Impacts of Government Policies on Sustenance of Tribal ... - Samata

Major findings and discussion• Agriculture is a way <strong>of</strong> life for theadivasis. It is a yearlong activity inwhich the entire family participates,especially in villages like Nimmalpaduthat have access to abundant waterresources for cultivation. The immensediversity in food crops includes severalvarieties <strong>of</strong> paddy, millets, cereals,pulses, tubers and vegetables asmentioned by the interviewees. Avariety <strong>of</strong> crops also means a foodbasket that provides a higher level <strong>of</strong>nutrition. It is this diversity that hashelped the adivasis survive overgenerations and has ensured somedegree <strong>of</strong> food security for aconsiderable part <strong>of</strong> the year. It has alsomeant a limited dependence on cashincome that is not always ensured andthe open market that is subject t<strong>of</strong>luctuations and rising inflation.The problems faced by the families inthe study sites were primarily thedecreasing soil fertility, access to waterand organic manure. With poducultivation being discouraged andincreasing population pressure, the cyclefor shifting cultivation has reduced.Earlier cultivation was done for threeyears and stopped with new lands beingcleared. But today with the restrictionson podu cultivation the adivasis areforced to cultivate on the same piece <strong>of</strong>land year after year. This has affectedsoil fertility and lowered yields <strong>of</strong> cropson podu land. The hard work put intocultivation on podu lands is not paying<strong>of</strong>f for the tribal people nowadays. Soiland conservation works will help reduceerosion and improve yields. There isconsiderable scope for undertaking thisthrough the MGNREGA programmethat is currently not being accessed infull by the villagers.• C<strong>of</strong>fee cultivation in the tribal areas <strong>of</strong>Visakhapatnam district was initiated toimprove the incomes <strong>of</strong> the adivasis.But there are several areas <strong>of</strong> concernthat need to be addressed: Mere increase in cash income doesnot translate into better livingconditions for the adivasis. Theadivasis grow a variety <strong>of</strong> crops andvegetables on agricultural land anddepend on the forests for their food,medicinal, timber and fuelwoodneeds. This has ensured food securityand a certain level <strong>of</strong> nutrition.C<strong>of</strong>fee brings in cash, but this is nowspent on purchasing food from theshops and with inflation in foodprices—which stands at high 14.4percent at the time <strong>of</strong> writing thisreport—more money is spent onbuying less food. The daily diet isrestricted to rice, with no pulses andcereals and has severe long termimplications on nutrition, especiallyin the case <strong>of</strong> adivasi women. Theinput costs for c<strong>of</strong>fee cultivation werealso seen to be higher whencompared to that <strong>of</strong> agriculture, andan increase as a result <strong>of</strong> inflation orprice fluctuations will reduce cashincome being earned. At the sametime having moved away fromtraditional food crop cultivation theywill not be in a position to fall backon agriculture to meet at least theminimum consumption needs <strong>of</strong> thehousehold. It is important torecognise the value <strong>of</strong> the traditionalagricultural practices in an adivasislife, and provide support to them sothat they can improve yields on theirlands or in case <strong>of</strong> sale getter betterprices for their produce. C<strong>of</strong>fee cultivation is also dependenton external conditions, many <strong>of</strong>which are outside the control <strong>of</strong> anadivasi farmer. The production and52