture: "It is no longer a secret that chemical products in our food are harmful to our health, so it is natural that consumer demand is increasingly oriented towards organic, allowing farmers to benefit from the conversion." People must, however, be informed in order to make their own choices. In the state of Sikkim, where the school system is free from nursery through to university, information becomes education. "As early as primary school," Buthia continues, "in the fourth and fifth years, we have introduced modules on organic agriculture to explain its purpose, the certification process, within the broader framework of human development."
Research, theory, planning, results — all underpinned by an unwavering political will. A simple recipe that has brought Sikkim to the top of the Future Policy Award, the prize dedicated to the best global policies for agroecology, organised by the FAO together with the World Future Council and Ifoam Organics International. An experience that has by now become a model and is attracting the attention of the entire world, including Italy, where the Sikkim delegation met with the press and members of parliament.
Read also: Intensive agriculture is not feeding the world — it must make way for agroecology
The world is looking to Sikkim with interest, but can its model actually be exported? "Sikkim," replies the state's Agriculture Minister, Poudyal Somnath, "demonstrates that it is possible to improve the health of the soil and of people, to make agriculture a source of support for farmers, and that pesticides and chemical fertilisers are not necessary. Our model is absolutely replicable, and so I call on the international community to commit to the transition to organic."
