Policy Windows and Livelihood Futures

Urban employment and incomes are rising much faster than those in rural areas. Yet policymakers in India do not acknowledge that this growth can continue at present rates only if sufficient labour is brought in from rural areas. Policy is often characterized by piecemeal and even contradictory approaches, vainly trying to increase rural employment and incomes through programmes of a kind whose past record leaves much to be desired. This book addresses these misperceptions and identifies more realistic and practicable policies that address the massive shift in rural-urban population balance that is taking place not just in India but throughout the Asian region. Drawing together the results of village studied states-Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh-the book examines to what extent people have sought to diversify out of traditional low-productivity occupations, such as small-scale farming, farm-labouring and traditional caste occupations; the advantages and disadvantages such diversification brings; and what scope it offers for future livelihood enhancement. In this context it addresses five broad issues: Patterns of change in rural livelihoods in relation to spatial, agro-ecological, and socio-cultural aspects, including the growing role of seasonal migration, accumulative livelihood diversification out of traditional occupations or enterprises, and what can be done to promote these kinds of diversification, reasons for downward trends and efforts to mitigate and halt these trends, reaching the poor: the quality of implementation of poverty schemes, the role of panchayats in targeting support to those who need it. written by experts in agricultural economics, environment, and politics, this volume will be of interest to international donor agencies concerned with poverty, NGOs and government functionaries working on rural poverty reduction, and scholars and students researching rural development.