Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.
Home to 25 percent of the world’s hungry poor and with an agricultural sector that is heavily dependent on the Monsoon rains, India is precariously positioned on the frontlines of climate change. As the country continues to experience rapid economic growth, the negative effects of climate change, including erratic weather patterns and prolonged drought periods, are becoming more apparent.
With only 30 percent of the population living in urban areas, India is predominantly a rural country. Most of the rural population depend on farming for food and income and are especially vulnerable to climatic changes, yet there are limited discussions about global warming among the local communities.
But the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in partnership with the Hunger Project, is hoping to change that by creating a dialogue between farmers and policy makers. Faced with the challenge of contextualizing climate change and its relationship with food insecurity and water scarcity to the general public, the organizations turned to the industry that reaches out to millions of Indians: Bollywood.
Together, the organizations produced a film, starring an Indian soap-opera actor, to stimulate conversations about climate change and ways that ordinary citizens can take action to address environmental challenges. “Aarohan” or “A New Beginning” has already been shown to more than 400 villages in three states at workshops, where leaders, especially women leaders, watch the film and share personal stories about the impact climate change has on their lives.
Although the movie focuses on the severity of the current situation, the screening of the movie is meant to ignite enthusiasm among the viewers to make changes in their own communities. As a woman at one of the workshops said, “This is a global problem, but many of these challenges are in our hands, within our control. We can’t wait for others to solve it; we should do what we can with these problems.”
Through the powerful medium of film, EDF and the Hunger Project are helping communities in India become more informed about the risks global warming poses on their livelihoods. More importantly, they are helping communities realize that they have the power to address those risks using local knowledge and technology.
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