Field Trip – Attapitiya, Mawanella| Nyéléni Global Forum 2025

On 12th September 2025, a group of participants of the Third Nyéléni Global Forum visited the Attapitiya Community Development Centre in Aranayaka, Mawanella.

The visit highlighted how grassroots communities are reshaping their relationship with food, land, and biodiversity while strengthening economic independence.

A key discussion focused on the Centre’s efforts to document traditional knowledge from elders in the community, particularly about yam varieties and their medicinal values. Over the past 29 years, the Centre has successfully preserved and cultivated this knowledge, ensuring its transmission to younger generations.

Participants also observed how the Centre has rescued and conserved 60 indigenous varieties of roots and tubers that were at risk of disappearing. They experienced harvesting several yam varieties in the field and learned about their unique nutritional and medicinal benefits.