TRIFED

Government of India (GoI) established Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) to improve the socio-economic welfare of the tribal. TRIFED is supported by GoI under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs of India, focuses on the economy, marketing, promotion and distribution of products and livelihood of the tribal population. The products are marketed and distributed through “TRIBES India” across the country.

On focusing on economic equality, GoI established TRIFED to increase tribal economy, develop livelihood strategies, provide e-platform for global marketing, conduct training to improve skills manage and produce for bulk orders, eradicating poverty and provide better access to education and health. Though TRIFED concentrates on the things mentioned above, it plays a major role in protecting the tribal in the form of exploitation of moneylenders, landlords, contractors and officials.

TRIFED functions on the code to support the isolated and powerless individual or group by moral and mutual support and provide a platform to gain access to the material advantages to develop individual productive abilities.

Objectives of TRIFED

• To develop socio-economic of the tribal community
• To act as a facilitator and service provider for the tribal community to uplift the production
• Provide training to enhance artistic skills with modern technology to meet the requirements of the global market
• To increase the promotion of tribal art and crafts for a stable livelihood
• To identify target groups to monitor and evaluate the process and activities and provide input to the Ministry

Create Self Help Groups (SHGs) to operate in a systematic and scientific method to explore national and international markets, creating a brand and create opportunities for marketing and employment

Challenges and Need of TRIFED

Over 270 million people in India, almost 25% per cent of India’s population depend on Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP). Among the 270 million, 87 million as tribal people were depending on Minor Forest Produce (MFP) until green felling ban imposed by GoI. The ban led to decreased export and forced the regional states to compensate for the losses.

Since Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) mostly depend on the forest products, the ban resulted in a significant decrease in production, increased unemployment and the states were unable to fix Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Due to the unstableness, GoI initiated TRIFED to uplift the economy and livelihood by promoting the products created by the tribal at a global scale and set up multiple stores across India. This led to a systematic process and helped the tribal from exploitation.

TRIFED also provided support to create Start-up with training and created a platform for the marketing of MFP and Surplus Agricultural Produce (SAP). The GoI initiated the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act to further increase the marketing of agricultural products.

Outcome of TRIFED

The following were the outcome of TRIFED:

• Decreased the exploitation and the tribals were able to protect the forest reserves
• Able to create a sustainable harvesting protocol, infrastructure and adequate post-harvesting facilities
• Formed into an organised and scientific sector and created increased income, productivity and skillsets
• Increased the number of retail outlets ‘Tribes India’ throughout India
• Conducted several studies in states such as Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh to create structured data to implement schemes
• Regulated tax structure and provided education on management, research and marketing
• Provided support during volatile market conditions enabling them to continue production
• Delivered methodology to support MSP by adding labour cost, paid-out-cost and ownership or royalty through Section 3(1)c of the Forest Rights Act and Section 4 (m) of PESA.

Adopting the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to eradicate carbon emissions

To know about co-operative handloom pension, click here

Components of TRIFED

GoI funds the states of over 6000 crores to implement several schemes to improve the economy and livelihood of the tribal community. The schemes covered the cost operation, transportation, infrastructure, processing and packaging. The scheme also focused on State-wise Pricing cell based on the survey sent to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The components of TRIFED are:

1. Minor Forest Produce (MFP)

• Scheme for Minor Forest Produce (MFP)
• Research and Developments
• Support from NGOs
• Support from Suppliers

2. Minimum Support Price

• To increase the income and productivity
• To provide protection from the exploitation
• To create sustainable harvesting among the tribal community

3. Training

Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram

The training is provided on the following products

TRIFED also provides training on Handicraft and Handloom to improve the skill for mass production and on machinery.

4. MFPNET

Ministry of Tribal Affairs initiated MFPNET to include individuals, agencies and institutions to create as a hub to provide financial and knowledge source.

Click here to know about the Export Market Promotion Scheme (EMP).

5. Retail Marketing

TRIFED promotes and creates a sustainable market through retail outlets, exhibitions such as Aadishilp, Aadichitra, OCTAVE; international fairs and e-marketing.

Coverage

Since the year of establishment, TRIFED has covered the entire country to support the tribal community. The following are the list of states, TRIFED has implemented the schemes, and they are:

Eligible Criteria

The following members registered with TRIFED network are eligible to apply for all the schemes covered by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

• Individuals or Institutions
• Traders
• NGO

How to apply on TRIFED

The eligible members can click the following link to register with TRIFED by providing the required information:

Link for registering with TRIFED: http://www.trifed.in/trifed/(S(aien43cxawuejnpsa4zztrpx))/mfp_network_register.aspx

After registering with the TRIFED can buy or sell at ‘Tribes India’ or at the e-commerce platform

For more updates on business and tax solutions on ‘Tribes India’, click here.