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
Brass smiths of Parev brave hardships to keep traditional craft alive
Despite lack of essential infrastructure, no government support and highly erratic power supply, artisanal brass utensil makers in Bihar have overcome huge odds and flourished, providing livelihoods to many rural households
Enterprising Odisha women take to selling fish to improve lives
Women in Odisha’s coastal fishing villages have turned to selling fish and value-added fishery products after eliminating middlemen and abolishing the home brewing of country liquor, the root cause of their problems
Kantha embroidery empowers women in rural Bengal
A single woman’s journey to earn a dignified livelihood has today evolved into a revival of the traditional Kantha embroidery that has led to empowerment of rural women in West Bengal
Drumstick cultivation boosts farm incomes in drought-prone Solapur
Perfectly adapted to dry land farming, the nutrient-rich moringa has become the crop of choice among many farmers in drought-prone Solapur, earning them a steady income throughout the year
Watermelons stem distress migration in Odisha’s hunger belt
Forced to migrate due to poverty and recurrent droughts, and with no better life in faraway brick kilns, farmers in western Odisha have turned to watermelon cultivation, reaping rich benefits
Manipuri women revive village republics for all-round development
Despite dwindling forest resources that had traditionally sustained them, villagers in Churachandpur district of Manipur have successfully shifted to growing new crops, and are now exploring new livelihood options
Farmers reclaim fallow land to cultivate rice in Kerala
In a landscape dominated by cash crops, many farmers in Kerala have started growing paddy on land lying fallow for decades after being encouraged by the state government to cultivate on barren fields
An ancient art is earning modern dividends in Khasi Hills
From being one of the poorest areas of Meghalaya, Umden in Ri Bhoi has emerged as the epicenter of ethical sericulture and Eri silk weaving, thanks to the persistence of women practicing the traditional art
Goats and poultry help tribal women turnaround impoverished lives
Poverty-stricken women in the semi-arid regions of West Bengal and Jharkhand, used to subsisting on meager incomes, have defied huge odds and transformed their lives by rearing goats and poultry