How a leaf could change the fortunes of India's poorest communities

In 2011-12, in India, 45.3 per cent of over 93.8 million tribals lived under the rural poverty line of Rs 27, while 24.1 per cent of 10.4 million tribals lived under the urban poverty line of Rs 33

One nippy November morning, Gopal Kumeti picked up a brown, rough fruit from the ground, resembling chickoo (sapodilla). “This is the fruit of the tendu tree. When dried, it remains good for 4-5 months. People who did not have enough grain, used to survive on this. It has become a rarity in the last 30-35 years because tendu is not allowed to grow like this,” said Kumeti, head of a federation of gram sabhas (village committees) in eastern Maharashtra, pointing to the tall tendu tree with a distinctively