Category Archives: Tribal people

CSR – mere window dressing or worth the effort?

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This entry was posted by Communications Intern Hilde Faugli

Support from companies like Innocent have helped Find Your Feet develop new projects and expand on existing work in India.

If you, like me, enjoy a good smoothie, you probably know about Innocent Drinks. My weakness for Innocent smoothies is of course boosted by the fact that their drinks are made from all natural ingredients. But, there is also more.  Did you watch BBC News’ On the Road With… An Entrepreneur last weekend? It was featuring a day in the life of Richard Reed, one of the founders of Innocent, and that brought them to Find Your Feet’s offices. This is because not only are they making delicious drinks and other stuff, the company has been supporting Find Your Feet’s work in India since 2004.   

There’s a lot of debate about CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), and sometimes it is not easy to know whether a company uses CSR for pure branding reasons, or if they really want their support to matter. In the Innocent case, 10% of their profit goes to charity, most of it through an independent foundation called the Innocent Foundation.  

Innocent drinks set up the Innocent Foundation to offer long-term support to the places where they source their ingredients. India is one of these places, and also one of the countries Find Your Feet works in. Amongst other things, Innocent Foundation has supported our work with the organization Pepus, in rural Allahabad that works with improving livelihoods for Dalits through sustainable agriculture. For every £1 the foundation has donated, it has unlocked £3 from the EU. This way the project has grown from working in 10 to 63 villages, benefiting a total of 26,800 people.  Over the years the foundation’s funding of our start-up projects has enabled us to successfully apply for almost £1million in grants from the Big Lottery Fund and DFID.

What is more important is what these figures mean on the ground. The support from Innocent Foundation has been vital in enabling FYF to develop innovative new projects, expand on existing work and improve the long-term impact of our work so thousands more families have the opportunity to build the skills and confidence to lift themselves out of poverty.

One of the reasons why the partnership with Innocent foundation has such an impact, is that we share some important principles and values. Both Find Your Feet and Innocent Foundation believe that sustainability and working with local communities is imperative to both fight poverty and conserve our natural resources. Moreover, getting funding for three years at a time means that we are able to plan ahead, and focus more long-term than we would be able to if the funding was for shorter periods.

Also important is the flexibility the foundation has shown. Initially the support from Innocent went to a project called Sabla in Uttar Pradesh. However, when this project was on its feet and we secured alternative long term funding for it, we suggested to move the funding to another project where it was needed more strongly. Being able to discuss different options and having a dialogue on where the money can best be used, is beneficial for the local communities we work with. 

Clearly, CSR does not always have the same outcomes as in this case, but this goes to show that with the right intentions, and good collaboration, it can really go a long way. 

Read more about Innocent foundation here.
Read more about our work in India here.

Watch On the Road With… An Entrepreneur here (only available a few more days, so hurry!)

REDD: What would it mean for the tribal communities?

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At a first glance Reducing Carbon Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) seems to be the ideal solution for conserving the forest environment and tackling climate change, what with its attractive incentives, mutual benefits and ‘green’ goals. With its innovative approach, it plays by the rules of the free market. REDD aims to increase the value of trees as standing rather than cut, the idea being that if people are rewarded for managing the forest, they will have more incentive to sustain it.

Tribal man in Chhattisgarh - What will REDD do for him?

REDD is an initiative adopted by several countries and could rapidly become a global strategy, as the likes of UNEP and World Bank are encouraging countries to employ it.

The Indian government is very keen to use REDD strategies to sustain its forests. But have they considered the sustainability of the livelihoods of adivasis, where forest produce is their sole source of income?

Living on the fringes of society tribal people struggle to make sure that their rights are fulfilled. For instance, the 2006 Forest Rights Act gives land rights, use rights and protection and conservation rights to forest dwellers and people dependent on forest resources. These individual and community rights are either not acknowledged or are simply repressed by the government officials, which indicates that REDD will merely increase the rate of land grabbing and illegal eviction of indigenous people, leaving them even more deprived and vulnerable than before.

What the REDD scheme overlooks is the motivation factor i.e. financial gain. This is an arena waiting to be exploited by large corporations and corrupt government officials. Rewards of finance and carbon credits will encourage government agencies to repress the community voices and interests in order to give private companies access to the forest lands.

