In Search of Biohappiness:Biodiversity and Food, Health and Livelihood Security

This book by M. S. Swaminathan, based on his wide global experiences and also deep involvement in the welfare of several tribal communities in India, introduces a new concept of 'biohappiness', defined as the elated level of happiness arising from conservation, sustainable use and equitably sharing of bioresources leading to creation of more jobs and enhanced income for the local communities engaged in their traditional practices and lifestyles. It was evolved from the remarkable success of programmes undertaken by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai during the past nearly three decades in organizing and training several tribal communities, settled across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha, to become self-reliant and achieve food and livelihood security while ensuring proper functioning of ecosystems in which they live. What is really appealing and inspiring in this socio-economic transformation is that this amazing success story appears to be doable, replicable and scale-neutral.