Authors:

Udit Maheshwari, Amit Kumar, Mohanasundari Thangavel

Abstract:

India holds the second largest position in terms of the tribe’s population in the world. Due to rapid urbanisation and the fall of areas covered by forest, the majority of tribal people have started to migrate from forest areas to urban/rural areas. These tribes are witnessing a sharp change in consumption patterns, creating a huge lacuna between consumption patterns in the present time compared to earlier periods. Despite having the highest population, the tribe’s consumption patterns, and dietary changes are understudied. This paper tried to fill this gap by assessing the food consumption pattern of tribal communities in India’s Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states. Also, it analyses the change in consumption expenditure of tribal communities in the study area.

This study is based on descriptive analysis, which analyses the primary data, including a sample size of 115 households from four tribal communities (87 male and 28 female) living in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh and Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh states of India. The major findings show that consumption patterns changed from forest-based, diversified, more nutritional commodities to a monotonous system followed by common people. Also, consumption is reduced in many categories, particularly in Madhya Pradesh state. The main factors contributing to these changes are less access to free forest resources, less employment opportunities combined with low wage rates, more dependence on the public distribution system etc. The study suggests suitable policy measures to improve the nutritional security and livelihoods of tribes in India. 

Keywords:

Indian Tribes, Tribal consumption pattern, Nutritional choices, Tribal diet, Food Spending Pattern, Food Frequency.

Vol & Issue:

VOL.16, ISSUE No.1, March 2024