The article by Aditi Kapoor reflects the violence that women face in many parts of India, emphasizing the need for politicians to take steps regarding this issue. The writer has explained the brutal situation faced by women in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. 

The paper highlights that in the changing climate scenarios Indian policy makers need to look at adaptation with a gender lens and build support systems for farmers to facilitate it. It also brings out the need to prioritize ecological farming practices and understand the weather variations .The authors have used the case of groundnut crop from Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh to highlight the same.

Gender the missing link in environment conservation

Aditi Kapoor

This work of Alternative Futures and CBGA focuses on filling the research gaps through analytical inter-linkages between gender and climate change. The paper analyzes the budgets of Uttarakhand (UK), Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh (MP) and West Bengal (WB) and quantifies the public expenditure on adaptation to climate change for the select states. 

Bioresources: a sustainable path to development

Aditi C. Kapoor

Aditi Kapoor

Financial inclusion is an equalizer that enables all citizens to contribute to economic growth and to gain from it. India was ahead of its times when it first ushered in financial inclusion by nationalizing its banks in mid-1969 and then coming up with a slew of policies to operationalize it. The track record is a mix of successes and failures. This paper tries to capture some of these and visualize where India will gain and what it may lose over the next three or four decades. Considering India's growing economic importance and the projections that the Indian economy will be as big as the United States economy around 2050, the paper tries to understand how the economic upswing will mesh with India's socio-political and environmental processes that also influence financial inclusion; and what the different scenarios might be in 2050. This paper discusses what role financial inclusion will play in India's economy in the year 2050. It suggests some possible scenarios and policy measures to move towards a desirable scenario.

Aditi Kapoor

Globalization has accelerated the growth of the informal sector worldwide. It now comprises majority workers in many countries, especially the developing world. The trade union movement should ideally have come forward to organize informal labour, both to legitimise itself and to help the exploited masses uplift themselves. Unfortunately, examples of this are few. Non-governmental organizations have stepped in to a limited extent to help organize informal labour ‘bottoms–up’ and from `above’—urging the corporate world to cleanse its supply chains and consumers to buy `fair trade’ products. In some instances, new or alternative unions have emerged. The Self-Employment Women's Association (SEWA), a trade union of nearly 700,000 poor women in the informal sector in India, can be seen as a pioneer of this trend though it first emerged as far back as in 1972 in the textile town of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. An analysis of SEWA's way of functioning, its holistic approach encompassing socio-economic and political rights and its widespread impact offers lessons for organising informal labour to give these workers a brighter future. This paper elaborates these lessons based on the SEWA experience.

Aditi Kapoor

This article emphasizes the climate-resilience of organic or low-input agriculture verses conventional or high-input agriculture, especially for small and marginal farmers who form the bulk of India’s agriculturalists. As Indian agriculture begins to bear the brunt of climate change - through changing crop cycles and uneven crop productivity - there is an urgent need to shift the focus of policy makers from ‘maximising productivity’ to ‘maximising’ multiple targets, especially soil fertility and nutrition, water conservation and energy-use. The section on action points gives a practical ‘to-do’ list for policy makers, including agreeing on a common definition of ‘sustainable agriculture.’ With global climate negotiations now turning their gaze on sustainable agriculture as the next sector for mitigation, this article lays out a clear roadmap for those who engage with the critical issues of food security and poverty in a changing climate.