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India: Tribal
Women Discover the Goodness of Forest Foods
By Sarada Lahangir : Jun/08/2014 07:38:PM
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Ruke Pushika, 55, 55, a tribal woman
from Rayagada district in Odisha, goes out every day into the forest near
her home in Bisam Cuttack block to gather fresh greens, fruits and tubers
for her daughter, Tule, who is pregnant.
For a landless widow like Ruke, these ‘uncultivated foods’ are a real
godsend – they cost her nothing and yet she knows she is providing the
right nutrition not just to her daughter but to other members of her
family as well. Both Ruke and Tule are well aware of the nutrients they
derive from the forest produce they now consume regularly. Says she, “Not
only am I giving the leaves, fruits and millets I collect from the forest
to my daughter, I make sure that I tell other pregnant women to eat well
too in order to give birth to healthy babies. Earlier, we used to eat
forest produce only during droughts. But I have come to realise that they
are the one ready and free source of nutrition for poor people like us.”
Traditionally, tribals in southern and western Odisha have relied on
rain-fed agriculture and the forest to meet their livelihood and food
needs. Yet, as a practice, they only go into the forest when crops fail –
which is not unusual considering that land holdings are tiny, water is
scarce, and the quality of soil in this tough hilly terrain is poor – or
when the local government run Public Distribution System fails to provide
regular supplies. Such sustained food insecurity has led to rampant
malnutrition and starvation deaths are known to occur here.
Hunger is a
burning issue in Rayagada, a district with a tribal population of 57 per
cent. So, when Living Farms, a Bhubaneswar-based non-governmental agency,
started working there – presently it is implementing the Fight Hunger
First Initiative (FHFI) project funded by Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (WHH)
of Germany – it was confronted with a puzzling question. When people had
access to the forest, a ready source of foods that included fish and
birds, why were the women and children, in particular, on the verge of
starvation?
To gain a deeper insight into the health indicators and lifestyle
patterns prevalent, they conducted an exhaustive survey of 52 villages in
Bisam Cuttack and Muniguda blocks in 2011. The findings were
demoralising. Within a time frame of 12 months, 23 children below one
year had died out of 171 live births reported. This roughly amounted to
131 deaths per 1000 live births, higher than the district Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR) of 83/1000 live births and the state IMR of 69.
Twelve per cent of the sampled 693 children below five years were
severely wasted; 75 per cent were stunted and, of those, 55 per cent were
severely stunted. It was also revealed that the cycle of malnourishment
started with the mother. Of the 138 pregnant women surveyed, 13.8 per
cent were malnourished with a Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) of less
than 21 cm and it was these women who had a higher chance of giving birth
to low birth-weight babies. Furthermore, 53 per cent of the mothers of
children below two years were in the category of ‘under nutrition’ with a
Body Mass Index of less than 18.5. It should be between 18.5 and 20.5.
“This study indicated high levels of malnutrition. When we sought the
reasons behind it, we discovered that their daily meals mostly consisted
of rice, dal, milk and oil. Green vegetables, meat, eggs and fruits were
a part of their weekly or monthly diet – and only when they couldn’t
afford grains. So, we decided to look into the significance of
uncultivated foods in ensuring nutritional security for these families,”
explains Debjit Sarangi, Founder and Director of Living Farms.
The first step was making a proper list of the forest foods and their
nutritional values. Sarangi says, “With the help of trained
nutritionists, 66 uncultivated foods (UCFs) were identified. Most of them
were rich in a variety of nutrients, including folic acid, iron, calcium,
vitamins C B and A, and beta carotene.” Meanwhile, in villages across
Bisam Cuttack block, activists went about gathering information on the
seasonal dietary diversity of the tribals. Detailed discussions with the
community revealed that UCFs constituted approximately 37 per cent, 29
per cent and 45 per cent of their total food basket during summer,
monsoon and winter, respectively. In fact, they named more than 60
different varieties of fruit (mango, wild cashew, black berry, jackfruit,
kendu, date palm and mahua, among others), 40 kinds of leafy vegetables
(barada saag, gandiri saag, chakunda saag, curry leaves, colocasia leaves
and drumstick leaves, to name a few), 10 kinds of oil seeds, 30 kinds of
mushrooms, roots and tubers, and 20 varieties of fish, crab, insects and
birds that they could collect and consume directly from the forest.
Since UCFs were a rich source of nutrition, spreading awareness about
their value was going to be the key. Nandika Singh, nutritionist from VSS
Medical College, Burla, elaborates on the goodness of forest foods, “The
edible wild leaves are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, protein
as well as micronutrients like calcium and iron, which are commonly
deficient in the diets of vulnerable communities. Similarly, forest
fruits are good sources of minerals and vitamins and sometimes contribute
significant quantities of calories. In this poverty-stricken district, it
became clear that uncultivated foods can play a vital role in improving
the nutritional status of the population.”
Today, women like Ruke, Tule, Nidra and Hiramani have discovered a
universe of nutrition that exists in the forests that surround them. Over
time, many more should be following in their footsteps. (© Women’s
Feature Service)
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