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
Better nurture needed for new producers’ organizations
Development professionals managing newly formed farmer producers’ organizations, while high on technical and social skills, have to be more market and management savvy to strengthen these nascent entities
Rural women start bank for economic transformation
Started by women in Chhattisgarh villages from their personal savings, the Sakhi Mahila Bank has not only boosted rural women’s income but also their confidence and economic independence
Anita Devi of Anantpur works magic with mushrooms
From an impoverished village woman to mushroom farmer and successful entrepreneur, Anita Devi has inspired hundreds of women in Nalanda to adopt the profitable venture of mushroom cultivation
Widowed by silicosis, women of Odisha village await justice
Young men, who joined a pyrophillite grinding factory dreaming of a better future, succumbed to silicosis, leaving families struggling for survival and justice
Farmers are making Kashmir a land of honey
Farmers growing fruits and vegetables in Kashmir are doubling as beekeepers to boost their incomes, taking advantage of vast tracts of horticultural land with their abundance of flowers
Youth trade guns for bananas in Assam
Assamese rural youth who once worked with insurgent outfits are giving up their gun-fueled violent ways and taking to banana cultivation for a peaceful and dignified livelihood
Antenatal care of producer enterprises missing in India
If producer companies that aim to benefit poor farmers are to succeed in India, critical factors such as a sense of ownership, correct assessment of economic environment and social capital need to be better thought out
Rearing fish in farm ponds boosts rural incomes
Farm ponds, built to harvest rainwater and irrigate rain-fed fields, are doubling up as fishponds, helping farmers overcome vagaries of agriculture with an additional source of income
Toy makers adapt to markets, add color to fading industry
Moving beyond toys, artisans in a Karnataka village make curios, and use new toy making and marketing methods to overcome challenges posed by cheap Chinese imports and restore the glory of Channapatna’s non-toxic wooden toys