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
Goa’s villagers struggle with fewer tourists
As if the COVID pandemic weren’t bad enough, the Russian war deals a harder blow to Goa’s tourism, forcing tourism-dependent villagers to find new means of income.
Chai and Bandhu brew a perfect blend for Chakla
Suspicious of his motives, his tea shop and Muslim identity, the people of Chakla village shunned Abdul Nazar until they realised his chai shop was a springboard to develop their village.
Same dam yields more fish through cage fish farming
With increasing number of fishermen vying for a catch in the same dam, their livelihood was at stake. Growing fish in cages within the dam helps the fishermen earn more.
Weaving a way out of destitution
Weaving indigenous handloom clothes offers destitute women and those who have been trafficked a safe and stable livelihood in the hills of Darjeeling.
Floods in Assam fan out to new areas, cause more harm
While the intense rains and obstructions on river courses cause floods in Assam, the flood waters enter new territories, causing more damage than before.
A thousand ponds for this Maharashtrian village’s vineyards
When switching from water-intensive crops to grapes didn’t solve problems for farmers in drought-prone Manerajuri, they found a sustainable water source by digging farm ponds and harvesting rainwater.
“Assam’s worst flood in four decades”
The floods in Assam have caused major disruptions to human life. Village Square speaks to Jyotishmoy Deka and Rajdeep Sarkar of Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF) , who are involved with flood relief work in Bodoland Tribal Region (BTR).
Gasoo – the strawberry bowl of Kashmir
Farmers who once grew paddy are tasting commercial success after switching to strawberry cultivation, making Gasoo village a hub that supplies strawberries to almost the entire valley.
West Bengal’s flower trade booms beyond state borders
With growing demand for flowers from the north-eastern states, and government initiatives to boost floriculture and inter-state trade, flower cultivators and traders are reaping the benefits.