Mahua, Lac and Digital-market Change: An Exploratory Study of Adivasi Women’s Livelihoods, Economic Autonomy and Indigenous Knowledge in Rural Gumla, Jharkhand, India
Afreen Ejaz *
University Department of Commerce & Business Management, Ranchi University, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study explores how Adivasi women engaged in mahua collection, lac-related work and forest-product retailing perceive recent changes in weekly-market activity, household economic agency and intergenerational knowledge transmission in rural Gumla, Jharkhand. A qualitative descriptive design was used. Between September and November 2025, semi-structured, open-ended field interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 42 women across eight weekly haats in seven administrative blocks. Field notes were analysed through conventional qualitative content analysis, and non-exclusive themes were counted according to whether each theme was present in a participant account. Thirty-four participants (81%) described declining sales or footfall, 29 (69%) reported obstacles to transferring forest-based knowledge, 27 (64%) perceived reduced influence over selected household resource-allocation decisions, and 14 (33%) expressed interest in digital opportunities while also identifying barriers involving devices, skills, connectivity or platform use. Some participants recalled favourable market-day gross receipts of approximately ₹800–₹1,200 during earlier trading seasons and recent low-demand days below ₹400; these retrospective estimates were not verified against transaction records and are not measures of average income change. Participants related livelihood pressure to several intersecting conditions, including changing consumer preferences, intermediary power, transport costs, seasonality and unequal access to digital tools. Among participants who discussed state transfers, these payments were valued as financial support, while earnings from self-managed forest trade were associated with additional meanings involving autonomy, livelihood identity and recognition. The findings are exploratory, non-causal and not representative of all Adivasi women in Gumla. They support locally evaluated pilot initiatives involving gender-sensitive digital training, collective marketing, improved logistics and hybrid haat–online models that protect the economic and socio-cultural functions of traditional markets.
Keywords: Adivasi women, collective marketing, digital inclusion, economic autonomy, Indigenous knowledge, lac cultivation, mahua, non-timber forest products, rural livelihoods, weekly haats