People Who We Serve

Our target people are the poorest of the poor living in Wayanad district. We have been contributing since 1997 to the Kerala state’s efforts in poverty reduction in the most vulnerable locations of the district. Wayanad district is one of the 100 most backward districts of India. The district with an area of 2136 sq. km has a human population of 7, 80,167(Census Report 2001). The Hindu population is 392141, Muslims 209758, Christians 175495 and others constitute 3225. Scheduled caste population in the district is 33364 and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) is 136062. Wayanad tops first in the state in having the largest number of tribal population (37.46%). Nearly 17% of the total population of the district is ST. The ST community comprises culturally and socially distinct communities such as Paniya, Kattu Naikka, Uralies, Adiya, Kurichia, and Kuruma in Kerala. These are the communities whose men, women and children whom we aim to benefit socially and economically by our interventions.

The concept of community agro-biodiversity management

The concept of community agro-biodiversity management was conceived and developed by Prof. M S Swaminathan as early as 1980s. His vision of integrating conservation, cultivation, consumption and commerce – four visible dimensions of genetic resource management and sustainable livelihoods had been evolved into a practical approach for addressing the issue of poverty reduction in gene rich, but economically poor habitations of India. This approach also helped us effectively in engaging the local communities in conservation of many of the threatened plant genetic resources and habitats of peninsular India. With a ‘community’ approach to conservation of biodiversity and placing the Agro-biodiversity Centre in Western Ghats- a strategic biodiversity and cultural diversity hot spot- Prof. M. S. Swaminathan had given CAbC a unique position amongst other actors in this field, in this part of India. This is indeed a cutting edge advantage for CAbC to serve its targeted people and resources.

Since inception, Community Agro-biodiversity Centre has successfully used the management experience of Prof. M S Swaminathan to develop a structure and system for its programme implementation. The efforts in this direction resulted in formation of three major operational groups revolving around the MSSRF’s triple bottom line of pro- poor, pro- nature and pro- women. We placed this bottom line intact as much possible with clearly defined tasks, roles and functions for every staff member and volunteer of this organization. The Target Area Environment The Community Agro-biodiversity Centre is engaged in developing and disseminating solutions for sustainable management of biodiversity, particularly biodiversity at on farm in the part of Wayanad district of Kerala. We are in this field in the district since 1997 and catering the demand from various actors - policy makers, PRIs, NGOs, teachers and students to local leaders, the small and marginal farmers, women and tribal communities- on both the ‘know-how’ and ‘do-how’ aspects of genetic resource management and community development. The livelihood of large majority of the tribal people of the district is connected to agriculture and forestry. The tribal communities like Kurichia, and Kuruma are marginal cultivators, Kattunaikka are traditionally forest dwellers and Paniya are agriculture labourers. A sizable population of them belongs to the lower level of poverty line, mostly of land less agricultural laborers. The demographic details of the district are given in table 1. According to the District level data, in 2007 there was a total of 173529 BPL card holders in the district, of which a large majority belonging to tribal community, mostly Paniya, Adiya and Kattunaikka. Landlessness and land alienation, poor basic amenities, drinking water, sanitary facilities and food security are the burning issues of the district with regard to the development of tribal people. The physical communication facilities such as road connectivity especially to remote villages are extremely poor in the district. Commodity movement and people’s mobility are affected adversely because of this, which in turn makes the village life miserable. The rail connectivity is still a mirage to the people of Wayanad. No worth mentioning initiatives are in the district to boost up the economic growth. Farm gate disposal of agricultural produces fetch farmers only a nominal price. The investments in value addition and product diversification in agriculture sector is abysmally poor. Agricultural produces from the district are exported in raw state, but return back after value addition elsewhere in the country, which accelerates the erosion of local economy. Ironically, Wayanad is one of the richest centres of biodiversity in India and strategically located in the trans-state corridor of the country. It is the leader district in the state in production of spices and plantation crops, medicinal and aromatic rices and supply of Non Wood Forest Produces such as honey and diverse raw drugs, accounting for a considerable portion of state’s export revenue from agricultural produces. Though, the district is endowed with abundant natural resources and agricultural produces, it is a place with a sizable number of farmers who are distressed with the issue of managing an agriculture based living. The agrarian crisis in the district once made it a farmers’ suicide spot. Poverty reduction, infrastructure development especially in agriculture and health sector requires colossal investment. The situation warrants immediate attention and meaningful interventions in order to make this hot spot in to a happy spot. We propose a package of integrated plan of actions for addressing these issues and the larger goal of sustainable development.