Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh MLA Toko Tatung presented the Keyi Panyor Mission Plan 2040 (KPMP 2040) at the inaugural Global Conscious Food Systems Summit in Paro, Bhutan, outlining a development approach centred on Indigenous knowledge, biodiversity, food systems and human well-being.

Tatung, who represents the 16-Yachuli Assembly constituency and Keyi Panyor district, was a panellist at the high-level session, “Rising to the Moment: Igniting Consciousness to Address the Polycrisis”.

The summit is being jointly hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan, the Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with participation from leaders, Indigenous representatives, scientists and development practitioners from 65 countries.

Tatung was the first legislator from Arunachal Pradesh to participate in the summit, according to the statement. The panel also featured former Irish President and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Mara Lisa Arizaga of the UN Human Rights Office, Chizuru Aoki of the Global Environment Facility and a video message from spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi.

The wider high-level segment included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.

At the summit, Tatung outlined KPMP 2040, a long-term district development framework covering 20 priority areas, including education, healthcare, agriculture and agroecology, biodiversity, forests and water, livelihoods, women and youth, culture, renewable energy, tourism, infrastructure and local institutions.

The plan was formally launched on August 15, 2026, and is intended to extend beyond annual government schemes and five-year political cycles.

Speaking as a member of the Nyishi community, Tatung emphasised the role of Indigenous knowledge in development.

“Wisdom comes from listening: to the people, and to the traditional ecological wisdom of Indigenous communities,” he said.

He said scientific and community knowledge should be brought together in development planning.

“Our scientists have knowledge. Our farmers also have knowledge. Our universities have knowledge. Our grandmothers also have knowledge. The future has to be built when these forms of knowledge sit at the same table,” Tatung said.

He also linked Indigenous ecological knowledge with food security and climate change, describing food systems as closely connected to soil, water, forests, biodiversity, nutrition, livelihoods and culture.

“When a flood enters a village, climate change is no longer an international negotiation. It is somebody’s field, somebody’s house, somebody’s livestock, somebody’s stored seed, somebody’s entire year of work,” he said.

A key component of the district’s development approach is “Biohappiness”, a concept associated with the vision of agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan. Keyi Panyor is being developed as India’s first “Bio-Happy District”, with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and other partners working on biodiversity conservation, nutrition, livelihoods and human well-being.

Tatung said conservation and community livelihoods should be pursued together.

“Conservation must also produce dignity. Agroecology must also produce livelihoods. Local food must also produce good nutrition. Forests must remain standing, but communities who protect those forests must also prosper,” he said.

He added that biodiversity should be protected with communities and contribute to their well-being.

KPMP 2040 is also being implemented through programmes in education, agriculture and ecology. Under the Comprehensive Action Plan for Education (CAPE), more than 90% of government-school teachers participated in district-wide cluster workshops, while work with Anganwadi workers has focused on early childhood education and nutrition.

In agriculture and ecology, Keyi Panyor is working with MSSRF and the Participatory Action Research Coalition of India (PARCI) on natural agriculture, agro-biodiversity conservation, ecological livelihoods and community-based planning.

Tatung said the long-term success of the mission plan would ultimately be measured by what future generations inherit.

Recalling a question from an elderly farmer — “What are you going to leave for our grandchildren?” — he said it remained central to the development vision.

“An MLA gets five years. A child born today may live for eighty or ninety years. A forest may take hundreds of years to become what it is. So why should our idea of development have a five-year horizon?” he said.

Tatung said the mission plan should not be identified with him personally but should remain a long-term development framework for Keyi Panyor.

“I may or may not be in politics in 2040. That is irrelevant. KPMP cannot belong to Toko Tatung. It has to belong to Keyi Panyor,” he added.