• Poverty reduction strategies
• Gender and the MDGs

Poverty reduction strategies

This paper focuses on the livelihood issues of adivasi or the scheduled tribes in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Examining the gendered vulnerability context of adivasi livelihoods, the author argues that the ability of adivasi livelihood to expand and manage productive assets is gendered. The paper explores how the vulnerability context affects men and women differently. The main conclusions of the paper include:

• the drivers of vulnerability and deprivation among adivasis are primarly economic and structural in nature
• for most of them, sustenance capital is more significant than any form of social and economic capital. This is more acute for women, as women need to play a crucial role in the food security of the household
• the maintainers of chronic poverty relate to indebtedness, discrimination and exploitation which again have a gendered dimension
• long-term ill-health and chronic illness are common where women have to work harder and single handed
• the major interrupters of vulnerability are the increasing presence of SHGs which facilitate community participation and income generation
• one of the other significant interrupter of economic vulnerability is migrant work. However this is riddled with exploitation and needs to be regulated as it could provide a livelihood option for many households.

The findings show despite notable state led development initiatives in Kerala, the multidimensionality of deprivation among different groups of poor and women within these communities is yet to be seriously considered. Women’s experiences of poverty should be understood beyond household headship, and deconstructed within the configuration of local, political, social and economic forces. Only then, responsive and specific policies and programmes can be developed, and could bring any significant difference.

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