Vandana Shiva has devoted her life to issues like women’s empowerment, the environment, anti-globalization, and making our food chemical-free. She has written more than 20 books and is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization. Vandana Shiva is also referred to as ‘Gandhi Of Grain’ because of her work for activism associated with anti-GMO(Genetically modified food). Vandana Shiva is a global face that has millions of followers and she stands for the traditional use of agriculture practices and the elimination of the global chemical food companies. Vandana Shiva was born in a farmer’s family and was always worried about climate change so she took the step to do her bit for the benefit of mother earth, this is the story of Vandana Shiva.
The Environment Loving Family
Vandana Shiva was born in a farmer’s family. Her father was a conservator of forests and her mother was a farmer and a nature lover. From the very beginning, she was taught environmental protection and conservation by her family. She did her schooling at St. Mary’s Convent High School, Nainital and Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun. After completing high school she took physics as her major and did her bachelor’s in science from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Then after working for a very little time at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, she moved to Canada to pursue her master’s degree in philosophy of science from the University of Guelph in 1977.
She completed and received her Ph.D. in Philosophy(focusing on physics) from the University of Western Ontario. Later she went for interdisciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.
Birth Of Navdanya
Vandana Shiva has been around the world supporting organic agriculture and women empowerment. She wrote and spoke extensively in the fields of food and agriculture. She has brought the change in many countries with her campaigns and activism. Shiva has assisted grassroots organizations of the Green movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria with opposition to advances in agricultural development via genetic engineering.
Vandana Shiva has authored more than 20 books. Her writings include Staying Alive, The Violence of the Green Revolution, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Monocultures of the Mind, Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit, and Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, as well as over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. In 2003, Time magazine identified Shiva as an “environmental hero,” and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators of Asia.
All of this led to the birth of Navdanya, a national movement based on the protection of native seeds and the promotion of organic farming. Navdanya means ‘nine seeds’ or ‘new gift’, an initiative to educate farmers about the benefits of maintaining diverse and individualized crops rather than accepting offers from monoculture food producers. The initiative established over 40 seed banks across India to provide regional opportunities for diverse agriculture. She had also made a movie on the whole campaign.
Fighting For Women Empowerment
Vandana Shiva has been a centric figure when it comes to women empowerment. She has played a major role in the global ecofeminist movement. She believes that more sustainable and productive agriculture practices can be adopted if agriculture is more centered on women. She advocates against the prevalent “patriarchal logic of exclusion,” Vandana Shiva claims that a woman-focused system would be a great improvement. She believes that ecological destruction and industrial catastrophes threaten daily life, and the maintenance of these problems has become women’s responsibility.
Vandana Shiva is a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of numerous books, but besides this, she is also a tireless defender of the environment. She is the founder of Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers’ rights. Shiva is also the founder and director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy. She fights for changes in the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food.
Mad4India gives our best wishes to Vandana Shiva for all her campaigns and her fight for the right agriculture practices, women empowerment, and climate change. We also urge our readers to move toward better environmental habits and support sustainable goals.
Sources – Wikipedia, Humansandnature
To know more about Vandana Shiva, visit her Instagram, Wikipedia, Navdanya
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