Adbari Majhi in her family farm inter-cropped and mixed-cropped of vegetables, pulses, millets with orchard spices, she is sun-drying harvested onions, Pic: Abhijit Mohanty
In southern Odisha State, India, the landscape and livelihoods of the indigenous family farmers are seriously threatened by industrial agriculture, bauxite mining, large dams, changing rainfall patterns and government apathetic attitude. But, indigenous communities have decided how they want to conserve their land for their own benefit. And they are doing it successfully.
“Five years ago, we lived a miserable life as farm laborers because there were not much of work opportunities. And, as agriculture didn’t remain feasible or a reliable occupation, we had to borrow money from the Sahukar (local moneylender) more often and all our efforts were to repay the money with exorbitant rate of interest. Life was really difficult then. There was absolutely no hope but just to struggle to make a living”, Adbari Majhi recalling her difficult days of the past.
The case of Adbari represents the pitiable situation of many women farmers of Kashipur block of Odisha in India. The region is widely known for poverty, hunger and malnutrition. Kashipur is a hilly and forested region predominantly inhabited by the Paraja, Kondho indigenous communities who are primarily agrarian and practice podu chasa (shifting cultivation) on the hill slopes since generations.
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