Journal of Land and Rural Studies

Nearly 9 per cent of India’s population comprises tribal communities, with the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat accounting for more than half of the nation’s total tribal population. Odisha, second only to Chhattisgarh, has the most significant tribal population, making up 23 per cent of the state’s total population and encompassing 62 distinct tribal groups. Despite over seven decades of tribal development initiatives, these communities face persistent challenges of underdevelopment, poverty and indebtedness. This study examines how integrated land use planning, soil and water conservation, and agro-forestry practices can enhance agrarian livelihoods and ensure food and nutritional security among tribal households in Koraput, Odisha. It highlights the significance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as essential sources of food, fibre, fuel, medicine and income. NTFPs contribute substantially to rural livelihoods by offering diverse resources such as bamboo, honey, fruits and roots. The article assesses how NTFPs support tribal communities amid land pressures and marginalisation, drawing on primary data from interviews and secondary sources.

Opportunities for rural livelihood are primarily influenced by a region’s location, level of development, access to land, resource allocation status and the prevailing socio-economic complexity. Securing the basic necessities of life becomes difficult in rural areas characterised by backwardness, uncertainty and vulnerability, which calls for rural development to strengthen the fight against poverty. The Assam–Bhutan border is one of the most underdeveloped border regions of India, severely affected by economic constraints, ethnic conflicts and most importantly, it has historically been a shelter for rebels hiding out in the region’s dense forests. This article presents an exploratory village-level case study along the Assam–Bhutan border. The study sought to gain in-depth insights into the livelihood system, rural struggle and responses to pressures and adversity. The study sheds light on forest dwellers’ challenges in securing their land rights and sustaining their livelihood. The study reveals that the villagers’ options for a living are limited and are further exacerbated by the temporary possession of land and the constant fear of eviction. The primary source of livelihood is agriculture. Another source of income is informal trading in the form of weekly and daily markets. The survival of the regional economy entirely depends on the influx of customers from neighbouring Bhutan’s border villages.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play a significant role in meeting the needs of tribal communities, particularly in the areas of health care, eradicating poverty and enhancing the standard of living. The primary occupation of Tripura’s tribes has been collecting NTFPs for many years. Given the significance of NTFPs, the current study focuses on analysing the constraints encountered by the indigenous people in the activity of NTFPs. The four districts of Tripura state were the location of the current study. A sample of 400 tribal households has been taken for the study. The primary survey was conducted through a structured questionnaire during 2022–2023. To measure the respondents opinions on different constraints in NTFP utilisation, a Likert scale was used for scaling the attitudes of the tribal respondents, and principal component analysis was used for identifying the determining constraints in NTFPs, which helps to investigate the underlying structure in the pattern of correlation between several variables. There are 28 constraints observed in the study, and out of those, seven major factor components were found; these are the constraints related to government regulation and intervention, market infrastructure, awareness of NTFP user guidance and technique, awareness of the value of NTFP products, lack of marketing functions, inadequate financial assistance, the application of the act and government support. The issue had an impact on the amount of NTFPs collected, the involvement of young people as NTFP collectors and the income of tribe members.

Drip irrigation method (DMI) is a water-saving technology introduced during the 1990s to reduce water consumption in crop cultivation in India. Because of various promotional schemes with heavy capital subsidies, the area under the DMI has increased from 70,589 hectares in 1991–1992 to about 5.96 million hectares in 2019–2020 in India. Though studies are available on the benefits of DMI, not many studies have attempted to find out the financial viability of DMI in water-intensive sugarcane crop cultivation using the discounted cash flow technique. In this study, therefore, we attempt to empirically examine the financial viability of DMI using field survey data collected from 300 sample farmers in Tamil Nadu, a large state in South India. The study shows that while saving the cultivation cost by about 19 per cent, water consumption by about 48 per cent and electricity use by about 728 kWh/acre (1 acre = 4,047 m²), the adoption of DMI helps increase the productivity of sugarcane by about 38 per cent over the same crop cultivated under flood method of irrigation (FMI). The net present worth and benefit-cost ratio estimated at different discount rates using discounted cash flow technique confirm that the investment in DMI is financially viable for farmers.

Land in South Africa is a contentious and emotive issue. The post-apartheid state has had the difficult task of redistributing and restoring land to those who were illegally dispossessed during apartheid. A lot of young people have inherited landlessness as their parents were part of the generation that mainly lost its land through forced removals. This article emanates from a doctoral thesis which utilises a qualitative approach to understand the role of youth farming in South Africa’s land reform context. An analysis of the youth perspectives shared in the expropriation of land without compensation public debates is done alongside those of the youths studied. Results showed that young people were frustrated by the delay in accessing quality productive land, which they felt was a result of post-apartheid systemic oppression. The youths viewed land as a source of economic empowerment, a birthright for citizens and a means to increased market share during COVID-19. A youth-inclusive approach to land reform and transformation will go a long way towards empowering and increasing the competitiveness of young people, as they are future food producers.

Based on unit-level data from seven rounds of the Periodic Labour Force Surveys in India, our article examines the pattern of employment and earnings of the workforce in Uttarakhand between 2017–2018 and 2023–2024. With emphasis on rural women, it investigates whether the increase in employment is translating into improved economic conditions for its working people. The low and declining levels of real income of self-employed rural women—the main driver of the increase in female employment—manifest a worsening of their economic condition in the 6 years between 2017–2018 and 2023–2024. The article further explores the reasons underlying the persistence of self-employment as the dominant employment status among women. It highlights the asymmetry in gender roles within the household that leads to asymmetry in labour market outcomes outside the household. While men can, and indeed do, take up paid employment outside of their homes, the disproportionately high burden of unpaid domestic duties and caregiving work on women is a major obstacle that prevents them from taking up more lucrative paid employment opportunities, thereby confining them to the self-employed status. Simultaneously, the lack of remunerative employment opportunities for both men and women points towards an urgent need for state intervention to address the crucial issue of providing remunerative jobs, especially for women in a state where both farm and non-farm employment opportunities are extremely limited.