NTFPs: A Lifeline for Tribal Livelihoods
- Edible Products: This includes fruits, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, tubers, honey, and wild vegetables broadly known as forest foods. These products are a direct source of nutrition, contributing significantly to the food security of tribal households, especially during lean agricultural seasons. These foods are rich in vitamins, protein, fat, sugars, and minerals, making them vital for the daily nutrition and supplementary food sources of tribal communities. They also contribute significantly to their overall food and nutrition security
- Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Tribal communities possess a profound traditional knowledge of the herbal plants for treating ailments of both humans and animals. This also provides a source of their income through selling to the middlemen or in the local markets.
- Fibers and Weaving Materials: Products like bamboo, cane, and various grasses are used to create a variety of handicrafts, household items, and construction materials. The sale of these value-added products can be a significant source of revenue.
- Gums, Resins, and Dyes: These have commercial value and are used in industries such as food, adhesives, and pharmaceuticals. Natural dyes extracted from plants are also gaining popularity in the textile industry.
- Other Products: This category includes items like tendu leaves, sal leaves for making plates, and various oils and extracts used in soaps and other personal care products.
NTFP and tribal livelihood
The sustainable utilization of NTFPs provides several avenues for the economic and social development of tribal communities:
It is estimated that approximately 275 million rural people in India rely on NTFPs for subsistence and cash income (Pandey et al., 2016). Several studies pointed that nearly 70% of NTFPs are collected from the country’s tribal belt. They provide a vital source of either primary or supplementary income, acting as a crucial livelihood safety net (Areki and Cunningham, 2010; Babulo et al., 2009; Mahapatra et al., 2005; Marshall et al., 2006; Shackleton et al., 2008).
A study conducted by IBRAD in 1990 in Jamboni Range, West Bengal, revealed that nearly two-thirds of the household income of the tribal households was generated by NTFPs. This explicitly provides year-round livelihood support for these tribal communities.
- Lack of market access and fair pricing: Middlemen often exploit tribal collectors by offering low prices for their produce.
- Inadequate processing and storage facilities: This leads to post-harvest losses and reduces the potential for value addition.
- Over-harvesting and unsustainable practices: The increasing commercial demand for some NTFPs can lead to their depletion if not managed sustainably.
- Seasonal nature and informal short term focused market: NTFPs are seasonal and available for only a short period each year. They are mostly traded through informal marketing networks to intermediaries or small traders in villages or nearby markets. This combination of seasonality and an informal, short-term-focused market leads to the over-harvesting of targeted species, habitat loss, and biodiversity decline, all driven by market demand and a lack of regulation.
- Monopoly of traders in price fixing: People often face difficulties selling NTFPs at local markets due to the monopoly of traders in price fixing and a lack of market information.
- Lack of awareness and training: Many communities lack the necessary skills and knowledge for value addition and marketing.
Case Study of NTFP based Livelihood Development among Hill Kharia PVTGs
The first step was to conduct a situation analysis of the village, understanding the level of dependence of the PVTGs on these NTFPs and the root cause analysis to overcome the challenges.
The Hill Kharia people sell their NTFPs to individual middlemen who visit the village, collecting products from door to door. Due to a lack of bargaining power, villagers are forced to sell even high-value products like honey and arrowroot at low prices. The study also found that despite women being the primary collectors of NTFPs, they have no direct dealings with middlemen and lack a decision-making role in the marketing process.
Women in Bania Basa, regardless of age, collect a variety of NTFPs, including Palo (arrowroot), Kanga Root, Mallika Root, Kudchi Skin, Ramadantuni Root, Bheru, mushrooms, and Kasaphala. The income varies among women, as some may earn more from Palo while others earn more from Mallika Root or Kudchi skin.
Skilled women who can venture deep into the forest can earn around Rs 300 per visit, while older or less skilled women earn about Rs 100 per visit. On average, women dedicate about 170 days per year to NTFP collection, with an average earning of Rs 200 per visit, resulting in an average annual income of Rs 34,000.
