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
Community seed banks help conserve climate-resilient crops
Combining community knowledge and scientific ways, farmers conserve stress-tolerant landraces in their fields, and distribute the seeds to other farmers through community seed banks
Empowered women dairy farmers create ripple effect
With the development of dairy cooperatives, some exclusively for women, dairy farming which supplemented agricultural income has led to full-fledged businesses and successful women micro-entrepreneurs
Why villagers are against a proposed marina
Government proposes to develop a marina of international standards to promote tourism. Residents of coastal villages oppose it, fearing an impact on their livelihood and the ecology
Lack of local livelihoods forces men to migrate far
With no industrial jobs, and low wages in agriculture, men from Bhagabanpur in Maldah district migrate to faraway places like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, to make a living
Constraints that prevent farmers from becoming prosperous
Land holding size, water availability, funds and markets impact farmers’ incomes. This second piece of a four-part series explores constraints and viability of mixed farming for farm prosperity
COVID-19 assistance helps villagers find a footing
Odisha Livelihood Mission’s financial support has enabled many vulnerable rural families, especially women entrepreneurs, to recover from the economic shock of the pandemic-induced lockdown
Can farmers farm for prosperity?
Those who intervene for farmers’ welfare seem to prefer maintaining the poor-farmer image than ensuring financial success. The first of a four-part series explores this aspect
Farmer runs people’s academy to share knowledge
A Pawara tribe farmer, who transformed his unproductive land and started conservation of landraces, serves as a resource person at field trainings despite lacking formal education
Alcohol addiction gives way to organic farming
Appalled by the lakhs they spent on alcohol, residents of a village vow to never touch liquor again. They turn their village into a successful organic model