More Menu

Rural livelihood Part - 1

byPosted at
One's livelihood is influenced by a variety of variables. The secret to ensuring everyone's livelihood is to work on each of these influencing elements. For all parties involved, achieving sustainable livelihood is the biggest obstacle. The primary duty of the state government is to ensure everyone's basic means of subsistence. There are numerous government initiatives to provide all of the country's rural residents with sustainable means of subsistence.

Content

  1. Introduction
  2. Rural livelihood 
  3. Factors of rural livelihood
  4. Sustainable rural livelihood
  5. Summary  

Introduction

For all living things, maintaining a livelihood is the primary issue. It is one of the fundamental human rights. The main requirement for human survival is livelihood. Both the means and the end of life are livelihood. It is a tool for leading a fulfilling life. As a result, it serves as the main motivator for young people. The terms livelihood and occupation are synonymous. A meaningful and productive participation in life that is both economically and socially beneficial might be operationally characterized as a livelihood. There are jobs in both the public and private sectors as well as in the government and non-governmental organizations. The four main categories of occupations are service, business, agriculture, and allied trades and crafts. Services are available in the corporate, public, semi-public, and private sectors. Services may be ongoing or one-time. Another significant vocation in the unorganized sector is self-employment or starting one's own small business. It serves as both education's main goal and main purpose.

The livelihoods of rural, urban, and tribal peoples varies significantly. The possibilities for a livelihood in cities are the most diverse and novel, whereas those for a livelihood in rural areas and among tribes are more constrained. Compared to rural areas, metropolitan areas frequently offer more regular, skilled, highly specialized, organized, formal, flexible, industrial, and economically profitable livelihood possibilities. The secondary (industrial and manufacturing) and tertiary (service and trade) sectors make up the majority of urban options. Agriculture and related occupations make up the majority of the available livelihood possibilities in rural areas. In comparison to those in metropolitan regions, they are frequently more seasonal, irregular, unstructured, informal, and economically less productive. People moving from rural to urban areas in quest of improved livelihood opportunities is known as rural to urban migration.

In the indigenous areas, there are little differences between life and a livelihood. Traditional and frequently set tribal livelihood options are available. The majority of tribal vocations are pastoral and migratory. As opposed to rural areas, where the alternatives for a livelihood are related to food production, they have food gathering as a source of livelihood. Numerous pastoral and nomadic communities settle in rural areas and develop into rural communities via the practice of agriculture and related professions. In general, tribal communities coexist peacefully with nature. Their work and personal lives are inextricably linked. Their economic situation rarely progresses from one of subsistence to one of commerce. They don't generate any excess goods in an effort to boost their wealth, revenue, or profits. The pursuit of wealth is not their top priority.

Urban and, to a lesser extent, rural jobs are geared toward the creation of wealth, money, and profit, in contrast to tribal activities. In both rural and urban areas, commercial output is prioritized in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Increasing agricultural and industrial output as well as shipping and trading surplus production to those in need throughout the world make up organized economic activity, which gives people access to regular employment possibilities. Formal possibilities for a livelihood are produced by such an economic cycle in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Regarding industrial and agricultural commercial production, sustainability is a constant concern.

One's livelihood is influenced by a variety of factors. The secret to ensuring everyone's livelihood is to work on each of these influencing factors. For all parties involved, achieving sustainable livelihood is the biggest obstacle. The primary duty of the state government is to ensure everyone's basic means of livelihood. Many government programs exist to guarantee adequate livelihood conditions for the nation's rural residents.

Rural livelihood

The practice of diverse economically useful vocations by the rural population is referred to as rural livelihood. Agriculture and related professions are the backbone of rural livelihood. The main sources of livelihood for rural residents are food and cash crops, fish farming, cattle and dairy farming, food processing, wood industries, and organized plantation activities including those for rubber, tea, cashew, coffee, cardamom, and pepper, among others. It is evident that rural livelihoods are becoming more and more urbanized and industrialized. Rural transportation, rural communication, rural health and education, rural infrastructure, export-oriented organic farming, horticulture, floriculture, etc. are just a few of the rising professions in the rural sector. Increasing rural-urban connectedness through initiatives like rurban projects opens up new opportunities for rural livelihood.

Rural and urban livelihood are closely connected and work together. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are using an urban model for economic growth. While the government launches the smart city project, it's important to remember that developed villages give rise to new towns and cities. Every village is undergoing the process of becoming a city. Migration of skilled and unskilled persons between rural and urban areas as well as between urban and rural areas is ongoing. Therefore, both rural and urban locations share a common consideration for non-agricultural occupations. The classification of non-agricultural occupations into the rural and urban sectors is arbitrary and inappropriate in the backdrop of the urbanization of rural areas. The agricultural livelihood and related professions might be considered typical rural livelihoods.

