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
Bodoland families smart under ravages of climate and conflict
A combination of ethnic conflict and climate change has pushed thousands of distressed families in western Assam towards a precarious existence
A king-sized guava that keeps farmers smiling
The VNR-Bihi variety of guava, which often weighs more than half a kilo and has a long shelf life, is being adopted by farmers across the country in large numbers as it fetches handsome returns
Organic farming fetches higher returns for Puducherry farmers
Farmers in Sorapattu village have reduced the costs of farming inputs by curbing use of chemical fertilizers and embracing integrated pest management, which has resulted in higher incomes for them
Tablet girls of Jharkhand storm digital bastion
Trained and equipped by the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society, bookkeepers of women’s self-help groups in villages are using computer tablets to maintain loan records
Bariyarpur farmers paying heavy price for Gopalganj-Bettiah bridge
Victims of ill-planned infrastructure development, villagers in this Paschim Champaran village are now forced to migrate because prime agricultural land has turned infertile. Flooding in parts of the village has increased as well, they say
Damage to Kashmiri handicrafts is affecting livelihoods
Sales of handmade Kashmiri carpets and shawls, which are the most profitable proportion of the valley’s once-thriving handicrafts industry, have declined drastically as machine-made products flood the market
Impure honey eats into small producers’ margins
Independent and small beekeepers are uniting against adulterated and diluted honey sold in the domestic market by companies fighting a price war
India should gear up for a blue revolution
The productivity of inland fisheries can be boosted massively if governments get out of the way of operations and let fish enterprises grow across India
Communities in Andhra Pradesh find success in inland fisheries
Minimal interventions in Andhra Pradesh districts such as Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, and Anantapur show that it is possible to boost the productivity of inland fisheries without too much effort