Koraput region of the state of Orissa in India is known for its ecological wealth coexisting with poverty, generally referred to as the paradox of economic poverty in the midst of genetic prosperity. Koraput is a tribal district; more than 70% of the total population comprises of scheduled tribes. There...

Using lessons from the case studies this paper draws out five practical steps in reaching and supporting women marginal farmers: 1) take the lead from women marginal farmers themselves in helping build their networks and groups, 2) promote alliances and external links, 3) organising needs based training workshops and regular...

Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time, agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, comptetitive products, and is organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Value chain financing in agriculture offers an opportunity to...

Thousands of small scale farmers in India commit duicide, because they can no longer solve their debt problems. Two decades ago they took up modern farming and with the help of government subsidies they started growing commercial crops. In the beginning harvests were good, but as time went on, the...

Women fishworkers in India, as in other parts of the world, play critical roles within the fisheries and fishing communities, roles that are often not recognized or supported. Women are particularly active in postharvest fisheries; in marine fishing communities in India, for example, women comprise about 75 per cent of...

“Recasting the Net: Defining a Gender Agenda for Sustaining Life and Livelihoods in Fishing Communities” is a workshop that was meant to reflect on what needs to be done to develop a ‘gender agenda’ for sustaining life and livelihoods in fisheries. It was also organized against the backdrop of the...

This is the report on the workshop on “Small Indigenous Freshwater Fish Species: Their Role in Poverty Alleviation, Food Security and Conservation of Biodiversity”, organized by the ICSF in collaboration with the Inland Fisheries Society of India (IFSI). The workshop was a forum for exchange of views on the role...

The workshop “Enhancing Women’s Roles in Fisheries in India” was organized by the ICSF between 1-3 February 2010 in Navi Mumbai, India. The workshop was meant to discuss and analyze the role of women in fisheries, and reflect on issues facing women in fishing communities and organizations in India.

"Capacity Challenges in Post-crisis and Transitional Situations . India and Sri Lanka"

Food systems of Indigenous Peoples who retain connection to long-evolved cultures and patterns of living in local ecosystems present a treasure of knowledge that contributes to well-being and health, and can benefit all humankind. This book seeks to define and describe the diversity in food system use, nutrition and health...

‘Social Dimensions of Marine Protected Area Implementation in India: Do Fishing Communities Benefit?’ is a workshop organized by ICSF at Chennai on 21-22 January 2009. This publication—the India MPA Workshop Proceedings—contains the prospectus of the workshop, a report of the proceedings and the consensus statement that was reached by organizations...

About 8 per cent of the Indian population belongs to a category listed as ‘Scheduled Tribes’ enumerated in the Schedule to Article 342 of the Constitution of India. Tribal people have been seen to be strongly associated with the forests, hills and remote areas, practicing a unique life style, having...

We are Gunis (traditional healers) and medicinal plants conservation farmers from the Mewar Region of Rajasthan in India. The Gunis among us take our name from guna, which is a Sanskrit word that has three meanings: knowledge, healing and virtue. Anyone can have knowledge, but Gunis are those of us...

This study on marine protected areas (MPAs) in India analyzes the legal and institutional framework for their establishment, and uses two case studies–the Gulf of Mannar National Park and Biosphere Reserve, and the Malvan (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary–to document and understand the experiences and views of local communities, particularly fishing communities,...

The objectives of this Technical Paper are to highlight the contribution that inland and coastal small-scale fisheries can make to poverty alleviation and food security and to make practical suggestions on ways that this contribution can be maximized. This paper is organized into three main sections. The first section discusses...

The paper compares the organizational structure and marketing strategies in organic supply chains operating under three certification schemes in developing and transition economies. A value chain management approach needs to be considered when analysing the requirements associated with supplying certified organic products. Regardless of the scheme, complying with organic standards...

In recent years the development of rural enterprises has increasingly attracted attention amongst the development community owing to the broadening of opportunities for the commercialization of smallholder agriculture. Despite this interest, there are several factors that continue to limit the capacity of farmers and rural entrepreneurs to make an effective...

This publication provides an overview of recent literature on the potential of the informal food sector (IFS) to facilitate an affordable supply of food to urban areas and generate income for low-income households. The goal is to identify global patterns, topics for further research, and policy suggestions. It also draws...

This publication reflects the outcome of an ambitious initiative to identify instances of exemplary forest management in the region and examine the core components of high quality forest management in an effort to illustrate good forest management to a wide audience and encourage others to take up some of the...

All over the world, the pressure to conserve ecosystems and their resources has been steadily rising. This has, in turn, led to conflicts between conservation imperatives and the livelihoods’ needs of the communities that interact with these ecosystems. An example of the impasse that such a state of opposition can...