Further commodification of forest resources, according to REDD’s strategy, is not the solution. An effective method for tackling these issues would be to ensure that the government of India implements and respects the existing legislations in India.

Astami Sarder - Will she be able to participate in devising REDD strategies?


REDD is rapidly becoming an influential strategy. But who will reap the benefits? The impoverished communities who are marginalised from mainstream dominant society or the powerful players who would be able to manipulate the game and exploit the loopholes for financial profits?

Participation of tribal people in any decisions made about forest management is the legitimate way to control climate change. Otherwise, however noble the intention may be, climate justice will inevitably lead to grave injustice to the tribal people.

Re-evaluating tribal communities

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This piece was posted by Tahsina, FYF Trusts and Communications Intern in London:

Tribal women in Chattisgarh, India

Starting my voluntary position at Find Your Feet has been indeed inspiring. While I read about the key issues surrounding Find Your Feet’s projects, the programmes about Tribal People in India (adivasis) grabbed my attention, which is an issue very close to my heart.

I first started thinking about tribal people when I touched upon the topic in my Master’s course in Gender and International Development. Being someone who feels a strong connection and oneness with nature, I could understand their passion for their surroundings and their way of living. In a rapidly globalising world where cultures from most regions of the world are slowly coming together and meshing into one, where modernism has led to universalism, one learns to value diversity.

Besides their unique cultures and traditions, indigenous knowledge is something that is easily forgotten. The experience of the local people, along with the knowledge that has been handed down through generations can be easily overlooked by the desire to use the most technologically advanced techniques in managing natural resources. There is a clear need to open our minds to learning from tribal people and how they manage nature.

What seems to be problematic, however, is the injustice that the general disregard for the lifestyles and livelihoods of the indigenous people engenders. Indigenous people have been marginalised and their environments have been intruded upon by dominant socio-political groups in many parts of India, resulting in a lack of social, political, community and individual rights and trapping them into an inter-generational cycle of poverty. To break this cycle, it is crucial that they regain access to their rights and that they are able to reclaim their ownership.

Find Your Feet employs a bottom-up approach where individuals in tribal communities engage in making decisions that affect their lives, thereby returning power into their hands.

It is vital that the tribal communities are provided with access to safe drinking water, healthcare and education. But I have always wondered why tribal people are seen just as an ‘under privileged’ community. With the privilege of their breadth of knowledge passed on through the generations, isn’t it about time that they be supported to take matters into their own hands and get their voices heard?

On that note I wonder what the effect of global agreements like Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation of forests (REDD) will have on the ability of tribal communities to make sure their voices are heard. Will it have a positive or a negative effect on the poverty they face?

“Go Slow” Communication

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Happy New Year! As London looks set to grind to a halt (snow again!) I am gradually picking up pace as my previously daunting e-mail inbox reduces in size.

Among the e-mails about stationery offers and places in running events I recieved this fascinating piece about the Santali tribe (Jharkhand, North India) and “Darwak” communication from the staff at our India office.

As we head beyond the noughties and ever deeper into the technological speed of the 21st century I think it is a nice trigger for reflection on ‘go slow’ style communication. In fact a friend of mine is writing a book on exactly that – practical ways to ‘simplify’ things like that e-mail inbox!

Tribal Women, Jharkhand

There is always something to learn and unlearn during periodic visits to project areas. One such learning is about ‘Darwak’ which is about ancient method of Santal communication system. It was though to explore more about Darwak to reveal the richness of Santal tribal culture.

The term “Darwak” refers to communicate or to broadcast the information. The Santal tribe uses this traditional mode of communication even today in some of their occasions. The person using this mode would tie Saal leaves to his stick and wander in the local haat . The person would silently fly each leaf and people around would ask “what is the message”. Only upon asking the person would pass the message.

Types of Darwak -

1. Mode- Manjhi Darwak – This kind is used when five Heads of the village sit together to resolve any arguments. The messenger ties five leaves on his stick and wanders from one market to the other. Only when asked he would speak out the message.

2. Disom Manjhi Darwak – Disom refers to ten. This kind is used when ten Heads are called to resolve an argument. The messenger carries ten leaves on his stick and looking at the seriousness of the matter more Heads could be called to solve the problem. In this case the messenger would carry as many leaves matching the number of the Heads. This makes the Heads clear that the problem is really a serious one.

