ANNOUNCEMENTS
A large portion of tribes are dependent on forest resources for their livelihoods. For many of them, not only do the resources provide economic sustenance, but the forest is a way of life socially and culturally. Among the forest resources, MFPs provide major livelihood opportunities for tribal communities. The paper is a study on the tribal communities who depend upon trading forest-based products. The MFP-led tribal livelihood through the PMVDY scheme is an initiative by the Government of India for promoting indigenous communities of the country. The study understands the gaps in the implementation of PMVDY and assesses the MFPs in pockets of Rayagada and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. The research study focuses on understanding the traditional knowledge and forest-livelihood-MFP marketing linkages and interprets recommendations for the operationalization of VDVKCs (Business development plans) under the PMVDY scheme.
The result of the study indicates that, according to the scale of MFP collection at rural tribal households, there exists good potential for large scale value addition and market linkage. The main problems faced by the tribal communities include poor awareness of VDVKC guidelines and lack of training in value addition. In order to overcome these problems, efficient distribution of existing benefits through proper institutional mechanisms is needed. Besides, value addition and processing activities in VDVKCs have to be encouraged through training and skill development.
If MFP and market-led allied activities are strengthened at VDVKCs, tribes can become prosperous in their own habitat. The study contends the long-term sustainability of tribal livelihood activity based on three important parameters: (i) the efficacy tier; thus, the activity must be economically feasible in ensuring long-term viability of MFPs, (ii) asset assembly; thus, the investment operations must be optimal, (iii) vulnerability; the intervention must be resilient to both internal and external shocks.
Key words: Tribal development; MFP based economy; Capacity building; Employment, Marketization and sustainable livelihoods.
