Development of Non-TimberForest Product Species for providing Sustainable Livelihood in India

N.G. Hegde

International Workshop on Global Partnership on Non-Timber Forest Products for Livelihood Development organised by International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Morocco. December 1-3, 2005.

Importance of NTFP

With the increasing population growth, the forest resources throughout the developing countries in the tropics are under severe pressure. The situation in India is even more serious as with only 2% of the world’s forests, the country has to serve about 15% of the world population. While about 45% of the energy in the Third World is met from wood, over 85% of the rural energy in India is met from biomass and about 50% of it is collected from forests. Apart from 200 million tons fuelwood and 45-60 million m3 timber, forests in India provide about 50-60 million tons of forage and a wide range of food, oilseeds, medicinal herbs and aromatics every year.

Historically, forests have been providing substantial support to rural economy. Forests provide year round employment to 20 million people. For over 50-60 million people representing over 250 tribal communities, forests form a part of the culture and natural way of life. With fast depletion of the forest resources, the livelihood of the rural poor and the tribal families living in and around the forests is further threatened, while creating an ecological imbalance and loss of bio-diversity.

In India, out of the total land area of 329 million ha, only 77 million ha are classified as forests. This represents only 22% of the total geographic area as against the recommended forest coverage of 33%. However, the actual green cover is confined to only 12% of the geographic area. Due to such reduction in the forest cover, there has been severe scarcity of fodder, fuelwood and water and destruction of flora and fauna.

A large number of plant species are under severe threat, facing extinction. With drastic reduction in the income from minor forest produce, unemployed local people are indulging in illicit felling of trees to sustain their livelihood. Therefore, promotion of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) species, through productivity improvement and value addition is necessary to reverse this trend and to sustain the livelihood of the rural families, who have been dependent on NTFP since ages.

Types of NTFP

The NTFP of economic importance in India can be grouped into the following categories.

  1. NTFP for Food Security: Honey, mushroom, edible fruits and nuts, foliage and rhizomes
  1. NTFP for Wood and Biomass: Useful for fuel, furniture, thatching, forage and manure
  2. NTFP for Medicines and Plant Protection: For human beings, animals and for control of pests and diseases in agricultural crops
  1. NTFP for Aromatics, Dyes and Oilseeds: For medicinal and industrial uses

Among the above categories of NTFP, collection of food, fuelwood, fodder and other types of biomass in categories 1 and 2 are crucial, as these are the basic needs for survival of the local communities. The tribal communities living on the edge of the forests have developed a unique system to make sustainable use of food and biomass for their survival. In the absence of assured supply of these NTFP, particularly food products, tribals migrate to urban and semi-urban areas to meet their basic needs. Inspite of such a critical demand for these products, no serious efforts are being made to enhance the productivity of these NTFP and ease the supply of these commodities for local communities. Furthermore, inspite of severe shortage of NTFP, most of the local communities are reluctant to procure commodities such as fuelwood, charcoal and forage from alternate sources, due to poor buying power and chronic poverty.

With regard to the other two categories of NTFP such as medicinal herbs, aromatics, dyes and oilseeds, there has been a good demand for many commodities, not only in India but from all over the world. Systematic collection, value addition and marketing can help in enhancing the cash income of the local population and promoting international trade. However, there is a significant gap between the demand and supply situation. Generally, the demand for these products has been fluctuating due to the availability of alternatives, which are cheaper, although inferior in quality. As the NTFP collectors are located in remote areas, a large number of middlemen are involved in taking the products to processors and consumers. In such a situation, the NTFP collectors neither receive correct information about the product demand and uses nor do they get a fair price to even cover their labour charges for the collection of the products. These problems should be taken into consideration while developing a strategy for promotion of NTFP for providing sustainable livelihood to the local communities.

Problems of Promoting NTFP for Livelihood

Inspite of huge forest resources and abundant production of NTFP, most of these products are not optimally utilised by the local communities. In case of non-edible oilseeds such as Neem, hardly 20% of the total production is collected and utilised while the remaining quantity is wasted. With regard to aromatics, dyes and medicinal plants, there has been total neglect about their utilisation in general, barring a few species, which have been over exploited. It is therefore necessary to understand the problems of NTFP and develop a strategy to optimise their collection and utilisation.

