Remembering Debjeet Sarangi, Defender of Adivasi Knowledge and Heritage https://thewire.in/rights/living-farms-debjeet-sarangi-obituary
Sarangi's Living Farms gave countless people a glimpse of a new worldview – that of the Kondh communities of Odisha – as well as inspiration to protect it.
Malnutrition, the essential issue that Debjeet and Living Farms sought to address, required a mix of strategies – biodiverse ecological agricultural pathways, forest food pathways, nutritious kitchen gardens – as well as securing state-based entitlements and services for healthcare.
Through its research, Living Farms brought to light the rich wealth of uncultivated forest foods, and a key perspective that forestry approaches have to adopt: of forests as food-producing habitats. They demonstrated how intensified yet sustainable “dongar chassi” (upland farming, which is often shifting) can lead to better diets for Adivasi communities.