Out in the Field with Sugarcane Cutter
It is always interesting to be in the field while working in social development sector; right now we are exploring cultural restrictions, gender discrimination and lack of resources in migrant sugarcane cutter camps in Bardoli Taluka.
The first camp we are investigating is situated near Madhi Village. Sugarcane cutters come here from Kalibel Village of Dang District to improve their livelihoods. There are around 35 tribal families, mostly belongs to a very young age group (19 to 34). After visiting their camps and interacting with them I have found that there is a lack of livelihood options after the harvest of the monsoon crop, kharif. In the least rain fed parts of the district the entire family is forced to leave home in order to survive.
During my first visit with my co-worker, we tried to understand the camp structure. Our goal was to build a rapport with them so that our research would go easily. We have learnt a lot from these visits about the phenomenon of migration, their daily lives, earnings, social and economic conditions, health, education, drinking water, sanitation, habitat, debt, migration cycle etc. I am learning a lot about migration and how its impacts their future hopes.
Posted by Jayesh Chaudhari on 29th January 2013.