Accepting the fundamental tenet that rural livelihood is what rural populations undertake, rural livelihood can be generally divided into agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Urban residents engage in non-agricultural activities similarly. Rural livelihood is typically characterized by agricultural and related occupations. There are a lot of people working in agricultural and related industries including dairying, fish farming, and cattle breeding. The great majority of rural workers who work in agriculture and related industries are landless people. When we talk about rural livelihood, we should only include agriculture and related professions.

Rural development and rural livelihood are related. One important aspect of rural development is rural livelihood. All choices for agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood are taken into account in rural development. In ideal conditions, factors for rural and urban development are comparable, or idealized villages are comparable to idealized cities and towns. Differentiating between urban and rural development factors is difficult. We must focus on exclusively agricultural and related vocations, the factors influencing their promotion, and the consideration for the sustainable rural livelihood when we examine rural livelihood independent of rural and urban development.

Rural livelihood factors

The quality of livelihood in rural areas is influenced by a variety of personal, social, economic, cultural, religious, geographical, climatic, and ecological factors. When promoting sustainable livelihood, these factors must be taken into account. To obtain, safeguard, and promote the ideal mix of rural livelihood possibilities, we must collaborate with each of these factors. The previous section made it clear that the phrase "rural livelihood" only refers to jobs in agriculture and related fields. Even though rural residents work in non-agricultural fields including the service industry, business, manufacturing, health, education, communication, construction, and infrastructure development, they should still be distinguished from rural livelihood in the strictest sense. These are typical urban livelihood possibilities and are part of the rapidly urbanizing rural areas. We must distinguish between rural inhabitants living an urban lifestyle and those living a typical rural lifestyle in order to have a meaningful conversation about rural livelihood. The only factors of rural livelihood in the agricultural and related sectors are those covered in this section.

Personal factors

Personal interest and motivation are the most significant factors in rural livelihood. Urban livelihood have become increasingly popular in India recently. We rarely come across educated, qualified laborers working in agricultural and related fields. Rural livelihood options cannot be safeguarded and developed unless the rural population is genuinely engaged in maintaining agriculture, dairying, cattle breeding, fish farming, and other related activities. The main economic activity is these professions. People exhibit a trend of gradually moving from primary to secondary and tertiary employment. This change is typically viewed as an indicator of economic development. We must stop this erroneous trend in order to safeguard a country's economic stability. We must persuade the populace that supporting the secondary and tertiary sectors at the expense of the primary sector is detrimental to the state and its citizens. The government must take action to promote the general public's interest in, motivation for, and knowledge, skills, and attitude towards the primary sector and sustainable agricultural practices such organic farming, export-oriented organic horticulture, and floriculture. In the long run, highly profitable agricultural and related businesses will sustain our economy and promote economic expansion. The idea that an expanding percentage of the economy in the secondary and tertiary sectors indicates economic success needs to be dispelled. Growing dependence on other individuals and countries for survival and development is shown by an increasing proportion of the national economy in the secondary and tertiary sectors. On the other hand, a growing primary sector's contribution to the national economy is a sign of independence, self-sufficiency, and sustainable-term growth.

Social factors

Demographic, gender, family, educational, caste, and class factors are all social factors. Often, maintaining a rural livelihood is a social obligation rather than a personal choice. Social and demographic factors affect a person's potential livelihood choices. In the agricultural and related industries, there are rural vocations that are socially enforced, caste-based, traditional, and household jobs. When addressing these social factors that affect rural livelihood, the government and civil society organizations must exercise extra caution. Social factors have both positive and bad effects. Positively, these factors promote social responsibility and stability. They adversely affect people's aspirations, interests, skills, talents, and motivations. The hardest part of dealing with rural livelihood is striking a careful balance between social transformation and social stability.

Economic factors

In rural areas, inheritance of wealth and land resources is a crucial component of rural livelihood. The great majority of agricultural laborers who lack livelihood choose to live in rural areas. Seasonally, they switch between a rural and an urban livelihood. They have little choice but to switch from one occupation to another because the majority of agricultural operations are by their very nature seasonal. Due to their infrequent ownership of rural resources like land and cattle, they have few opportunities in allied agricultural enterprises. They prefer to relocate periodically to cities where they work in non-agricultural, unskilled jobs like construction, domestic work, daily wagers, and occasional work in factories. The civil authorities in charge of rural livelihood face a problem in providing productive assets to the rural populace.

