: Shatavari to Queen Sago: How We Used Rare Forest Produce to Double Tribal Incomes #IndiaNEWS #Kerala In Kerala, amid the Chalakudy and Karuvannur River basin, dwell the indigenous tribes of Kadar,

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Shatavari to Queen Sago: How We Used Rare Forest Produce to Double Tribal Incomes #IndiaNEWS #Kerala
In Kerala, amid the Chalakudy and Karuvannur River basin, dwell the indigenous tribes of Kadar, Malayar, and Muthuvar. These tribal groups sustain mainly through forest produce.
For the last four years, ecologist Dr Manju Vasudevan has worked closely with these communities to secure their livelihood and encourage the conservation of nature. In 2017, she joined the River Research Centre, a Kerala-based NGO, to spearhead various development projects for these tribal groups.
With river rights activist Dr Lata Anantha, Dr Manju, who holds a doctorate in pollination ecology, began working towards empowering tribal communities with forest rights. She would often venture with tribals into the forests to learn about their lifestyles and understand them better.
It was here that she found an abundance of Shatavari (asparagus), which the tribals used to make pickles. When some of the product was offered at a local event, a buyer said he was interested in more derivatives of the produce.
This experience inspired her to make products from rare forest resources such Shatavari honey, oils and more.
Creating a sustainable enterprise
Tribals being trained by the NGO.
But here, Manju found herself at a crossroads. “I had always worked using the cooperative model of enterprise building, training women groups in the value addition of non-timber forest products (NTFP), and strengthening local economies,� she says.
Manju had to decide whether to continue in the same manner or dive into a social enterprise. “As a non-profit NGO, we could not enter a business. But selling the forest produce helped the tribals earn additional income. Hence, the same year, Dr Sreeja KG, a colleague and an expert in agriculture and climate change, created a sister entity, Forest Post, providing a platform for tribals to market traditional and authentic products created using sustainable methods,� she says.
Today, their entity is helping over 60 tribal people who work in tandem with the social enterprise, producing and selling products.
“The indigenous forest-dwelling people in the Western Ghats collect a range of wild resources from the forest that include leaves for medicine, roots and bark of the tree for food, oils, medicine, tubers, honey, beeswax, tree resin such as black dammar (thelli), fruits such as jackfruit, gooseberry and soapnut. We started preparing unique products out of them,� she says.
The handmade products include beeswax personal care, herbal hair oils, rare wild foods and bamboo craft. “We are working with tribals from villages such as Karikkadav, Anapantham, Chimmony, Kallichitra, Adichilthotti and Vazhachal,� she adds.

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