By Nabaghan Ojha, Regional Centre for Development Cooperation, India

Non-Timber Forest Produces (NTFPs) are paramount to tribal livelihood that features predominantly in forest dwellers’ life in terms of subsistence and income generation. It has been found during the current years that NTFPs are the only saviour to socio-economic development. Now this sector is the spotlight of many environmentalists and researchers across the globe. Its contribution to the economy in most countries is significant and in India, it provides about 40 percent of total official forest revenues and 55 percent of forest-based employment. Nearly 500 million people living in and around forests in India rely on NTFPs as a critical component for their sustenance (World Resources Institute, 1990). Due to its great importance in terms of tribal livelihood, most of the policies of the government of India in forestry sector try to decentralise the powers kept with the states and as result most of the tribal dominated states bestowed the ownership rights of selected NTFPs with Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs).

Orissa has one of the largest tribal concentrations as compared to its neighbouring states, i.e. 22% of its population belongs to scheduled tribes. More than 6 million tribal people depend heavily on forest produces for their subsistence. In most of the forested areas of Orissa, forest produces have been supporting tribals for more than 6-8 months a year, both in terms of subsistence and cash benefit. For quite some time, the trade of NTFPs was monopolised mostly by private business houses who were granted long-term leases to procure specific forest produces from specific forest divisions. Such monopolies created problems of low payment to tribals, erratic and arbitrary procurement, and revenue loss to the state. Therefore, in order to streamline the system of collection and disposal of NTFPs, which are major source of livelihood of the rural poor, the State Government came out with a new policy guideline in 2000 following the decentralisation process.This gives ownership rights of 68 Minor Forest Produces (MFP) to the Gram Panchayat (village councils, the smallest unit of local self-governance). Five years have already passed but the policy has been unable to provide any significant benefit to the primary collectors of NTFPs. For most NTFPs, there is no structured trade route nor institutional set-up. Because of poor awareness and low returns from the sale of NTFPs, primary collectors are engaged in unsustainable harvesting practices that in turn affect the ecological health of the forest.

RCDC’s stake
For improved governance in the NTFP sector, RCDC intervened in the sector with the basic premise that forest dwellers are able to process and market their forest produces especially NTFPs in lieu of fair prices and ensuring their livelihood. Since then, RCDC has been involved in enriching the information base of different stakeholders on NTFP management and trade, enhancing the understanding of different stakeholders on NTFP management and trade, emphasising cooperative and collaborative action for addressing the issues in NTFP management and trade, working with market agencies and financial institutions to promote the enterprises and trade in NTFPs, establishing dialogue with different players for fair trade and favourable policy environment of NTFP, working towards identification of appropriate technology and its use in value addition of NTFPs, among others.
During the years, intervention has been focused on capacity building of primary collectors and their organisations for sustainable harvesting of NTFPs, value addition, negotiating skills etc., promotion of cooperatives among the self-help groups (SHGs) and federating them into an apex body to enter into market, promotion of district market promotion board/committees through involvement of district administration for monitoring the NTFP management and trade, market survey and market research for selected NTFPs, policy advocacy, etc. Efforts have always been made to empower the groups for sustainable management of NTFP resources both economically and ecologically.

Significant Outputs
The years of intervention in this sector has been able to identify important markets in the country as well as within the state and has established good rapport with important players in these markets for information on NTFP trade and market support. People in the project area are now aware of current price arrangements of different NTFP and accordingly they are now bargaining with local traders for a hike in the procurement price.

Selected SHGs are now able to meet the quality parameters set by different industries especially in Kalmegh, Harra, Bahada, Dhawai flower and nux vomica. A database on NTFP management and trade has been developed which is being used by different stakeholders. A website (www.banajata.org) full of information on management and trade of NTFP has been launched and is updated regularly. Small booklets in the regional language providing valuable information for different stakeholders on NTFP management, value addition and cultivation are being published and disseminated among the primary collectors and their organisations.

Cooperatives have been formed in different clusters and are directly involved in procurement, processing and marketing of NTFPs. In some districts, the district administration has agreed to constitute market promotion committee to deal with management and trade of NTFP. The tribal people are now able to process their produces at primary level and their bargaining power has been increased to some extent. Instead of selling raw produces, they have been able to sell value-added produces. The action has created opportunities for the primary collectors and their organisations to come together to share experiences and knowledge of market information, the value chain and barriers of trade, improved business practices, etc.

A move towards sustainable management of NTFPs
Recently strategies have been developed to create a good understanding among the primary collectors/producers of NTFP on the ecological health of forest. Focus is on sustainable management of both NTFP and forest. An inventory on NTFP and MAP is being prepared with due assessment of threats to the NTFP and medicinal species. Sustainable management protocols would be developed for some selected NTFP and the SHGs, cooperatives and the primary collectors in general would be trained on these protocols. Forest conservation would be initiated in the area with proper forest and NTFP management plans. Regular ecological studies/ assessments to assess the threats to forest would be undertaken.

More emphasis is now on enterprise development of important NTFPs. Efforts are being made to create a resource centre for providing business development services to primary cooperatives, forest protection committees, local NGOs, for promotion of enterprises. Regular dialogue would be continued with different agencies in the government and private sectors for setting of small enterprises on NTFPs.

Cooperatives are being trained for negotiation with financial institutions for setting up small-scale enterprises on selected NTFPs like honey, amla, tamarind, chironjee, etc. Their capacity would also be built so that they could negotiate with trading houses for better trade arrangement. They could also establish dialogue with different stakeholders for a better policy environment which include community based forest management, community based enterprise management of NTFP and also for a liberal policy framework in the context of NTFP.

Contact:
Regional Centre for Development Cooperation – Centre for Forestry and Governance
N-4/ 342 IRC Village, Bhubaneswar, Orissa 751015 India
Tel. 91.674.2552494
Email: rcdccfg AT sancharnet.in
URL: www.banjata.org

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