Resources and Livelihoods: Knowledge, Traditions and Practices: a Village Study

This book is about one large village located in the remote hilly forest region in the North-western part of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, India. This forest hilly region is namely Talakona and the village name is Ellamandha. The village comprised 44 hamlets inhabited by people belonging to 26 caste groups. The primary concern of this book is to understand livelihoods and how the peasants of the villagers managed resources such as land, water and forest by means of traditional institutions. The main thrust is laid on local traditions, knowledge, practices and institutions the people have developed in course of time in utilizing resources and shaping livelihoods and associated strategies. Most of the studies on livelihoods so far are not holistic in nature and, hence, this book is more comprehensive and holistic understanding of the resources and livelihoods.