Fighting poverty : How jackfruit chips come to save Odisha tribals' day

Several residents of tribal-dominated villages in Odisha’s Koraput district have been fighting hunger and poverty — by making and selling jackfruit chips. Photo: Ashis Senapati

The Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS), with the support of Good Samaritan India, a non-profit, started the project in 2019 to provide income to tribal women of nine blocks of the district by providing training to prepare and sell jackfruit chips. Photo: Ashis Senapati

Jackfruits are available aplenty in Boipariguda, Lamtaput, Nandapur, Dasmantpur, Narayanpatana, Semiliguda, Koraput, Jeypore and Pottangi blocks of the district. “We are also receiving technical support from MS Swaminathan Foundation in Koraput block. In absence of adequate marketing facilities, tribal people resorted to distress sale. To annihilate the role of middlemen, we started market linkage and training for around 1,000 tribal women to prepare jack-fruit chips,” said Karthik, who works for ORMAS. Photo: Ashis Senapati

The increased production of jackfruit-based food products is now finding market outside thestate as well, Karthik added. “The powder of jackfruit seed is a rich source of dietary fiber, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins A, B, C and minerals,” he said. Photo: Ashis Senapati

He added that the organisation formed around 20 producer groups among 1,000 tribal women and provided Rs 2.04 lakh to each group to procure vessels, weighing machines, packaging materials, etc. The jackfruit chips fetch Rs 350 per kilogram; one kg of jackfruit chips can provide at least Rs 100 profit to the tribal women. Photo: Ashis Senapati

The jackfruit trees naturally exist in farm lands and forests in the district. Jackfruit is the largest tree fruit in the world, and is packed with protein and loads of other nutrients like Vitamin B and potassium. Photo: Ashis Senapati