Permagardens for the Baiga: Food Sovereignty in Madhya Pradesh, India

The Baiga Tribe: Fighting Climate Change in Central India

For a thousand years, the Baiga tribe has called the forests of Umaria District, Madhya Pradesh, home. Renowned across India as skilled "bone-setters" and healers, they've built their culture around traditional herbal medicine and deep knowledge of the land.

Today, that heritage faces an existential threat. Scorching temperatures exceeding 115°F from April through June have devastated the region, while severe water scarcity compounds the crisis. Families are fragmenting as men migrate thousands of miles away for construction work—sometimes disappearing for half a year—leaving women to feed their children with dwindling resources.

The Baiga are essentially abandoned by government services. No functional health centers exist. Schools stand empty, with teachers never arriving. Roads crumble unmaintained, and critical water infrastructure remains absent.

Beginning in May 2025, a local Umaria-based community-based organization, followers of Gandhi, and with support from The Permagardens Foundation, began to train the community, 85% of them women, in Permagardens. Based on a proven approach with 30 years of research and history behind it, a Permagarden makes it possible for a family to grow enough food for the entire family, including during dry seasons and drought, on a four-meter by four-meter square of land next to a home. The technique essentially involves building a watertank underneath raised beds, improved with wood ash and cow manure, using bio-intensive growing techniques. The beds are protecting from floods by a series of berms, and water is directed under the gardens by a series of swales. The only technology required is a shovel. Food is not intended for the market, though surpluses are often sold so that families can purchase necessities. In the first year of the project, 1,200 gardens have been established. Child malnutrition has virtually disappeared from these families, and vitamin A-rich vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes) have prevented child stunting. Surveys of each family are conducted, before the gardens are established, and after the first dry season. Here is a testimony from Phool Bai Singh, one of the women, and now one of our trainers: My name is Phool Bai Singh, and I am from Madhya Pradesh in central India.

I am very happy to connect with all of you. I do not speak English, so I am sharing my thoughts with the help of translation. After learning about Permagardens in India, I started my first permagarden at my home. I felt very happy because it allowed me to provide nutritious, home-grown vegetarian food to my children on a daily basis. Inspired by this, I began introducing permagardens to tribal communities. We started this as a campaign so that every family could ensure nutritious food for their children. Today (in April), I am proud to share that, together with our team, we have supported 759 families in establishing permagardens. The results have been very positive and inspiring:

• Children in these families now have access to regular and nutritious food.
• Women are taking leadership and teaching other families how to create permagardens.
• Families are becoming capable of paying their children’s school fees.
• There is an overall improvement in family health.
• Community seed banks are being established, promoting self-reliance.
• New local trainers are emerging within the community.
• People are gaining better knowledge of nutrition, of traditional and indigenous farming practices, and of local foods.
• It is helping in preventing child stunting and malnutrition. This is not just a garden, but a powerful step towards nutrition, self-reliance, and a dignified life through food sovereignty. We now have a coordinator for the entire project, and five full-time volunteers.