Context

• Recently, Union Tribal Affairs Minister e-launched the tertiary processing centresof  “Trifood Project” of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh.

About the Project

• Being implemented by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with Ministry of Food Processing (MoFPI), TRIFOOD aims to enhance the income of tribals through better utilization of and value addition to the MFPs collected by the tribal forest gatherers.
• To achieve this, as a start, two Minor Forest Produce (MFP) processing units will be set up.
• The TRIFOOD project aims to converge both the components in its desired merits. In association with MoFPI, the units that will be set up under the Scheme for Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages under the Pradhan Mantri KisanSampada Yojana, will procure the raw material from the Van DhanKendras in the state.

Back to Basics

• The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ Scheme, in particular, has already emerged as a beacon of change in these unprecedented times and has positively impacted the tribal ecosystem as never before.
• Implemented by TRIFED in association with State Government Agencies across 21 states of the country.
• The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras/ tribal start-ups, also a component of the same scheme, further complements MSP beautifully as it has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans.