Trikanjal in Uri block of Baramulla district, is a village located adjacent to a stream flowing down the hills. The settlement is almost a century old now and the community’s livelihood mainly used to depend on natural resources, mostly agriculture. The farmers used to cultivate paddy, apple, green apple and dry nuts in their fields. The population here was... Read More
Ghat Gopalan is a village about 45 km from Srinagar in Pattan block of Baramullah district. Here, the community’s main occupation is fishing, and they also hunt birds. The skills the villagers had developed while hunting birds helped them flee from danger during the recent floods along with their dependents. A river channel that passes by this village used ... Read More
The theme for this year’s World Food Day is ‘family farming’ but there’s not a lot to celebrate in South Sudan where the specter of famine looms large. CARE’s Senior Advisor on Emergency Food and Nutrition Security Justus Liku explains. Family farms – managed by a family, and reliant on their labor - are an important part of rural development. In countr... Read More
In an emergency, the elderly are particularly vulnerable. With less mobility, or vision and hearing impairments, the elderly are often unable to flee quickly in times of attack, and are unable to collect food, firewood or water, relying on others to survive. Many often face the trauma of isolation and the loss of the ability to earn an income. On International Da... Read More
While walking past the piles of debris in Gulzarpora village in Pulwama district, I saw this young boy sitting with his father, Mr. Wani, on the rubble where once stood his house. Holding the mud bricks in his hand the boy said ÔÇÿthis is all that is leftÔÇÖ. I saw the sparkle in his eyes when he started talking about the happy times he spent with his family ... Read More
I recently travelled to Jammu and Kashmir along with my colleague Satyadarshi Patnaik, to gain a first-hand understanding of the post-flash flood situation in the affected region. Our idea was to review the interventions, which we have been carrying out, and those which we are planning to undertake in the coming days, in responding to this emergency. The Governme... Read More
Tea is a rare commodity in which the leaf itself becomes an edible part. Tea bushes are perennial in nature with their economic life spanning to as high as hundred years, with the first yield coming in about four years after planting. Unlike the common notion that more the weight of the leaf the higher is the price, it is actually the tenderer the leaves harveste... Read More
´╗┐I am always amazed by the tribal world, which is altogether a different world resplendent with traditional wisdom and indigenous practices. Recently, many of us happen to witness how tribal women across the country voiced their concern regarding mining in certain parts of Odisha, and the solidarity ... Read More
A month back we had just returned from Kashmir. Now to even imagine the magnitude of the devastation there is difficult. I, along with my family visit Jammu and Kashmir every Eid without fail, and then we carry on an extended trip to visit my sister in law and other family members in Srinagar and Kazigund. We usually take the train from Delhi to Jammu, visit our ... Read More
Recently many of us witnessed the vociferous fights against illegal mining, by tribal women across the country, in an effort to protect their rights from being usurped by undesirable commercial activities, and also, to preserve the natural ecosystem. On my part, I have always been amazed by the tribal world, which is resplendent with traditional wisdom and indige... Read More
When we started our self-help group-work about 15 years ago, we never thought, our collective journey would take us so far! At the beginning, it was primarily about saving money together as a group and drawing small loans out of the self-owned pool-fund for household use, and small businesses. This was a huge breakthrough, as for the first time we realized the hi... Read More
On entering a cluttered but surprisingly spacious room, or what they call a house, in a garbage-filled lane in Kalwa(Mumbai), we were welcomed with a few smiling faces. Undoubtedly, they were expecting us, and their effusive welcome was heartening. Among the girls standing there I could see Kavita smiling (name changed) behind the flimsy curtain of a plastic sack ac... Read More
