Ramakant Jaiswal and Tiharu Birhor
In July and August 2020 3700 saplings were distributed among 200 Birhor households across 10 villages of Pali and Podi Blocks, Korba District, Chhattisgarh. Bamboo is integral to the lives of the Birhor. They make a variety of baskets and other bamboo handicrafts which they sell in local markets and to traders which constitutes their primary livelihood source. However, with increased deforestation and degradation of forests it has been getting increasingly difficult to procure bamboo from the with and the Birhor people are increasingly purchasing bamboo from farmers and landowners or procuring the bamboo in return for labour or bamboo products. This increases their costs and reduces the returns from bamboo handicrafts. In an effort to enable Birhor households to grow their own bamboo stocks 1000 bamboo saplings were distributed to Birhor households across project villages.
In addition to bamboo, saplings of a variety of uncultivated food trees and plants were also distributed and these included Imli, koilar, neem, jamun, amla, char, tendu, bhelwa and kusum. Saplings of horticultural tree species like neembu, munga, papita and aam were also distributed. The distribution and planting of saplings of a variety of uncultivated and horticultural species is aimed at promoting future strengthening and revival of dietary diversity by ensuring availability of a rich diversity of nutritious, healthy uncultivated and cultivated foods thereby contributing to the health and nutritional security of the Birhor people.
With increased food scarcity and reduction in diversity of diets and nutrition intake in the face of climate change and disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic such efforts aim to increase the self sufficiency of the Birhor with regards to the production and collection of a diversity of foods.
