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Increased rural diversification has seen a number of changes in farming livelihoods in developing countries. The paper explores the gender dimensions of the changing nature of agricultural households in northern Kerala, India. Rural livelihoods are constructed through differences of gender and class, riddled with complex and multiple negotiations and processes. As household livelihood strategies are increasingly based on male migration and non-agricultural diversification, gender roles are reconstituted and renegotiated, which may then challenge prevailing gender ideologies. Nevertheless, gender-specific constraints need to be taken into account in the light of changed social roles, and institutions and policies should be responsive to the needs of local farmers, particularly in the milieu of the diverse and complex nature of farming households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores to what extent decentralized structures can contribute to asset accumulation among disadvantaged groups, and improving livelihood choices. The process of asset accumulation is tied to the wider context of participatory institutions and opportunities within which social actors can transform assets into meaningful livelihood outcomes. Given its level of social development and civil society in the Indian state of Kerala, the Kudumbashree Initiative, an innovative community-based, decentralized participatory structure aims to build meaningful forms of assets at grassroots levels. Such participatory public action, based on social relationships as well as the combined efforts of the state and grassroots community organizations may provide valuable lessons for developing asset accumulation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social outsourcing means the contracting out of goods or services to social enterprises. When used by government, it can be seen as a hybrid of the workfare outsourcing found in wage employment schemes, and the commercial outsourcing of government activities to the private sector. This paper focuses on a social outsourcing initiative operated by the government of Kerala State, India. Part of this outsources information technology (IT) services to dozens of cooperatives of women from below-poverty-line families. Interview and case study research was undertaken to assess the impacts of this initiative on five areas of livelihood assets—financial, human, physical, social and political capital. This scheme has Keralan specificities and research shows that social outsourcing may introduce vulnerabilities and questions of sustainability. Overall, though, this paper suggests that social outsourcing has the potential to deliver developmental benefits to marginalised groups. It is therefore worthy of greater attention from international development agencies and governments in developing countries. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]