EXAMINING THE RIGHTS AND LIVELIHOODS OF FARMERS IN THE YAMUNA FLOOD PLAIN OF DELHI: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS

In India, more than half of the population is employed in agriculture sector. With the increasing demand for food in the cities and urban areas the farmers have started practicing agriculture in cities and urban spaces. The primary means of subsistence for farmers residing in the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi consists of vegetable cultivation, livestock husbandry, and unskilled daily wage labour, in addition to agricultural work. They are abused in many ways like the land owners, land mafias, local police and by the administration. When the crops failed due to floods, the owners of the land take compensation in the name of farmers against the crops destroyed and did not give even a small amount of it to the farmers, who should have been the actual beneficiaries of the compensation. Most of the farmers of the Yamuna floodplains have to cover an average of 3-4 kilometers to sell their vegetables with their hand driven rickshaws to markets. Urban agriculture can address many challenges the cities are facing today. But in Delhi, it is only a livelihood strategy for the economically weaker section that lives on the floodplain.