Major factors affecting the collection and optimum utilisation of NTFP are listed below:

  1. Unfavourable Government policies;
  2. Lack of awareness and techniques about harvesting, storage, processing and marketing;
  3. Wide gap between the NTFP collectors and users due to physical distance and unfair trade practices by several tiers of middlemen;
  4. Uncertain demand and competition from alternative synthetic products;
  5. Lack of awareness among the public about the advantages of using NTFP.

Role of BAIF in Promotion of NTFP

BAIF Development Research Foundation is a Voluntary Organisation engaged in providing sustainable livelihood for the rural poor including the tribals. Most of these tribals living in and around the forests have been dependent on collection of NTFP. With the depletion of these resources, they are involved in shifting cultivation on the periphery of the forests to ensure food security. However, in the absence of scientific agricultural practices and inadequate supply of critical inputs, agriculture has been contributing to soil erosion and further deforestation instead of providing sustainable livelihood.

The important NTFP collected by the tribals in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are presented in Table 1. The products like Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia chebula and Emblica officinalis are available in plenty and they have good demand in the local market. Nevertheless, the tribals are finding it very difficult to collect the available NTFP due to poor price realisation and hurdles faced by them due to adverse Government policies. Furthermore, the collection of these products alone will not be able to provide them sustainable livelihood. Realising the above problems, BAIF has initiated the promotion of NTFP in selected locations in Maharashtra (Thane, Nandurbar and Nashik districts) and Gujarat (Valsad and Navsari districts) in India. These districts located in the Western Ghat hill ranges are dominated by different types of tribals. As in other parts of the country, these tribals who were mainly dependent on NTFP for their livelihood, have also been deprived of their income due to denuding forest resources and poor price realisation for NTFP. In the absence of alternative sources of livelihood, BAIF has promoted the establishment of agri-horti-forestry on the degraded lands owned by these tribals, while arranging the collection of locally available NTFP as a supplementary activity.

Table 1: NTFP Collection Promoted by BAIF

NTFP / Maharashtra / Gujarat / Madhya Pradesh / Karnataka
Medicinal / T.bellerica, T.chebula, Emblica officinalis
Oilseeds / Madhuca indica / Madhuca indica / Azadirachta indica, Derris indica, Madhuca latifolia
Food / Buchanania lanzan, Carissa carandus, Madhuca indica / Madhuca indica, honey / Tamarindus indica, Madhuca indica, honey
Gum, Wax and Resins / Boswellia serrata, Anogeissus latifolia, Acacia catechu / Acacia sp. / Garcinia morella
Tans and Dyes / Acacia sp. bark, Terminalia nut / Acacia sp.
Bamboo / Bambusa sp., Dendrocalamus sp., Ochlandra sp. / Dendrocalamus, Ochlandra sp. / Dendrocalamus, Ochlandra sp.
Others / Butea monosperma / Butea sp. / Butea sp. / Butea sp.

The major component of BAIF’s agri-horti-forestry programme is the establishment of drought tolerant fruit species such as mango, cashew, custard apple, tamarinda, emblica, etc. on 0.4 ha land. While nurturing the fruit trees till fruit bearing stage, the tribal families are encouraged to cultivate foodgrains and vegetable crops in the interspace to ensure food security. The field borders and bunds are used for growing different types of shrubs and trees having multiple uses.

This strategy has not only helped them to earn their livelihood but also to conserve the natural forests, which in turn has enhanced the production of NTFP in the neighbouring forests. To enhance the income further through NTFP, BAIF has been organising training for farmers to adopt proper harvesting and collection techniques, improve the shelf life through proper drying and storage practices and establish direct linkage with the users to enhance price realization.

To improve the productivity of NTFP, BAIF proposes to take up the following studies on a pilot scale.

Proposal for Enhancing the Income Through NTFP

  1. Objectives: The general objective of the proposal is to enhance the income of the local tribal communities who are dependent on the collection of NTFP, through productivity improvement and higher price realisation.

The specific objectives are:

  1. Evaluation of the germplasm available in different parts of the district and select superior accessions for wider replication;
  2. Development of good harvesting techniques to enhance the quality of NTFP and reduce cost of collection and harvesting;
  3. Develop techniques to increase the shelf life of different NTFP;
  4. Documentation and revalidation of traditional knowledge on usage of NTFP, particularly for medicinal purposes.
  1. Location of the Study: Jawhar and Mokhada blocks in Thane district of Maharashtra and Dharampur and Vansda blocks in Navsari district of Gujarat.
  1. Species to be covered under the study: Terminalia chebula, Terminalia Bellerica, Citronella and Palmarosa.
  1. Duration of the study: 2-3 years

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