The Indigenous population of India comprises of an estimated 104 million people or 8.6% of the national population. Indigenous people all around the world experience discrimination and continuously more difficulty in living out their lives in their traditional means. Not only are the rights of indigenous people restricted but also their livelihoods are deprived from them as forest lands, which would help preserve natural species, are taken away for industrial use instead. In

India is home to more than 3,000 different types of artisan crafts. Estimates of the number of artisans working in India vary widely from 7 million individuals to as high as 200 million. The wide range of these estimates is indicative of the highly informal and unorganized nature of this work. However, this sector is incredibly important to marginalised rural communities in India and around the world. Keeping artisan traditions alive is also important for rural development, c

Is it possible to bring mountain farming communities back from the brink of abandonment? Our partners certainly think so, in Uttarakhand, India they are on a mission to fight poverty in Himalayan farming communities. Following years of natural disasters and climate change-related farming hardships, many farmers have left their fields, often seeking labour in cities and towns instead. This is breaking up families, communities and traditional ways of life. What if reviving cent

Is it possible to sustainably harvest honey and beeswax by finding a balance in harvesting honey and wax while leaving enough behind for the bees to thrive? In the mountains of southern India, honey harvesting has been done for centuries. By combining traditional methods of responsibly harvesting with modern methods of monitoring and evaluation, these communities have worked out a balance for sustainable harvesting. However, in 2010 it became clear that the honey harvesters,

India's rich cultural heritage and centuries of evolutionary tradition are kept alive by 7 million artisans toiling every day to produce the huge variety of handicrafts made all over India. In central parts of south India, a group of highly skilled artisans are using a design thinking approach to make contemporary products using traditional methods. Providing fair jobs to the artisan sector in India is key to empowering many marginalised groups struggling for livelihood as ge

In Karnataka, a southern state of India, young artisans are crafting the future of environmental and social tableware. Using earth clay and natural minerals, young local artisans are shaping earth into stoneware to last for hundreds of years to come. They seek to change the unequal work field by providing work opportunities to young local artisans while using materials from the earth in the utmost respectable way to the environment. Artisans are the backbone of India’s non-fa

In the foothills of the Himalayan mountain women's weaving collectives are working together to create livelihoods and a future for their communities, their children and their weaving traditions. In 2013 the Indian state of Uttarakhand was hit by a devastating series of natural disasters. Extreme rainfall caused numerous floods and landslides. The touristic temple area in the upper parts of the Indian Himalayas was hit by a large flood after the bursting of a glacier lake. The

In southern India, women from marginalized backgrounds are crafting various natural fragrance products using organic botanical ingredients. In an old school building, sits the women rolling the plant powders into incense sticks while chatting and laughing. In the morning the women commute by bike and bus, from their villages to craft the fragrant products with their hands. With a focus on fair trade and organic raw materials, this unit creates natural wellness and aromatherap

What can a seed do? The seed of an idea is all it has taken to begin to revolutionize the life cycle of paper products in India. Paper waste accounts for 16% of solid landfill waste. Our partners saw the amount of waste created and decided to try to do something about it. They launched a network of over 800 farmers and 300 rural women, in southern India, who have developed stationery products that can be planted using recycled paper. Their paper products have organic seeds i