tribal livelihoods in odisha, (biriguda village)
TRANSCRIPT
TRIBAL LIVELIHOODS
Objectives
To understand the traditional pattern of livelihood of tribal communities in the village
To find out the changing pattern of livelihoods and their coping mechanism
LOCATION
Located under Odiapentha gram panchayat in Laxmipur block of
Koraput district.
54 kms from Koraput and 373 kms from Bhubaneshwar.
Koraput district in Odisha Laxmipur block in Koraput district
Data Collection
Sources
PRA
Non-government institution
records
Semi-structured interview
Survey questionnaire
FGD
30 HH
Birigudavillage
10 HH
Pardiguda
10 HH
Birigudacolony
10 HH
Sampling
9
landless
s
Traditional Pattern of Livelihood
People totally dependent on forests for their livelihood
Traditional livelihood system was based on shifting cultivation and collection of edible forest produce
Shifting cultivation was widely practiced. It was done collectively by the villagers. Hunting was also prevalent.
When shifting cultivation began to decline, tribals took to settled agriculture mainly on the uplands
In social terms, the traditional livelihood system was based on customary rights of tribal communities over land and forests. People did not have any sort of legal documents for their land. They considered the entire village to be their land.
Changes came about during the 1970’s. The incident that marked the transition was when the Biriguda colony was established in 1976 from the Biriguda village. 45 villagers of the village got houses under the Integrated Tribal Housing Development scheme, along with 2 acres of land.
Shifting cultivation was still practiced though , but it gradually decreased in the coming decades with people moving to settled agriculture. It finally came to an end in the year 2005.
Reasons for decrease in shifting cultivation:
•Growth of population•Restricted government policies•Deforestation & land degradation•Availability of viable livelihood alternatives
Present situation
5 major livelihood patterns:
Farm ForestWageBusiness/
Service Migration
55%28%
7%5% 5%
Livelihood patterns
Farm based Wage based
Forest based Migration based
Business/ Service based
Source-Sample survey
Distribution of primary activities
S.N Primary
livelihoo
d
Farming Wage Forest Service/
Business
Migration
1
A
B
2
3
4
5
Secondar
y
Livelihood
Farming
Crop
Productio
n
Animal
Husbandr
y
Wage
Forest
Service/
Business
Migration
based
-
-
-
98
31
83
31
46.8
93
-
49
0
54
17.47
2
2
-
17
15
15.22
5
12.5
-
0
12.96
7.5
-
Distribution of secondary activities
Source-Sample survey
Vulnerability
A large number of families are landless, espicially in Biriguda colony where only 45
HHs out of total 106 HHs have “patta” land or legal documents for their land
Land acquisition by Aditya Birla group
23, 16%
95, 65%
13, 9%14, 10%
Vulnerability
Women HH
Landless
Old Men HH
Handicap
Source-NGO records
Landless
• Labourer• Sharecropper • Skill based work
like masonry, carpentry, driving, etc.
• Seasonal migration • Diversification • Goat rearing
Women HH
• Labourer• Small
business like selling bangles, dry fish,etc
• Goat rearing • Pension/
compensation
Old Man HH
• Pension • Lease their
land • Goat rearing
Coping strategies of the vulnerable
Reflections
Widespread poverty in terms of food , income as well as a deprivation of facilities.
Alcoholism eating into significant portion of income, reducing overall consumption of HH & impacting health
Encroachment of forest land
Education not given adequate importance
NTFP and tribal tourism can be good alternative sources of livelihood
Government presence has been minimal in terms of providing employment opportunities