Climate Change

How A Tribal Community In Odisha Is Battling Climate Change With Traditional Farming

Abhijit Mohanty
Jun 29, 2021
📸 Abhijit Mohanty
Nestled in the remote forested hills of Odisha's Malkangiri district,
Bondaghati is home to the Bonda tribe, one of the 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in the state
For generations the tribe has sustained itself by cultivating traditional crops
But in the past few years, climate change has irrevocably affected their subsistence living
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Bonda women, however, are addressing these issues
by reverting to cultivation of native millet varieties—finger (ragi), foxtail (kakum or kangni), barnyard (sanwa), proso (chena) and pearl (bajra) millets—which are climate-resilient and ensure the community's food and nutritional security
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The impact is visible:
Odisha has seen a 215% increase in gross value of millet produced per farmer household between 2017-18 & 2018-19 and a 120% increase in yield rate between 2016-17 & 2017-18
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