Abstract
Women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in rural India are emerging as key grassroots agents of change, working toward nutritional security, economic independence through millet-based cafés, and ecological resilience. Millets, once staple ancient grains in Indian diets that are drought-resistant and suitable for the Indian climate, were displaced in the 1960s by the Green Revolution’s emphasis on monocropping of wheat and rice. With the revolution of millet entrepreneurship gaining momentum, rural women, once fighting for economic independence, are now creating visible local food infrastructure and accessible spaces—women-run canteens, cafés, and community kitchens—in Indian states empowering themselves by generating livelihoods and preparing millet recipes that appeal to a wider urban palate. This paper explores how the hitherto invisibility of women in Indian agriculture is now being challenged by women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs), which are creating autonomous spaces within India’s local food systems — despite contributing nearly 80% of agricultural work and lacking ownership of land, the key determinant of rural poverty. The recent push by the United Nations and the Government of India has brought millets back into focus, with 2023 commemorated as the International Year of Millets, thus bringing traditional Indian millets to global events like the G20. The paper explores how the revival of millets is recreating food spaces, with women emerging as successful millet entrepreneurs. As stewards of indigenous food systems, women are creating decentralized millet cafes and seed banks, while strengthening philosophies of seed-to-table, nurturing their political, social, and economic agency, and addressing concerns of food sovereignty.
Presenters
Swasti PachauriLecturer, Jeb E Brooks School of Public Policy, Cornell University, New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fed Up: Learning From the Past, Imagining New Futures
KEYWORDS
Self-help-groups, Millets, Millet Entrepreneurship, Food Sovereignty, Women-based-Millet Entrepreneurship
