Minor Forest Produce MFP

Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is a major source of livelihood for tribals living in forest areas.
Importance

Around 10 crore forest dwellers depend on MFPs for food, shelter, medicines and cash income.
It provides them critical subsistence during the lean seasons, particularly for primitive tribal groups such as hunter gatherers, and the landless.
Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from MFP on which they spend major portion of their time.
Women Empowerment

This activity has strong linkage to women’s financial empowerment as most of the MF s are collected and used/sold by women.

MFP sector has the potential to create about 10 million workdays annually in the country.

Value Addition

Value addition assumes critical importance in ensuring remunerative prices to the tribals.

Three stage value addition would be the corner stone for enhancing incomes of the tribals under the PM Van Dhan Yojana scheme.

Grass root level procurement is proposed to be undertaken through Self Help Groups associated with implementing agencies.
Convergence and Networking with other Govt. departments/scheme shall be undertaken to utilise the services of existing SHGs like Ajeevika, etc.

Primary processing facilities are provided in Van Dhan Vikas Kendras
It is proposed to develop 3,000 such centres in the country
Van Dhan Vikas Kendras train SHGs on sustainable harvesting/collection, primary processing & value addition and be formed into clusters so as to aggregate their stock in tradable quantity and linking them with facility of primary processing

The stock after primary processing shall be supplied by these SHGs to the State Implementing Agencies or direct tie up for supply to corporate secondary processor.
For creation of secondary level value addition facility at district level and tertiary level value addition facility at State level, Big Corporates shall be involved under PPP model.
This PPP model will be based on utilizing Private entrepreneur skills in undertaking processing as well as marketing of the produce and Central/ State Govt. support in terms of creating infrastructure and providing enabling environment for undertaking value addition of systematic scientific lines. These will be sophisticated large value addition hubs managed by Private entrepreneur.