28.10.21

Coffee helps members of Soliga tribe brew a new life

MYSURU: The Soliga tribals in Biligiriranga Hills of Chamarajanagar district, who were earlier dependent on forest produce, have now taken up coffee cultivation in the tiger reserve.

The have also launched a coffee powder brand — ‘Adavi’, and thereby living a self-sustainable and quality life.

There are around ten hamlets in BRT Tiger Reserve with around 1,500 Soliga families. The tribals used to depend on forest produce, including honey, root vegetables and amla. But 20 years ago, these tribals were introduced to paddy, ragi and millet. But they could not succeed due to the menace of wild boars and other wild animals which regularly raided their lands.

The livelihood of the tribe, however, improved after Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) encouraged the tribals to take up coffee and pepper cultivation. ATREE head C Madhegowda, who is also a Soliga tribal, told TOI that ATREE encouraged them to prepare products using forest produce.

“We produced a hakku patra under Forest Rights Act to use non-timber forest products and sell the products legally. All the Soliga tribals of the 10 hamlets formed an association called Sri Biligirirangaswamy Soligara Samskarana Sangha, which was registered. An initiative was made to collect the forest produce, process it, and market the product,” he said.

But it was after the tribals started growing coffee that they managed to earn a decent income by selling the coffee beans to the company. ATREE used to purchase the coffee from tribals on market price and supply it to a private company. Nearly 600 Soliga families are involved in cultivating coffee in BR Hills.

Madhegowda, who is also the president of Coffee Growers Association, said just a year ago the Social Welfare Department had given the Coffee Board and Karnataka Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation a four-year project to promote coffee for the welfare of the Soliga tribe.

“At present, 90% of the coffee produced by Soligas is supplied to MG Plantation in Chikkamagaluru as per the understanding with the Board. The coffee powder prepared by the company is sold under the brand name Adavi,” he said.

The product is sold in local shops too. There are three shops in BRT which are managed by Soligas who get 15% discount for the product. The Mysuru Zoo authorities have provided a stall on the zoo premises and ATREE runs two stalls in Bengaluru also. All the stalls are managed by members of the Soliga tribe.

This year, the total coffee cultivation by the Soliga tribals stood at 35 tonne against last year’s 28 tonne. Around 50% of the Soligas in BRT cultivate coffee. The Board has promised to provide training to produce quality coffee and to get certificate for organic products. “We cultivate only organic coffee as we do not use pesticides,” he said.

Meanwhile, the sangha has procured fair trade certificate so that they can sell the product in international market, the Coffee Board is contemplating on turning the association into a company so that they get more profit and benefits from the government schemes.

Madhegowda said the profits will be given back to the Soliga community. The earnings by selling the coffee are being used for their education, health and development, he said.

A tribal Jadegowda from Kalyani hamlet told TOI that he has around 500 coffee plants in a half acre land and he earns around Rs 10,000 annually by selling coffee beans.