Diversification and Livelihood Options: A Study of Two Villages in Andhra Pradesh, India 1975–2001
Abstract
The diversification of rural livelihoods is the subject of a growing amount of conceptual and policy-based research. This paper reports on the findings from a re-survey and longitudinal panel survey carried out in the villages of Aurepalle and Dokur in Mahbubnagar District in Andhra Pradesh, India.
The findings from this re-survey of two villages raise important policy challenges for government and other stakeholders in Mahbubnagar District, in Andhra Pradesh and in the semi-arid tropics of India more generally. Whilst government policy and state interventions are made along sectoral lines, household livelihoods are highly diverse. Policy-makers need to reflect on the most suitable ways of supporting this diversity, for example by facilitating access to the assets that people draw on to diversify or by ensuring that agriculture is less risky and agricultural assets are not eroded during periods of uncertainty. Only with more appropriate policies that recognise the importance of diversity will it be possible for more people to make positive exits from poverty through diversification.
Citation
Deb, U.K.; Nageswara Rao, G.D.; Mohan Rao, Y.; Slater, R. Diversification and Livelihood Options: A Study of Two Villages in Andhra Pradesh, India 1975–2001. Overseas Development Institute, London, UK (2002) 54 pp. ISBN 0 85003 611 9 [Working Paper 178]
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