3. Sandera Bir Darwak (collective hunting)- This method of communication is used to inform the date and place for collective hunting in which only men participate. It has been observed that more than twenty five thousand men have participated in collective hunting using this mode of communication.

4. Darwak for Missing People – This kind is used when someone family member or cattle goes missing or gets stolen. In this method the number of leaves on the messenger’s stick is indefinite and at the same time currency notes are tied with the leaves. Currency notes are given away to the person as gift who gives information about the missing person or the animal.

5. Darwak for celebration/fair and sports event- This kind of communication is used to spread the information regarding any fair, any sports event or any kind of celebration.

Tenure in REDD: Start-point or afterthought?

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As new mechanisms for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ (REDD) are being negotiated in international climate change talks, resource tenure must be given greater attention. Tenure over land and trees – the systems of rights, rules, institutions and processes regulating their access and use – will affect the extent to which REDD and related strategies will benefit, or marginalise, forest communities.

This report by Lorenzo Cotula and James Mayers aims to promote debate on the issue. Drawing on experience from seven rainforest countries (Brazil, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guyana, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea), the report develops a typology of tenure regimes across countries, explores tenure issues in each country, and identifies key challenges to be addressed if REDD is to have equitable and sustainable impact.

Tenure in REDD: Start-point or afterthought?

Learning from the Environmentalism of the Poor

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Our India office recently sent us the encouraging news that the Uttarakhand state government (India) will fully implement the Forest Rights Act 2006. As a result the tribal people of Uttarakhand will finally regain access to the land on which their livelihood and way of life has depended for centuries. Visit our website to read more.

This is an important development not only for tribal people but for all of us.

Deforestation, which causes almost a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, makes a significant contribution to climate change. As I have been reading recently many believe that by fully including tribal (indigenous) people in talks about climate change and by affording them full legal rights to the land on which they depend, we will be helping to secure the future of forests.

Custodians and managers of forest biodiversity

“Respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment.” The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The tropical and subtropical forest is home to 160 million indigenous people who are seen by many scientists as custodians and managers of forest biodiversity.

I recently read an interesting article in the New Internationalist by Indian environmentalist Sunita Narain. She writes that “the challenge is for us to find ways of learning from the environmentalism of the poor….they have a different relationship with their environment. They live on and off it – the land, the forests. The destruction of the environment affects livelihoods and lives and not just lifestyles.” For indigenous people then, “the non-felling of sacred trees and rules about harvesting of forest products were ingrained as religious rituals rather than understood as conservation methods.” (Aparna Pallavi, Down to Earth)

These observations are confirmed by a World Bank study ‘Forest Reform in India.’ The study found that, where governments had increased the rights of forest communities to use and manage forest resources, community incomes had not only increased, but forest cover had improved.

So where are the voices of indigenous people in climate talks?

A couple of days ago the former US vice-president Al Gore told the World Economic Forum at Davos that President Obama is serious about finding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol at a Copenhagen climate summit in December. This is encouraging news.

However the December 2008 UN climate talks in Poznan, an important precursor to Copenhagen, were met with widespread disappointment. Despite the fact that the UN climate convention is now deemed to be in a better position to disperse funds to developing countries that need to adapt to the effects of climate change, the lack of genuine inclusion of indigenous peoples in the talks was criticized.

According to Haider Rizvi at OneWorld.Net the world’s indigenous leaders at the 2008 World Summit of Indigenous Cultures, pointed out that global initiatives to reduce carbon emissions are failing to take into account the interests of indigenous communities. “This is occurring despite the fact that indigenous peoples are suffering the most from climate change and climate change mitigation projects that directly impact their lands.” Alfred Ilenre of the Edo People of Nigeria

The tools are there….let’s push for change!

In an article posted on Indigenous Issues today Bharti Chhiber writes that whilst frameworks are available for the “protection of this rare knowledge of indigenous communities…. it is always in the implementation part that we lag behind.(Bharti Chhiber)

Our partners in India showed that, by working together people can effectively call on government to carry out their promises.

My reading these past few weeks has led me to ask how we can work better together to push for change. As Jess Worth writes in an article in the New Internationalist: “Humanity has never faced such an all-encompassing crisis…..But, whilst daunting, this is also an enormous opportunity. Can a global movement for justice succeed?….We have no choice but to try.”