A space for tribals to market and sell their produce has been opened by the Nilgiri Adivasi Welfare Association (NAWA) in Gudalur.
Known as the “Tribal Mart,” the initiative by NAWA, a tribal rights and welfare NGO, aims at providing a platform for the tribal communities to market and sell their produce to the public.
R. Vijaya, project coordinator of the NAWA Child Fund (India), said tribal communities living in Gudalur and Pandalur grew a variety of crops such as ginger, pepper and coffee. They also collected minor forest produce such as honey and koova leaves. “However, due to the cost associated with running a shop, most of them sell their produce for throwaway prices to merchants,” she said.
M. Alwas, secretary of NAWA, said most tribals got extremely unfair, low prices for their produce from merchants. “We wanted to give them not only the means to sell their vegetables and other products for a fair price, but also be able to buy essential items for a cheaper price from the store,” said Mr. Alwas.
“For instance, we are selling vegetables at a much lower price than in other shops, as we know that tribals were suffering from anaemia and malnutrition due to not having access to nutritious food,” he added.
The tribals, who wish to use the shop in Gudalur to sell their produce, could either sell it at competitive rates to NAWA or sell the products directly at the store and take home the profits, said Ms. Vijaya.
The Tribal Mart, which has been set up in the heart of Gudalur town, eventually hopes to expand to help hundreds of members of tribal communities. The building has been provided to NAWA by the Revenue Department.
“We are looking at opening small shops at 20 remote villages by identifying entrepreneurs within the communities and establishing shops where they can sell the produce to local residents,” said Mr. Alwas.