Mising weavers intertwine technology with traditional skills

Technology has helped Mising women turn traditional weaving skills into a viable livelihood. (Photo by Abdul Hamid)

Living in flood-prone areas of Assam with no alternate sustenance options, women of Mising tribal community have upgraded their traditional handloom weaving skills, and have adapted to market needs for a lucrative livelihood

Forest food ensures nutritional security of Odisha’s tribes

Kondh tribal women cannot imagine life without their forest that ensures their food and nutritional security. (Photo by Basudev Mahapatra)

Access to naturally grown forest produce would go a long way in protecting tribal communities in Odisha from the worst impacts of climate change and supply them with all that they need for sustenance

Assam youth are netting healthy incomes from fish seeds

Producing fish seeds provides a sustainable livelihood to unemployed youth in Assam. (Photo by Abdul Mannan Choudhury)

Taking advantage of the plentiful water bodies in Assam, the production and supply of fertilized fish eggs has emerged as a promising and sustainable livelihood for unemployed youth in rural Assam

Rural women start bank for economic transformation

Visibility and confidence of women have increased in Koni village. (Photo by Tarun Kanti Bose)

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

Rearing fish in farm ponds boosts rural incomes

Participants at an inland fish-farming workshop watch a demonstration. (Photo by Kharland Research Centre)

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

Traditional wooden dolls adorn a shelf in Channapatna. (Photo by Chithra Ajith)

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

How distressed rural migrants shelter in cities

In a roadside ghetto, Akila Bibi and others after a day’s hard work, separating white paper shreds from the colored ones for recycling. Earning Rs 3 a kg, they manage 30 kg to 50 kg a day. (Photo by Manipadma Jena)

Flood and drought often drive the rural poor to cities. Those who are landless often stay on. Risking lives under the open sky, they hope a city’s many work opportunities will help them survive somehow

Children do not smile in Dhanbad villages

Fluorosis has crippled 68-year-old Himanshu Chakarbarty, a resident of high fluoride-affected Brahman Tola in Dhanbad district. (Photo by Eklavya Prasad)

High fluoride content in groundwater is crippling entire generations in several Dhanbad villages, which are full of unsmiling children ashamed of showing stained teeth, an early stage of the debilitating disease