Cultural factors

Caste factors dominate cultural factors in rural areas. Language and geographic issues are additional cultural factors. These factors permanently alter one's alternatives for a livelihood in rural locations. In terms of rural livelihood, cultural factors have a similar significance to social factors. Many people in rural areas have limited options for the type of work they can do because of cultural restrictions. The government and civil society organizations face a difficult task in addressing all the cultural factors that limit the people's alternatives for a livelihood.

Religious factors

Another crucial cultural element that significantly affects rural livelihood is religion. From various theological perspectives, some professions are viewed as meritorious while others are viewed as undesirable. Sometimes, religion gets in the way of people's personal, social, and national interests, and dealing with such religious influences while addressing rural livelihoods is extremely difficult for both civil agencies and the government.

Geographic factors

The kind of soil, the availability of water, the distance from the sea, and the elevation above sea level are all geographical factors. All of these factors have an impact on agricultural and related activities. They are the primary factors to take into account when discussing rural livelihood. All of these geographic factors must be given proper consideration by government and non-government organizations operating in the rural sector when developing new projects to safeguard and promote rural livelihood options. The primary geographical factor in the context of rural livelihood is soil and water conservation.

Climate factors


The potential of monsoon rain, wind, cyclone or flood conditions, the harshness of winter and summer, etc. are all examples of climatic factors. Climate and topography are linked in a given hamlet. As a result, topographical and climatic factors are frequently taken into account in conjunction and have a big impact on rural livelihood. We must adjust to climatic conditions because they are frequently outside of human control. All climatic influences must be taken into account while choosing a rural livelihood. For instance, crop rotation, crop rotation timetables, and agricultural schedules must all take into account climatic factors.

Environmental factors

The effects of rural livelihood on the environment are referred to as ecological factors. It has to do with the livelihood of rural livelihoods. Ecological balance and environmental danger should not be impacted by rural livelihood. They shouldn't contaminate the soil, water, or air. People should engage in economic activities that minimize harm to natural resources or protect the environment. From an ecological point of view, tribal livelihood choices are the most environmentally friendly, while urban livelihood choices are the least environmentally friendly. Rural livelihoods can either be environmentally benign or environmentally detrimental. The negative effects of agriculture and related activities are frequently listed as deforestation, soil erosion, and water contamination (caused by the use of pesticides). Farmers need to learn about organic farming and how to live in peace with nature through rural livelihoods. This has to do with sustainable rural livelihood.

Sustainable rural livelihood

The main concerns for rural livelihood are sustainability and sustenance. The rural livelihood's ability to survive and pursue rural livelihoods is tied to sustenance. People only grow crops for their own consumption, and this is how they make their living. The cornerstone of tribal livelihood is sustenance. Generally speaking, all subsistence-level economic activity in rural and tribal areas are sustainable. The issue of sustainable livelihoods occurs when economic activity in rural regions moves beyond the level of subsistence to that of surplus production, profit making, or commercialization. Farmers do large-scale farming and use chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides to improve productivity. All of these actions harm the soil and water resources, making this type of farming unsustainable over time. The productivity of the land declines. The bodies of water turn poisoned. The farmers will develop an untreatable sickness. We must discourage rural livelihoods that cannot be sustained. Agriculture should only be encouraged to become more commercialized under organic farming circumstances. Let the main focus of agriculture and related activities be subsistence. It is the majority of rural people's fundamental right. The rural way of life shouldn't be unstable at any cost. As long as it's organic, sustainable, and eco-friendly, it could be commercial.

Summary

A livelihood is an economic activity that has as its main goal the sustenance and survival of people. People participate in one or more economic activities, individually or in combination, in order to survive. Every citizen has a fundamental right to a livelihood. The livelihoods of urban, rural, and tribal people all varied significantly. Agriculture, dairying, cattle raising, fish farming, and other associated professions are all part of rural livelihoods. Rural livelihood is influenced by a variety of personal, social, economic, cultural, religious, geographical, climatic, and ecological factors. The viability of the environment is the main factor in rural livelihood.

Reference

  1. http://envfor.nic.in/print/1420 
  2. http://www.globalpartnerships.org/impact-areas/rural-livelihoods/ 
  3.  http://www.graam.org.in/rural-livelihood/ 
  4. http://www.niras.com/business-areas/development-consulting/rural-livelihoods.aspx 
  5.  http://www.niras.com/business-areas/development-consulting/rural-livelihoods/agribusinesstrade-and-value-chains.aspx 
  6. http://www.niras.com/business-areas/development-consulting/rural-livelihoods/agriculturalpolicy-and-institutional-reforms.aspx 
  7. . http://www.niras.com/business-areas/development-consulting/rural-livelihoods/sustainableproduction--and-food-safety.aspx
Post a Comment
Tag, , ,

Comments

Thank You