Struggling for Life and Livelihood: Tribal Household’s Economic Activities in the Rarh Region of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Studies on economic activity at the household level to understand the tribal economy today that are based on primary data are limited. This article’s aim is to look into the household economic activities of tribal people in West Bengal’s Rarh region. Most of the source materials were collected from primary surveys. A single base map was compiled and made from a secondary source. By means of a well-structured questionnaire, the primary information is collected. Totally, 150 households located in four regions were surveyed. Around 28 villages and a total of 17 Community Development (CD) blocks have been included in 150 tribal household sample surveys. The size of the landholding (large, medium and small) has been addressed during respondent selection. A stratified purposive random sampling procedure is adopted to achieve the goals and objectives of the research. The study reveals that in regions with high degrees of livelihood resources, household economic activity is strong overall and gradually deteriorates towards regions with very low levels of livelihood resources. Distance migration is a common event in areas with little or no resources for a living. Increasing infrastructure is essential to increasing both farm and non-farm income sources. To help impoverished families diversify their sources of income, agricultural and forest-based industrial units should be promoted, and required skill development initiatives should be put in place.