Almost 68 per cent of the country is rural, yet the other 32 per cent is always in the news. In fact, the very perception of "development" is narrowly based on what constitutes Western urban development, or development that benefits urban India more than rural India. Farming and agriculture communities in India are in desperate need of sustainable solutions that improve the quality of their produce without damaging the environment their work is dependent on. Rural areas, for instance, depend on woodfuel.
This needs to be remedied by providing these areas access to clean and sustainable energy solutions, a move that'll help reduce India's pollution levels (one of the highest in the world at 59ug/m3). Means of effective storage and delivery are urgent in a nation there tonnes of produce is left to rot or farmers can't efficiently sell perishable items without portable cold storage. Farmers need scientists and entrepreneurs to develop technologies that sophisticate the industry, especially, when wasteful irrigation practices are still common. The other side of the rural economy is women's entrepreneurship. This is, perhaps, one of the most difficult challenges to tackle.
Steeped in tradition, rural India is fairly intolerant of women's economic empowerment. Steps have been made in the direction through government schemes, yet there are cultural hindrances to bringing businesses to women and helping them develop skills to start their own. Traditional skills have largely been the domain of men. There is a natural tendency towards seeing women as "job snatchers", disrupting their means of livelihood, than competition. Since half of all adolescent girls drop out of school after the age 1 5, they lose a potential income of USD 400 bil ion.
