It’s been a very hard time for the women who are down with unemployment and a minimum income for their families, especially during this very challenging time of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak people in the project villages are finding it difficult to manage their livelihood options to support the family. To break the fetters of poverty and stand on their own feet economically, 10 women farmers of Panchun village in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh started the alternative means of income by selling wild edibles.

In July and August 2020, Seva Kendra Arunachal East (SKAE) organized various meetings in the targeted village under FARM Northeast III funded by Misereor, Germany. The meeting included awareness generation on sustainable exploitation of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) that also included wild edibles.

The community was assisted to identify various wild edibles growing in their areas. During our interactions with the community, we tried to encourage them to conserve the NTFPs while reaping the benefits, said Mintu Mosahari, Team Leader, SKAE.

Having attended the meetings organized by SKAE in July 2020, the women group started practising the process and collecting the wild edibles from the nearby forests. The meetings have been extremely valuable for us as it gave us a very good start towards earning, said Ms. Komkhap Maitai, one of the members in the group. Initially, they started with wild edibles products like Dhekia shak (Diplazium Sp.), bamboo shoot, fermented bamboo shoot, Teeta patta (Clerodendrum Sp.) etc. available within their village and enhanced their income up to 2,000 to 3,000 per month at a time. Encouraged by the initial earnings, the women group started collecting more wild edibles forest products like Kolphul (Musa Sp.), canes, mushrooms and Mejenga (Zanthoxylum Sp.) etc. enhanced more income to support the family and their needs. It was never an easy task for the women but with their dedication and determination to work hard made things easier and are now earning the income of Rs. 5,000/- to 6,000/- per month. With their knowledge and success, the group is today mobilizing and encouraging the other women in their community by giving them the choice to practice their model as a source of viable livelihood.

It was indeed very hard work for the womenfolk to carry out this task but our interest and determination to support our family made it happen this very difficult task easier said Ms. Sumna Maitai, member of the group.

SKAE plans to replicate such models in other targeted villages under FARM Northeast III. SKAE also plans to emphasize on conservation of wild edibles in their backyard kitchen garden to label the products with other vegetables and upgrade their production facility by increasing their products and intend to expand the range of products and also intend to strengthen the market by building good relationship existing consumers in the area. Women under the FARM programme implemented by SKAE have realized that economic self –dependence will come with this new source of earning a livelihood to improve the living standards of their family and the community.