Saturday, March 29, 2014

Flour Fortification for 'Sahariya's - Food for thought!


I generally dont do work related posts here. But the Anthropologist overpowered this blogger ever since she chanced upon an old field note from an old research work among one of the primitive tribal population in India. I remember writing this for one of our online journals. Re-posting here.

Life is a mirage: Mirage is commonplace in a desert and more so when I was in the arid terrain of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where the Sahariya tribe, one of the most primitive tribal groups, resides.
In the wee hours, when birds were yet to start chirping, cruising in a not-so-well maintained jeep through the dense forests of Ranthambore, passing through flocks of peacocks, wild deer and Nilghais, could mean a thrilling experience. In reality, it was more like a decorated top layer of the proverbial ‘Pandora’s box’ when we reached Sheopur from Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambore National Park is situated in Sawai Madhopur district in Rajasthan).

The grandeur we observed in Sawai Madhopur and in its vicinity stood in stark opposition to what our eyes met at Sheopur- a good one and hour ride away. Seeing a tiger or a flock of peacocks did not cause any excitement for a Sahariya; not just because these were part of their environment but because they had other more ‘exciting’ priorities in life. And after a 5 hour long train journey, followed by an hour and half long road trip through one of the gorgeous tiger reserve forests in India, we found ourselves in the land of ‘endemic anemia’ if I could use this term so profusely. According to national statistics this community scored alarmingly below the normal nutritional and health indicators. The NFHS-III data on the proportion of rural women in the age group of 15-49 shows that 44.98% of women have Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) which is the second highest in India. Also, 61% of rural women (15-49 years) are anaemic in the state.

Past perfect: Madhya Pradesh and I have a past. I used to live and work there. But this time it was different. Amidst those arid terrains, in 50 degree centigrade, it was both physically challenging and emotionally overwhelming.
In their daily life, Sahariyas go through a lot of hardship. In terms of the terrain which has extreme climate with a very hot summer and very cold winter. In arid terrains, regular supply of drinking water is difficult and so are green leafy vegetables and fruits. Withstanding high temperature in summers with lack of balanced diet, Sahariyas indeed readied them to be a malnourished community.

“Those nine days”- It is officially known as ‘nau-tapa’ (literally: nine days of extreme heat wave) in the state of Madhya Pradesh and local calendars mark these nine days in the lines of gazetted holidays in MP. From our comforting air-conditioned environs, this ‘nau tapa’ was quite an antithesis. My training as an Anthropologist came handy where I was taught to do what locals do to adapt in a new setting. And those white cotton scarves came handy and I would wrap them around my head and face to look like one of those bandits who used to rule these terrain eons ago. (Now I know the mystery behind their head gear!) Those white cotton scarves helped when I could not find any tree to take shelter as we sat down to interview a group of women in the village in Shivpuri.
I learn a lot about life from my field work, from what I jot down sitting under that lone Neem tree in a village when all the children would gather around me in their joie-de-vivre, oblivious to what those frantic scribbling would eventually translate into. Nonetheless, their joy is infectious and it keeps me going from one household to another thinking sunshine will follow this gloom and one day these villages will have better nutritional and health indicators. Life is about learning and this time it was important for me to learn how Sahariyas would react to fortified flour than to get perturbed for what meets the eye. And in my mind I would blabber “they had not have a full square meal for days and here I am asking about their preference for wheat flour?” Researcher in me had to take charge when in field and data collection become the only priority. Madhya Pradesh, especially the northern part of this state, is one of the high yielding states for good quality wheat grains in India. Sahariyas located from the same geographical areas have been suffering from malnutrition presented an example of contrast.

“Whiter it is, better it is”. It was interesting to understand in terms of colour of flour that whiter the colour it was perceived of better quality. And thus what they ordinarily availed from what they say ‘control shop’ (meaning: government-run Ration shops) were below standard and hence they would not consume them. This is a common practice among Sahariyas and it is so deep rooted that they usually sell off the flour they get from public distribution system and buy packaged flour from local grocery stores.
In reality, ‘brown’ flour is a healthier option compared to the ‘whiter’ variety as the former contains all the nutrition of whole wheat grain. ‘Whiter’ flour does not contain the husk which gives the ‘brown’ tinge for whole wheat flour and in turn is much inferior in terms of nutrition.

“Today is the day and I live here and now”. This seemed to be Sahariyas philosophy of life as it is in most tribal communities. In the beginning of summer every year they would migrate to work in the wheat fields in the neighbouring areas when crop is ready. They would receive wheat grains for their work, which meant almost 100 KG of grains per family. The entire family migrates during this season to work in the fields and they walk the entire way, unless they are lucky enough to get a free ride from trucks on the highways. Bringing back wheat grains on their return means spending a lot of money on transport; so they prefer bartering those wheat grains for sarees, foot-wears which are easier to carry. Alternatively they sell the grain for 100 or 200 Rupees. There were some instances where the family has mortgaged the ration card to buy food items and liquor.

Development has always been a multi-pronged entity and here among Sahariyas in Madhya Pradesh, interaction between poverty, education and health form a vicious cycle. Tribal way of life is still not understood and not assimilated in development programmes in general. It looks imperative to have an intensive behaviour change communication (BCC) with providers to sensitise them towards Sahariya tribe’s way of life. In addition to this, large scale behaviour change communication in the community has to be planned for successful implementation of flour fortification programme in the region. And it’s a long way ahead for Sahariyas to walk the path of development.

And we saw light at the end of the tunnel. With various development programmes available to the Sahariyas, looks like in times to come, they will move closer to a better, healthier life. We met a spirited 18 year-old Sahariya girl. She is from one of those villages we visited for this study. She lives with her mother who supports the family from the meagre earnings that come selling firewood in the local market in Guna. Her father died when she was barely few months old. She went to Tribal Welfare Development (TWD) run Kanya Vidyalaya; these are residential schools for tribal children. She has passed the higher secondary examination year and she's all set to become a teacher in the village school. She also plans to study for a bachelor’s degree with a distance learning course. Her hopes and aspirations and her positive attitude, assure us that, after all, there is hope for the next generation of Sahariyas if more such girls follow her path.

There is always hope and we hope that with intensive education, nutrition and development programmes dedicated to Sahariyas, one day this community will have better health and nutritional indicators.