Social Protection and Wellbeing: Food Security in Adivasi communities, Chhattisgarh, India

Despite economic growth, persistent levels of
absolute poverty remain across the world. Social
protection is an important response to this,
guaranteeing a basic level of income support.
The state of Chhattisgarh, India, provides an
interesting model, as government commitment
and people’s action combine to buttress food
security in communities with historically high
levels of disadvantage.
New research on wellbeing and poverty in
Chhattisgarh provides an innovative perspective
on these issues. Qualitative and quantitative
evidence show more secure livelihoods have
a broader effect on people’s confidence and
experience of quaIity in life. Strong traditions of
collective identity and community mobilisation
constitute important resources for the achievement
of rights in practice. Persistent gender inequalities
remain, however, in both objective achievements
and people’s subjective assessments of what they
can do or be.