Contribution of NTFPs towards Tribal Income and Employment Generation- A Study in Eastern Himalayan Region

Abstract

"NTFPs are considered as important source for food, energy, and other aspects of rural livelihood. Around 50 million people in India depend upon NTFPs for their subsistence and cash income. The proposed study was conducted in the Eastern Himalayan states of Meghalaya and Nagaland where two districts from each state were selected purposively i.e., East Khasi Hill and Ri-bhoi districts from Meghalaya and Mokokchung and Peren districts from Nagaland. A total of 250 respondents from twenty villages of 4 Rural Development blocks were selected proportionately based on the availability of number of households. Agriculture income dominated the share in the household income in both the states followed by income from NTFP. However, the major share of cash income among the households was from NTFP in the Eastern Himalayan Region. In case of non-cash income, agriculture contributed the highest followed by NTFP income. The contribution of NTFP to household income was largely from plant-based NTFPs followed by animal-based NTFP. Overall, of the total average of 280 employed days, agricultural activities constituted 44% followed by days involved in NTFP collection (26%). Female attributed more to the collection of plant-based NTFPs followed by fuel wood, while the male spent more time in the collection of animal-based NTFP followed by plant-based NTFPs. Independent factors like adult literacy, income from wage employment, and employment generated from NTFPs significantly influenced the income from NTFPs. Dependency ratio and employment from NTFPs were found significant and positively related to income from NTFPs suggesting that as the number of dependents increased in the households, they favoured going for NTFPs collection. For every one percent increase in dependency, income from NTFPs increased by ` 164.87, and for every one-man-day increase in employment from NTFPs, the NTFPs income increased by ` 368.7"