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
Monkeys damage cashew plantations, cause fever outbreak
Fear of monkeys has gripped cashew farmers and migrant workers in Goa, as the simians have turned cashew plantations into a feeding ground, destroying the crop and transmitting a virus through ticks
The unending saga of farm distress in India
Farmers in India will continue to suffer unless there is a fundamental change in the pro-urban policy bias of propping up unsustainably low food prices
Temple carvers unite against scourge of silicosis
Three out of every 10 stone-carving workers in Rajasthan, who build temples, are facing death due to silicosis. They are now unionizing to demand freedom from disease and for dignity in god’s work
Kamrup women lead Eri silk revival for improved livelihoods
Linking markets with traditional Eri silk weavers in many parts of Assam, non-profit organization Grameen Sahara has enabled thousands of village women to boost their household incomes
Bengal farmers conserve heritage rice against climate vagaries
Going against the general preference for high-yielding rice, some marginal farmers in Bankura have started conserving, documenting and propagating traditional rice varieties that are on the brink of extinction
Pipli craftsmen adapt to modern needs for better prospects
Despite falling demand, applique craftsmen and traders of Pipli in Odisha are trying to ensure that their handicraft evolves to satisfy changing aesthetic needs, with hopes for a better future
Winter farming technologies boost incomes in cold desert
With the farming season limited to just four months in Ladakh, villagers have turned to innovative, low-cost technologies to grow vegetables in winter that improves diets and boosts incomes, but smallholder farmers need post-harvest support
Bhimashankar villagers multiply indigenous seeds
A school in Pune has got a rural community together to cultivate indigenous rice, millets and pulses, and helps them market the native varieties in order to conserve and propagate them
Mountain farmers adapt to life beyond apples
As impacts of climate change and unwise human interventions push traditional farmers in Uttarakhand to the wall, they are adapting by embracing new crops and livelihoods