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
Multiple post-pandemic measures will stabilize farm economy
Farm sector faces challenges of workforce shortage and disrupted supply chain. Multiple measures by government can stabilize farm economy and sustain everyone in food production
Use of machaan for mixed cropping boosts farmers’ income
Smallholder farmers utilize space efficiently, growing creepers on machaan and shade-loving plants underneath. This mixed cropping with different growth period eliminates risk and improves farm income
After lockdown distress, villagers are unwilling to migrate again
Having suffered during the lockdown, villagers do not wish to migrate again to cities for work. This would impact the rural as well as urban economy
Misconceptions about COVID-19 result in poultry value chain erosion – II
The poultry value chain suffered a macro tragedy due to rumors linking the pandemic and chicken consumption. Compensation to women poultry farmers, infusion of capital and logistics permission can restore the sector
Thousands of smallholder women poultry farmers lose business to coronavirus misconceptions – I
More than ten thousand tribal and Dalit small holder poultry farmers who had successfully built cooperative enterprise and escaped poverty, were forced to cull chickens due to rumors linking spread of coronavirus to chicken consumption
Social capital enables tomato farmers to sell produce during lockdown
A federation of farmer producer companies has coordinated with a few organizations, helping farmers sell their produce at reasonable rates, by supplying vegetables to consumers through multiple channels
New seedless grape variety shows enormous export potential
A new seedless variety developed by a farmer-innovator of Maharashtra has better qualities than existing varieties and is a big draw in the export market
Fishermen brace themselves to sail through COVID-19 storm
With the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, fishermen and women whose livelihood depend on a daily catch find it hard to meet household needs
सालभर बीहू के इंतज़ार में सामूहिक बुनाई करने वाली मिशिंग महिलाएं अब अकेले कर रहीं बुनाई
आमतौर पर सामुदायिक केंद्र में, समूहों में पारम्परिक कपड़े बुनने वाली मीशिंग जनजाति की महिलाएं, अब घर पर ही अकेले बुनाई करती हैं, ताकि सोशल डिस्टैन्सिंग के माध्यम से कोरोना वायरस के प्रसार को रोका जा सके