Changing Pattern of Tribal Livelihoods: A Case Study in Sundargarh District, Odisha

Abstract

Agriculture and allied activities that support the livelihoods of nearly 70 percent of India’s rural population, has lost its importance. In recent years, land based livelihoods of small and marginal farmers are increasingly becoming unsustainable. As their land has failed to support their family’s food requirements they are forced to look at alternative means for supplementing their livelihoods. The rapid changes at the macro level that India witnessed since the early nineties has contributed to the instability of the livelihood systems of the poorer section of both rural and tribal households. The emergence of industry and market economy has disturbed the age old tribal and nature relation. Taking the anthropological methodology into account the present study tried to explore the traditional pattern of livelihoods and their changing scenario in a tribal dominated village of Sundargarh district, Odisha. If we look into the changing contest of livelihood of the study village it will be found that it has changed a lot in course of time. During the British period the villagers were mostly depending on forest resources for their livelihoods. They used to collect various forest based products and fuel woods from nearby forest. The villagers were managing the forest. Apart from forest resources they used to do some cultivation in forest land. Mostly it was a system of mono cropping. Their economy was subsistence in nature. They were struggling to feed them. In course of time slowly this forest got degraded because of lots of reasons. The rise of industrialization, intervention of outsiders and rise of population became major threat for these communities. The degraded resources failed to suffice the needs of the villagers. It compelled the tribal inhabitants to look for other alternatives. In the initial days it was only agriculture, which gave them an alternative source of livelihoods. But the small land holding size and traditional technology failed to meet the rising needs of villagers. Due to increase the population and requirement of industrial needs the forest depletion rate is very fast in study area. Peoples are now travelling long distance to collect the firewood. They have engaged themselves in various small industries in their locality. Most of the young children in the study area have engaged themselves in non-agriculture sector.