Faced with the challenge of sustaining themselves, tribal communities in southern Rajasthan are utilising their indigenous practices of food and agricultural management to tide over the difficult period of nationwide lockdown enforced to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Tribals have adopted a number of micronutrient-rich plant foods as their daily dietary intake.
The Banswara district, situated at the tri-junction of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, is rich in natural resources and has abundant edible materials which are nutritious for the local population.
With an enormous storehouse of knowledge on food gathering and cultivation, the tribal communities have embraced a sagacious food management after the rabi crop harvesting.
A large number of tribals, who had migrated to the towns in Gujarat to work as labourers, have come back to their native villages after the lockdown started. Jayesh Joshi, secretary of Banswara-based Vaagdhara, which works on tribal livelihood issues, told The Hindu on Thursday that the kitchen gardens developed in the tribal households during the last few years were helping in regular supply of vegetables and spices to these labourers.
Turmeric, which is one of the items produced in kitchen gardens, has been especially helpful for the tribal communities during the crisis when the shops are closed. Besides the daily usage of turmeric, several tribal families have converted it into the powdered form for use in the food preparation and other essential tasks.
Ramji Ninama, a farmer in Banswara district's Sundrav village, has built a huge stock of turmeric powder for the use of local residents. He is among the beneficiaries of a project undertaken by Vaagdhara for promoting nutrition sensitive farming system, which was aimed at reducing the vulnerability of marginalised sections by ensuring their food and nutrition security.
The region's commonly consumed foodgrains and vegetables, such as rajan, dhimda, kodra, bati, baota, kang, cheena, hama, hamli and gujro, are rich in iron and dietary fibre content. The consumption of these grains and maintenance of diverse food habits based on the locally available oilseeds, pulses, fruits and spices have helped the tribal people develop immunity against diseases.
Mr. Joshi said the women members of tribal families had also pitched in to help overcome gender inequality and improve food security within the households with the preparation of “healthy and culturally appropriate” edible materials. Besides, the farmers have sufficient wheat stocks at their homes with the harvest season just getting over.
Significantly, none of the 59 COVID-19 positive cases detected so far in Banswara district is from the tribal communities. Mr. Joshi pointed out that the tribals' social customs, such as scattered living, greeting each other from a distance and eating warm food, would protect them against the virus infection.
Resource management
“Though the tribals generally do not have access to market-based products of oil, spices and sugar, they are assured that they will not remain hungry,” Mr. Joshi said, while affirming that their food security had been ensured through their own resource management in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, pasture and medicinal products.