- High Intermediary Margins: Middlemen and retailers take significant cuts of the profit, with margins of approximately 33% and 20% respectively. This inflates the final cost for consumers while leaving the tribal communities with low returns.
- Lack of Bargaining Power: Tribal communities have very little power to negotiate prices. They are often forced to sell their products at a low rate because nearby villages do the same, and there is no effective coordination among villages to collectively raise prices.
- Limited Awareness of Product Value: The communities themselves are often unaware of the true market value of their products. As a result, they do not push for higher prices or see the need to increase them.
- Tensions with Forest Officials: Due to a lack of clear demarcation between the buffer and core zones of the Reserve Forest, PVTGs sometimes enter prohibited core areas to collect NTFPs. This unintentional trespass creates conflict and tension with the forest department.
- Destructive Harvesting Practices: Certain harvesting methods are harmful to the ecosystem. For example, trees are cut for Palo cultivation, and deep cuts are made into immature trees to extract Jhuna or Kudchi skin. Additionally, women often dig out significant portions of mallika roots, which can cause the tree to fall. These practices are considered destructive and threaten biodiversity.
- Low Mobility and Aspirations Among Women: It was observed that women have very low mobility, with none having ever left the village or expressing a desire to travel, even for a vacation. They also do not aspire to take on leadership roles within the community.
Steps followed for forming and strengthening the community institutions following SAPTAPADI, seven sequential steps
To understand the specific challenges men and women face in collecting and marketing NTFPs, separate focus group discussions were held. These discussions helped to clarify the gender-specific contributions to this labour.
Additionally, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercises, such as resource mapping and seasonal calendars, were used to involve villagers directly in gathering and analysing relevant information.
During this process, villagers were also encouraged to calculate the long-term losses caused by destructive NTFP harvesting, and to compare these losses to the short-term gains of quick income. This analysis led the community to reach a consensus on the need for non-destructive harvesting practices.
To understand the specific challenges men and women face in collecting and marketing NTFPs, separate focus group discussions were held. These discussions helped to clarify the gender-specific contributions to this labour.
Additionally, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercises, such as resource mapping and seasonal calendars, were used to involve villagers directly in gathering and analysing relevant information.
During this process, villagers were also encouraged to calculate the long-term losses caused by destructive NTFP harvesting, and to compare these losses to the short-term gains of quick income. This analysis led the community to reach a consensus on the need for non-destructive harvesting practices.
Economic return from developing market linkages
The new marketing channel has had a significant positive impact on the income of the villagers:
- Honey: The price for honey has increased by Rs 100 per kg, from Rs 350 to Rs 450 per kg. This has led to an average annual income increase of Rs 10,000 per household involved in honey collection.
- Other NTFPs: The price for Palo has increased by Rs 100 per kg, from Rs 500 to Rs 600. This, along with a similar price increase for jhuna (resin), has resulted in an additional annual income of Rs 1,250 per household for 90% of the village’s households.
- NTFPs are not just a supplementary resource but a cornerstone of survival for tribal communities. The reliance is particularly high for landless or marginal landholders, making NTFP management a direct path to poverty alleviation and food security.
- That building community institutions and actively involving them in biodiversity conservation, identifying species with market potential, understanding the backward and forward linkages and market quality requirements are crucial for developing effective strategies to improve the NTFP value chain.
- A major learning is that collective action enabled the women to move from simply collecting products to actively participating in marketing decisions, a role they were previously excluded from. This proves that creating women -led institutions can be a key to shifting power dynamics.
- The case study also highlights that NTFP management cannot be separated from environmental conservation. By involving the community in a Trade off analysis about long-term losses versus short-term gains, the project fostered an understanding of the need for non-destructive harvesting. This demonstrates that sustainable livelihoods and environmental stewardship are mutually dependent.