Transformation of Koraput’s Tribal Food Basket

Introduction

Koraput, a district in Odisha, is a biodiversity-rich region with a predominantly tribal population. Despite several government schemes, the district suffered from high levels of undernutrition and poverty.

According to NFHS-5 (2019-21) data

• 43% of children under five years are stunted (low height-for-age).
• 33% of children are underweight.
• Only 17% of children receive an adequate diet.
• More than 50% of women suffer from anaemia.

Nutrition Security Transformation Model (2013-2022)

• To address this issue, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) initiated a community-based nutrition literacy program (2013-2022) to empower tribal communities toward nutrition security.
• Objectives:
  • Diversify household food baskets with nutritious foods.
  • Enable nutrition-sensitive farming (crop diversity, backyard poultry, pisciculture).
  • Improve sanitation, hygiene, and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices.
  • Facilitate community-driven transformation toward nutrition security.

Implementation Strategy

Step 1: Community Sensitization

• Assessing nutritional status of women, children, and adolescents.
• Consolidating secondary data and presenting findings to the community.
• Engaging in discussions to identify nutrition challenges and solutions.

Step 2: Selection of Community Champions

• Villagers nominated men and women from various caste groups.
• Selected individuals underwent a residential training program on nutrition and farming.

Step 3: Residential Training Program

• Conducted over six months with sessions lasting 2.5 days each.
• Topics covered:
  • A balanced diet and dietary diversity.
  • Sanitation, hygiene, and IYCF practices.
  • Nutrition-sensitive agriculture (crop diversification, backyard poultry, pisciculture).
• Engagement Methods:
  • Group discussions, role-playing, interactive learning.
  • Real-life scenario analysis and problem-solving.
  • Exploring caste, class, and gender-based nutrition disparities.
• Key Learnings from the Training:
  • Participants realized the importance of eating both dal and vegetables daily.
  • Awareness increased about traditional rice varieties as a nutritional asset.
  • Participants shifted focus from “dish count” to “food group count” for dietary diversity.

Community Engagement and Capacity Building

Strengthening Social Cohesion

• Training programs broke hierarchical barriers, enabling men and women to interact across villages.
• Participants planned crop diversification strategies and home garden expansion.
• Recognized the power of collective decision-making to demand government entitlements.
• Created songs and messages on a balanced diet, hygiene, sanitation, and women’s support.

Empowering Community Champions

• Over 200 men and women from 70+ villages became “community champions”.
• Identified further training needs in: Seed treatment, Vermi-composting & organic fertilizers, Mushroom production etc.
• Over 1,000 villagers trained over 10 years, creating a sustainable resource base.

Impact and Outcomes – Agricultural Transformation

Crop diversity increased significantly

• Before: 71% of households cultivated only 2-3 crops.
• After: Over 60% of households cultivated 4-5 crops.

Home gardens became more productive

• Before: 90% had home gardens for only five months.
• After: 50% had home gardens operational for 7-9 months.

Dietary diversity improved

• Households began consuming 9-11 varieties of crops (up from 4 varieties).
• Increased intake of pulses, leafy vegetables, tubers, fruits, poultry, fish, and wild food.

Sharing is caring!