Landscape Label

When small millets or another product of the Kanha landscape reaches a market, it arrives without a story. The land it was grown on, the community that grew it, the ecological relationships it embodies — none of this is visible to the person who buys it.

The Landscape Label working group is exploring what it would take to change that.

The idea emerged from conversations at the heart of the A&L program — about who benefits when traditional crops enter wider markets, and about whether the story behind a product can be made visible. It was the subject of participatory sessions at the Fifth Agrobiodiversity Roundtable in January 2026, where participants co-created early ideas about what a label should mean, who should govern it, and what principles should guide it.

This is not a certification project. It is not a branding exercise. It is a deeper question: what would it mean to recognise something as genuinely of this place — in a way that is trustworthy, inclusive, and community-led?
 

What It Could Help Recognise

• Produce that is genuinely from this landscape — grown in the villages around Kanha, not imported and relabelled

• Practices that are ecologically responsible — not degrading soil, water, or forest

• Knowledge that is community-held — reflecting local wisdom about seeds, soil, seasons, and stewardship

• A governance structure that is community-led — where communities hold real authority over who uses the label and how

Co-created Principles
 

[VERIFY: The five guiding principles developed at the Fifth Roundtable to be confirmed with the program team and inserted here, in participants' own language as closely as possible.]
 

Current Status

The working group continues to develop the concept. The next steps belong to the communities and stakeholders whose produce and livelihoods it would represent. NCCI's role is to facilitate and support, not to lead.