Livelihood Restoration Options for Mining Affected Areas in the Kalyana Karnataka Region, India

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the sources of income and alternative livelihood restoration options in six villages of the Kalyana Karnataka region, which were affected by iron ore mining. The sample size of 226 households was considered for the study. Considering the population size, 16 to 50 respondents were selected randomly from each village. The results of the study explained that the primary source of livelihood was non-agriculture labour (18%), agricultural labour (15%) and farming (32%). The rest were working in private companies (5%), self-employed (12%), and government sector (2%), and the remaining respondents were unemployed or retired. One third of the families were mainly engaged in unskilled labour-related livelihood sources. Considering these socio-economic statuses, the study focused on identifying alternative sources of livelihood based on the respondents' interests. Around 48 per cent of respondents were interested in taking up alternative sources of income generation. Among alternative sources, 42 per cent of respondents were keen to practice sheep or goat rearing, agroforestry systems (19%), poultry (14%), Backyard dairy (12%), and tailoring (10%). Hence, policymakers may focus on these alternative livelihood options for capacity building and linking to developmental programmes for the mining-affected Kalyana Karnataka region to restore their livelihoods.