Over two-thirds of the tribal population is working in the primary sector and is heavily dependent on agriculture either as cultivators or as agricultural labourers. The tribals people are increasingly moving from being cultivators to agricultural labourers. Almost 55% of the tribal population lives outside their tribal majority blocks. It is estimated that, in the last decade, about 3.5 million tribal people have left agriculture and agriculture-related activities to enter the informal labour market.”, says the “Report of the Expert Committee on Tribal Health ‘Tribal Health in India’ Bridging the Gap and a Roadmap for the Future”.

The statistics are alarming as the tribal population is migrating from their natural habitat to the cities for better livelihood and opportunities for survival. 

The Caritas India ‘Utthan’ programme on Livelihood, food and nutrition security of Vulnerable Adivasi communities in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh is promoting good governance and strengthening the sustainable local solutions. In the last one-year, regular community mobilization, Awareness campaigns and trainings by the Jabalpur Diocesan Social service Society to empower the Baiga community specifically around the issue of Malnutrition. The added component of this program is to ensure food security and link the community with existing government schemes as well as to motivate them towards Organic, Natural agriculture practices and produce healthy food. A series of activities that have been taken up by the community in line with climate-adaptive agriculture to tackle the challenges of climate change as well.

Measures of water conservation, plantation, climate-friendly farming, SRI system, mixed farming, promotion of traditional variety of nutritious crops like Kodo, Kutki, Sama, Kangni, Madia, Jowar, Salehra, and methods of organic input preparations were shared with the Baiga community. The Community now understands the importance of local traditional seeds, homemade compost fertilizers, biopesticides, and medicines, etc, for use in agriculture. The exposure visits supported by the agriculture centers in the district opened up the awareness level of the baiga community who have historically practiced Jhoom cultivation (shifting cultivation) are now practicing agriculture like any other tribe on a fixed set of lands

Johan Singh is one such community member who has remarkably transformed his agriculture adaptation to traditional variety crops and became the inspiration to others in the baiga dominated villages.   

Johan Singh and his family used to go for labour work and that was the core survival strategy for the family but due to the continuous efforts and guidance of the Utthan project staffs of JDSS, the transformation has taken place that he was inspired for adapting agriculture to produce food for the family that will suffice for throughout the year. 

Inspired by Johan’s effort, 27 other farmers from the same village used traditional variety seeds in agriculture which is climate resilient, requires less water and gives high nutritious rich food for the family. 

Johan Singh has now grown variety of vegetables like gourd, tomato, kaddu, tomato, chilli, potato, etc using organic practices. Baiga tribe members are now awakened to the new light of producing nutritious food for their families. There is also a gradual shift among this community that they will eventually abandon hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, instead, they will adopt organic mixed, SRI method and compost fertilizers for their good and good of their future generations.