Women’s groups have emerged as an important platform for promoting the economic, political and social empowerment of poor women. In India, Self Help Groups (SHGs), are becoming substantially involved in agricultural development activities, largely through the National Rural Livelihoods Mission...

ContextLandlessness continues to be high, more so among scheduled tribe (ST) households, in tribal dominant states such as Odisha. This can primarily be attributed to the existence of historical weaknesses in land administration systems.Current legal frameworks to prevent tribal land alienation,...

Women agricultural producers, despite their significant participation and contribution to farming, are not recognized as farmers in official policy, and the society is not ready to accept them as farmers in their own right. Apart from the absence of their names in land records and poor legal...

Context: Land tenure in North East India is governed under customary laws with adequate autonomy and protection under the Indian Constitution.Most land in the hill areas remains un-surveyed and lacks land records. Moreover land relations remain patriarchal, with poor recognition of women’s...

Context: Post-independence land reform, facilitated tillers to own land, but banning tenancy limited formal access to land by discouraging (non-cultivating) landowners from leasing out their land, while the predominantly capital-poor farmers could not afford to purchase.Along with poor returns...

Researchers and policymakers have long understood the benefits of crop insurance but have been consistently disappointed by the poor performance of these programs. Rarely have programs seen sizeable take-up rates without support through large government subsidies, and in many countries, demand...