Local Crop Diversity Fair in Jugu, Dolakha: A move towards normal life in the aftermath of devastating earthquake

Seed is the foundation of life and so is traditional knowledge of the farmers. Diversity Fair — a community based competitive event to display local seed diversity — is a well-established participatory tool employed in conservation and management of agricultural biodiversity in many countries. It has multiple functions such as i) to raise awareness about the value of local crops, ii) to assess and identify existing local crop diversity including rare and unique crops and varieties, iii) to locate prime areas and custodians of rare crops/varieties, iv) to enhance access of seeds and traditional knowledge, v) to motivate and capacitate community for collective actions in managing diversity, and vi) to bring multi-sectoral stakeholders together for wider sensitization about the value of local crops and  initiate community based collective actions on its conservation and utilization. In addition, community also celebrate diversity fair as a function to convey positive messages through folk songs and dramas at local level.