DANIDA-NGO. UNDP-IGO. Fishery Department-Government. MS Swaminathan Research Foundation-NGO.

To combat a decline in native plant varieties, tribal communities of the Jeypore Tract are involved in plant breeding, compilation of biodiversity registers, and development of community seed and grain banks. To the benefit of tribal peoples and the local environment, remaining plant varieties are now being conserved and medicinal plants are being cultivated in community gardens instead of being harvested from the region´s fragile forests.

This community is sustainable economically because it involves food security. A community gene bank/grain bank has been established and there is participatory plant breeding, assuring that seeds are properly stored and available for cultivation.

It supports conservation-oriented irrigation methods to use rainwater and prevent erosion. For poverty reduction, landless families market non-timber forest products. Conservation of rainwater has encouraged fish farming.

This community is sustainable socially in that it concentrates on networking with local governments and capacity-building. Also, it their activities promote education on local medicinal plants and forest conservation.

Major impact is food security. There are more varieties of rice with high grain yield. Villagers are taking a renewed interest in farming techniques and researchers are helping. Neighboring villages are interested in replicating these cultivation practices.

The register of seeds and documenting of grain varieties and genes is valuable for the whole region´s food security.

It is innovative because it combines modern biological science with traditional, common-sense farming methods and is highly participatory in that it involves a basic community need for food.

Partnership with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation ensures proper technical consulting. Partnership with the Government´s Fishery Department ensures proper fish farming. Local and regional networking helps both farmers and landless cultivators market their products.