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
Mutlupur farmers transform neglected wetland into integrated farm
A group of farmers have converted a shunned wetland to practice fish farming, agroforestry and horticulture, providing employment and livelihood opportunities to impoverished villagers
Poor flood planning is destroying livelihoods in south Bengal
Breach of riverbanks after torrential rains and water released from overflowing reservoirs flood southern portions of West Bengal, leading to loss of livelihoods and complete disruption of life
Women in Gir stand up for dignity of widows
Women of self-help groups in the Gir region of Gujarat are going beyond microfinance and income-generation activities to fight against social taboos attached to widows and help them lead a better life
Diminished Wular Lake threatens livelihoods
Fishing and other rural communities that have traditionally depended on Wular Lake are now struggling to earn a living from it, as shrinkage, siltation and ecological degradation take a toll on Kashmir’s largest flood basin
Maharashtra seed mother pioneers conservation of native varieties
Linking failing health to hybrid seeds, Rahibai Soma Popere of Kombhalne village in Maharashtra conserves hundreds of native varieties and encourages other farmers to grow traditional crops
Riverbank erosion no less a disaster than Assam floods
A widespread hazard like riverbank erosion, which continuously affects the poorest and the most vulnerable in the Brahmaputra River Basin in Assam, is not classified as a disaster and does not receive the swift emergency response as floods
Do farmers’ markets in cities really benefit farmers?
The recent proliferation of weekly farmers’ markets in urban areas is quite useful for consumers but their benefits to farmers are limited at best and cannot replace the practice of selling at wholesale yards
Artificial glaciers help mitigating rural water crisis in Ladakh
Faced with severe water shortage due to reduced snowfall and receding glaciers, a Ladakh village has built an artificial glacier successfully through community efforts that now fulfills all its water needs
Medicinal herbs can form a base for rural enterprises
There is a potentially large livelihoods and enterprise potential in the medicinal herbs sector, which is sadly neglected by grassroots development professionals and ignored by the government despite an acute shortage of modern healthcare services in rural India