Click to play videoAraku Valley: Nestled in the eastern ghats of Andhra Pradesh is Araku valley, home to 2.5 lakh tribals.
What was 8000 acres of forestland was declared by the government of AP as semi wasteland six years ago.
So with their forests gone and population growing, tribals here lived below the poverty line.
That's when the Tribal Development Agency of AP, the coffee board and Naandi - a not for profit organisation intervened.
They realised that Araku had the right weather and altitude for growing coffee - a crop that would require the forest to be replanted and protected.
The agency leased out an acre of land to each of the farmers. The coffee board gave them their coffee growing expertise and Naandi helped them certify and market their produce.
"This entire area was basically organic farming so we decided to take advantage of that. We got the farmers here certified by Skal International as organic farmers,” says programme manager, Naandi, Mustaqh Khan.
The coffee grown by Araku's tribal farmers sells for a price that's double of a regular South Indian-grown coffee in the domestic market.
And by next year Naandi hopes to have Araku’s coffee certified by the fair trade organisation and packaged and branded for the international market.
So with the UN deadline of eight years for the world to battle global warming, it might be an example to learn from.
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