Mining state shifts from coal to forest goods

In the forests of Bastar in eastern India, Indigenous women have been busy plucking the tan-coloured fruits of the tamarind tree — a tangy staple of Indian cooking that earned them rare profits this year thanks to a bumper harvest.

For decades, mining has eaten into the forests of mineral-rich Chhattisgarh. But as the state moves away from opening coal mines, authorities have introduced measures to boost output of forest goods — from tamarind to cashew nuts and medicinal seeds.

“The setting of a minimum price has meant that middlemen and traders have to pay a fair price. Family incomes have gone up,” said Sushma Netam, who oversees implementation of the state program aimed at promoting “tribal entrepreneurship.”

Netam said production had soared since the state launched its “just transition” plan, a green economy strategy set up to cushion the impact of the shift away from coal.

“We have more than 200 village groups in the region now, 49 haat (local market) groups and 10 processing centres,” she said.

While India pushes to expand coal mining to meet its energy needs, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel announced the state would move away from opening new coal mines in 2019 to help reduce emissions and protect forests.

Chhattisgarh, which has 44 per cent of its territory covered by forest, is looking to build an organized industry around non-timber forest products, which could benefit about 1.7 million families working as gatherers.

The deforestation of land for mining has greatly impacted the livelihoods of Indigenous communities, who earn up to 40 per cent of their income from forest goods.

Revathi Bagel, 21, works at a recently revived cashew plant in Bakawand village where she and other local women prepare the nuts for dispatch to markets across the country. Previously, she travelled hundreds of kilometres to work as a seasonal labourer.

“I walk to work and get paid 8,000 Indian rupees ($108) a month. It's so much better than going to (the western state of ) Gujarat to repay an advance and toil on someone else's fields,” she said by phone, as piles of cashews were unloaded.

But a lack of storage facilities and processing units in remote villages limits their profits, said Anushka Rose, research co-ordinator at the Center for Labor Research and Action, a charity promoting informal workers' rights.

“If you look at mahua, people gather and sell it in May to local traders because they can't store it,” she said, referring to the flowers of the Madhuca longifolia tree, which have numerous medicinal uses and are brewed to make a festive spirit.

“Two months later they buy it back at a higher price to use in their festivities. If the Van Dhan scheme is strictly monitored, this situation will change.”