Policy Brief: Convergence of CFRR with NTFP-based livelihoods
Submitted to Bastar Administration
Under project on Training, Capacity Building and Support for Decision-Making for CFRR Recognition & Management in Bastar District
NTFP gatherers in India, chiefly forest-dependent people numbering around 100 million, have historically been price-takers in the NTFP trade (MoEF and MoTA 2010). An overwhelming majority of forest-dwellers belong to Adivasi or Scheduled Tribe communities. They have remained highly vulnerable to exploitation by lower-rung officials as well as private traders doubling up as moneylenders on account of a lack of literacy and poor knowledge of forest laws. As a result, the last five decades have been witness to multiple state-led initiatives to address Adivasi exploitation in the NTFP trade.
In this study we evaluate the impact of recent state interventions promoting NTFP-based livelihoods in the wider context of diverse Adivasi livelihoods and the larger NTFP trade that is dominated by private traders, and identify roles that CFR Gram Sabhas can play to improve NTFP-based livelihoods.