Life skills education prevents child marriages among Odisha tribes

Photograph © Basudev Mahapatra.

Life skills education empowers tribal girls with knowledge, self-awareness and decision making capacities, helping them rise above social customs and pressures. It has resulted in decline of child marriages

Return of indigenous crops helps reduce farm distress and restore ecosystems

Earthen pots with indigenous seeds arranged at the seed festival in Nayagarh district, Odisha. © Basudev Mahapatra.

The futility of the teak forest in Kandhamal

Teak plantation forests lack in biodiversity as no other plant grows under teak trees. © Basudev Mahapatra

Bhubaneswar needs to act fast to achieve sustainability

© Basudev Mahapatra

Bhubaneswar, set to transform into a smart city, is facing cyclonic storms and experiencing extreme weather events more frequently than a few decades ago, city dwellers observe.

Odisha's Kondh women lead a kitchen revolution in their backyards

Overcoming taboos and becoming more knowledgeable about abundant local foods, malnourished Kondh people in Odisha are bringing diversity to their food baskets through backyard kitchen gardens

Kaikeyi Majhi of Kalahandi's Kamegaon village irrigates
her kitchen garden. © Basudev Mahapatra

“Unless we consume a variety of foods that include vegetables and greens, pulses and legumes, and meat and fish along with rice, where will we get adequate nutrition? How can our children have proper physical and cognitive growth?” asked Golapi Kanhar.

The question from Golapi Kanhar (35) of remote Kasirikhol village in Kandhamal district, a Kondh woman with primary education, reflects increasing awareness about nutrition and food diversity within the community.