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
Villagers face eviction near Panna forest reserve
The residents of Rampura, a small village in the buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, have been asked to move. But, they say, with no allocation of alternative land, they have nowhere to go
Is farmer income support a sustainable solution?
Income support to smallholder farmers is similar to palliative measures like minimum support prices or loan waivers that do not address the problem of an unsustainable population living on a fixed resource base
Irrigation key to fighting poverty in Kandhamal
Groundwater recharge in Kandhamal’s undulating terrain and pumps to lift water are needed to break the nexus between lack of irrigation and poverty in this seriously underdeveloped area of Odisha
Tamil women bank on herbs to boost income
Women in rural Villupuram have quit working as farm labor and have become herbal entrepreneurs to conserve traditional knowledge, revive use of healthy herbs and boost household incomes
Healthcare of elderly suffers with youth migration
With little livelihood opportunities in villages, the youth in rural Maharashtra migrate to cities, leading to delayed healthcare of elderly dependents and increased medical expenses
Kashidakari women look to grow embroidery earnings
Women in Jodhasar, who have begun embroidering for a living by putting traditional skills they used for embellishing personal clothing to good use, need better market linkages to boost incomes
Beedi rolling robs Murshidabad girls of their childhood
Young girls in rural Murshidabad are pushed by their parents to roll beedis, the poor man’s cigarette, at the cost of their schooling because being able to earn improves their marriage prospects
Palakkad’s priestly community encash culinary tradition
Priests from Tamil Nadu, who migrated to Kerala for temple duties centuries ago, have put their culinary skills to good use, augmenting household incomes and the local economy
Seed guardians of Banswara revive traditional varieties
Village women in Banswara district of Rajasthan are setting an example as organic farmers by adopting and spreading awareness to revive indigenous varieties of crops that boost nutritional security