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The Lives of Others: Mother’s Earth in Odisha, India

The women of the community plant a variety of vegetables, supplying their family with an income and a diverse source of nutrition.

(Image: The Source Project)(Image: The Source Project)Also see: A Commons Sense

Also see: Adolfo and the Essence of Food Diversification

Also see: A Natural System and an Agricultural Philosophy

Also see: Not a Very Green Revolution

When we think of farmers, we tend to think of men, but the reality is that at least 50 percent of all the world’s food is produced by women. In one of the more remote areas of Odisha, in eastern India, live small communities of subsistence farmers, who, during the last few years have managed to return to a system of cooperative, zero-input agriculture. This was a system that was used by all agricultural communities not so long ago until the event of the “Green Revolution” that changed everything. Now, rather than surviving on an economically driven mono-crop system, the women of the community plant a variety of vegetables supplying them and their family with not only an income, but also a diverse source of nutrition.

This is the fifth film in the 9×9 film festival. These films have been made for one reason: to help people understand the reality of what’s really happening to the world’s food and farming systems, and why.

The Lives of Others: Mother’s Earth from The Source Project on Vimeo.

The Source Project was set up to work in a more holistic way within the development media as business interests transform the development sector into a business driven model. By changing the way we live and operate, we are able to use our limited funds to help subsidize films that we feel need to be made. We have created a short film format that can be easily watched and shared on various social media platforms. We feel that this way we are able to not only help counter an imbalance and misinformation within development media, but also stimulate consciousness on issues that otherwise would pass unnoticed. At the heart of The Source Project is agriculture, a system not only of food production, but also one that maintains our ecosystem, our cultures, our health and the very survival of humanity.

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