Rural India is home of the original gig-economy worker. Enterprising villagers hop from tilling fields to tending shops, to door-to-door selling each day. Read the latest trends in micro-enterprises, rural start-ups and the shifting livelihoods of India’s villagers.
Livelihoods
Protesting farmers won’t back down
Despite a victory, protesting farmers show no sign of ending their demonstration on the roads outside Delhi, with thousands heading into the capital to mark the first-year anniversary of their protest.
Women bet big on rearing rabbits
Rearing rabbits is becoming one of the most lucrative and profitable businesses for women in Nagaland thanks to the huge demand for rabbit meat and low farming costs.
Looking for gold
The gold they pan for does not bring lustre to their lives. Yet, with work hard to come by and limited water for agriculture, villagers keep looking for gold.
Early snowfall destroys apple orchards
Untimely snowfall causes extensive damage to apple orchards in southern Kashmir.
Solar “pumps” up incomes
How can farmers produce the food we eat without stable electricity for irrigation? By switching to solar-powered pumps, farmers become self-reliant and fruitful.
Lawyer-turned-farmer advocates for forest farming
Would you quit your professional job to be an organic farmer for the sake of healthier food? That’s what this Tamil farmer did – converting other farmers to his methods to boot.
Ingenious farmers breed new fruit varieties
Ever wished you could have mangoes year round, custard apples with fewer seeds or jumbo grapes? Now you can, thanks to some innovative, self-taught famers.
Walnut market a hard nut to crack
Urban India loves walnuts. But growing the tasty “super food” is labor intensive and Kashmiri walnut farmers are losing out to cheap foreign imports.
30 hours to literacy
Spending an hour every day on activities and custom-made lessons in a cheerful environment helps migrant workers of all ages come out of literacy poverty.