Paper short abstract:

The paper attempts to uncover reasons of low dynamism of rural livelihoods with a qualitative case study in India. Results suggest that an irrigation system and government policies to support paddy cultivation could cause low demand for innovation to undermine socioeconomic regional dynamism.

Paper long abstract:

Rural stagnation in the Global South is a key important topic in development research. Rural Odisha, one of the backward states in India, suffers from its stagnation in income growth compared with other states in recent years. This could be attributed that farmer’s livelihoods are less dynamic seeking further growth. In this assumption, the research aim is to understand possible reasons of low dynamism of rural livelihoods in the Global South with a case study in Odisha. I attempt to look through livelihood lens of farm households as well as systemic views on socioeconomic and knowledge surrounding them at villages in an irrigation scheme as a case study. Semi-structure interviews with stakeholders of the system including farmers were employed. Results suggest that their livelihoods have not dynamically changed keeping main livelihood of paddy cultivation while farmers are generally satisfied with the current life with stable water supply from the irrigation scheme. The government seems to dominate supports of paddy production from production to marketing as well as provision of knowledge on their livelihoods. In conclusion, it seems to be a paternalistic or patronage system including irrigation which on the one hand assure the stability (socioeconomic as well as geographical immobility) but on the other hand it may undermine innovations and aspirations for change. This system is likely to be portrayed as "static" with neither much innovative change nor demand for such dynamism, as this could causes weak innovation system and low demand for innovation to undermine socioeconomic regional dynamism.