KANDHAMAL, India — Sampati Kahanra, a woman from the Kandha
tribal people of eastern India, has a deep connection with the
forest. From as long as she can remember, she has been walking in
the dense greenery to find food, firewood and leaves. It started
when she was a child going out with her mother, and now continues
for her own home and three children. Up at dawn, Kahanra, 48,
quickly finishes her chores and then with a few others, heads to
the jungle. Together, the women forage for bhalia seeds (an
indigenous wheat), tamarind, nutritive mahua flowers and, most
important, huge siali leaves.
Back by noon with her collection, Kahanra sits down to stitch
together homemade plates from the leaves. It is time-consuming
work, and she gets tired sitting for long hours on the floor of her
thatch-roof hut, binding the leaves together. But Kahanra knows
that this work brings in much-needed money for her family.
Making plates from siali leaves is a tradition in India. Until
last year, Kahanra made a pittance from the sale of plates to local
traders, but today, thanks to an Indian-German venture that exports
the biodegradable leaf plates internationally, Kahanra’s monthly
income has grown 10 times, to the rupee equivalent of almost $45.
As export of the plates has grown in recent years, three
federations of self-help groups in the area are benefiting from
this project, which has given a whole new meaning to this
home-based work by tribal women.
“There was a time when we used to get 10 or 12 rupees [about 15
or 16 cents] for a bundle of 80 plates,” Kahanra said. “The money
was not commensurate with the effort involved. But ever since I
joined a self-help group, I have been able to secure a better price
from the traders in the large market around five kilometers from
here.”
A neighbor and fellow group member, Ashumati Kahanra, agreed,
saying: “Fact is, that before we formed the self-help group we had
no bargaining powers. Most of us were forced to accept the poor
rates that the traders would offer us. Those days are well behind
us.”
What changed the rules of engagement with traders was an
intervention initiated by Vasundhara, a nonprofit research and
policy advocacy group in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, where
the women live. The group works on issues of environmental
conservation and livelihood creation for the rural poor.
“We have been working to create awareness around the Forest
Rights Act [of] 2006, among communities that depend on the forest
for their sustenance,” said Manmohan Barik, the Vasundhara program
officer in Kandhamal.
“[The forest act] enables them to set up and run enterprises
using forest produce,” he said. “Tribal women like Sampati,
Ashumati and many others have benefited immensely. Being part of a
group has not only improved their income but has also enabled them
to collect forest produce responsibly. They understand that if the
forests survive, then so do they.”
The forest act puts the ownership rights of small-scale forest
produce in the hands of the village and gives it the authority to
issue permits that enable the transit and sale of products by local
people. This has opened up possibilities for the tribal people to
reach buyers directly. As a result, with the assistance of
Vasundhara, 33 women from eight villages joined to set up a
self-help group in 2015. “The forest is ours, and our livelihood is
directly linked to the resources we can gather from it,” the women
say.
“Siali is a vine that grows in abundance in a forest of sal
trees,” said Rashmita Bindhani, 22, secretary of the local group
and one of the few tribal women in the area who is educated. She
handles the group’s accounts and negotiates with the traders.
“Its lush leaves are large and durable, and for generations we
have used them to make plates and bowls for household use as well
as to sell,” she said. “Earlier, we used go individually to the
market to sell our wares, but nowadays the traders have started
coming to us. Through our association with Vasundhara, we have
learned a better technique of stitching the leaf plates.”
The partnership with the German company, Leaf Republic, which
retails biodegradable tableware across the world, appealing to
environmentally conscious buyers, has been the big game changer,
said Chittaranjan Pani, the Vasundhara forest researcher and
program coordinator.
“Leaf Republic’s India division, Bilotech Plant Materials Pvt.
Ltd., was scouting for leaf-based biodegradable products when they
got in touch with us,” Pani continued. “After several rounds of
discussions, an agreement was signed last September between the
women from the self-help groups in three districts and the Germans.
Thereafter, we organized training programs to teach them an
improved technique of stitching the plates so that they could
deliver a quality product. So far, collectively, the women have
supplied nearly one lakh [100,000] Siali leaf plates.”
Collecting and processing the leaves remains the same. After
leaves are gathered, they are left to dry in the sun for around
three days before the women sit down to sew. The one big difference
is the stitch they use. “The training has definitely helped us,”
Sampati Kahanra said. “We collect the better quality leaves and
then make sturdier stitches so that the end product is up to
standards.”
For these industrious tribal women, however, their relationship
with the forest is not one-sided. They also believe in giving back.
Putting things in perspective, Rambhabati Kanhara, another woman in
the group, talks about the challenges they face.
“Bad weather conditions are playing havoc with our forest,” she
said. “A few months ago, during the summer season, a fire broke out
in the siali forests nearby, and we all suffered huge losses. The
erratic rains, too, bring their own set of problems. For instance,
the humidity is perfect for caterpillars and other insects to
thrive. They spoil the leaves. If we have to continue to derive our
livelihood from the trees, then we have to find a way to protect
them.”
To save their forest, the women’s group in the Kandhamal
district, where Sampati Kahanra lives and works, has decided to
take some important steps. “We are going to start planting more
saplings in the forest and also keep an eye on who all are
accessing the forest produce, so that there is no indiscriminate
exploitation,” she said. The group plans to set up a warehouse
where the women can come to make the products and store them
safely.
“In this way,” she added, “we will ensure that there is minimal
wastage, which will positively impact the forest as we will not
unnecessarily keep going back for more leaves.”
Pani of Vasundhara noted: “As eco-friendly products gain ground
nationally and internationally, it creates a win-win situation for
all. That’s because while this gives forest dwellers a fighting
chance at building a better life for themselves, instinctively
these communities are bound to defend their habitat.”
