workshop organised on Non-Timber Forest Products community from more than 20 villages participated

Airajpur A one-day workshop on Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) was organized in Kathiwada (Alirajpur) under the Fox Development Project, implemented by the Development Support Center in collaboration with HDFC Bank Parivartan. The workshop was held in Chandarmuli village, in coordination with the Chandarmuli outpost of the Kathiwada Range Forest Office, and was presided over by Shri Lokendra Kushwah, Range Forest Officer. The main objective of the workshop was to strengthen the process of collection, verification, grading, preservation, storage, and value addition of Non-Timber Forest Produce/minor forest products obtained from forests by women’s groups and forest committees at the village level. More than 20 villages, from Phoolmal to Sorwa, participated enthusiastically in the workshop. Participants included women from self-help groups, members of forest committees, and farmers and LRPs associated with the Sujal Committee. All participants were given technical information on the correct collection, cleaning, drying, storage, and marketing of various Non-Timber Forest Products, including Mahua, dried mango powder, Harra, Bahera, Amla, Chironji, gum, and honey. An exhibition of NTFP products was also organized, which all participants inspected.
Block Coordinator Harish Damor explained the objectives of the workshop and the FDP project and conducted the program. Project Manager Shri Kamlesh Rajat provided guidance on the vision and mission of the DSC organization and the process of collection, verification, grading, preservation, storage, and value addition of Non-Timber Forest Produce/minor forest products, which play a crucial role in enhancing the livelihoods of local families in the Kathiwada region under the Fox Development Project, implemented in collaboration with HDFC Bank Parivartan. This process is to be carried out within the framework of the Forest Rights and Community Forest Act, in coordination with the Forest Department. Mr. Lokendra Kushwaha, Range Forest Officer of Chanandarmuli Range, assured active cooperation from the Forest Department in the conservation and sustainable use of forest resources, strengthening dormant forest committees, and implementing NTFP (Non-Timber Forest Products) activities under the FDP project. During the workshop, in a significant announcement, Mr. Thawariya Tomar, a farmer from Bordabra village, voluntarily declared his intention to donate a 40 by 50 feet plot of land from his own property to the Adivasi Gramodaya Producer Farmer Producer Company for the construction of a warehouse to strengthen the storage and marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products. This gesture was appreciated by all the participants present, and the farmer was honored with garlands of flowers. DSC staff and District Project Manager Mr. Anil Shriwas also shared their thoughts on the “One Tree in the Name of Mother” initiative during the program.