Attaining food sovereignty by building access to local seeds

Nandurbar is a tribal-dominated district in Maharashtra. The area, especially Dhadgaon and Akkalkuwa blocks in Satpuda hill ranges, are predominantly tribal and hilly. The Bhill and Pawara are the major tribes in the block. Most of these tribal communities are poor agriculturists with small and marginal landholdings. However, due to low productivity agriculture, the tribal communities mostly continue to depend on forests for their subsistence. Nandurbar district was known for its exceptional traditional crop diversity which includes maize, sorghum, minor millets, pulses and wild edible species. However, there had been rapid erosion in the status of biodiversity over a period of time. Realizing the importance of biodiversity in providing food security, livelihood security, and reducing risks in farming for small farmers, BAIF, an NGO, initiated community-led conservation management and revival of tribal food in 14 remote villages of Dhadgaon and Akkalkuwa blocks in Nandurbar district. The initiative was taken up with the objectives of documenting crop diversity and associated knowledge in the area, promoting participatory seed production and in situ conservation of traditional crop landraces with active involvement of local community.