Degradation of tribal forest-ecosystem and food insecurity among Kutia Kondh tribe of Odisha - a major concern in the 21st century

Mohapatra, S. P.

Degradation of tribal forest-ecosystem and food insecurity among Kutia Kondh tribe of Odisha - a major concern in the 21st century

XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 11p.

Author Mohapatra, S. P.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Article

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Tribal People look after their forest in such a way no one can’t as they depend solely on forest for their livelihood, also they worship their forest as God. One such tribe called Kutia Kondha of Odisha (specially located in Kalahandi & Bolangir districts) protect the forest since ages and due to their indigenous agricultural practice(Podu cultivation) they are able to grow nutritious grains and other food. Their practice helps to conserve the agro ecosystem as well as forest ecosystem, but due to intervention of Government and other agencies they fear their forest will no longer sustain and their livelihood is in stake so also their food security because of massive Teak plantation programme. When the whole World is focusing on Food security measures, at this juncture the tribal forest ecosystem on which the tribal people depends for the NTFP for their sustenance is being destroyed in the name of “Development” which is the dark side of Sustainability campaign. Scientifically, due to such programme the nutritious grains like Millets which are majorly grown by tribal can’t be grown henceforth which is the major concern as they are now start eating poisonous food i.e the underground portion of certain wild plants. This causes severe health hazards to these tribal people. In a survey it is found that about 78% of tribal population is suffering from hunger related complications and about 82% children are suffering from various food poison and other unknown diseases which sometimes lead to premature death. Also about 92% of tribal population (forest dwellers) has now changed their food habit due to non availability of land for their indigenous cultivation practices which is another factor for their food insecurity. In conclusion the coordination of 3 “E” is important as lack of proper education and less access to ecology will lead to a degraded economy. Keywords: Climate change, Food systems Deforestation and forest degradation, Human health and wellbeing, Sustainable forest management ID: 3654134

Language English

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