Rural poverty is a global problem which is especially prevalent in the southern atmosphere.
The current economic system encourages mass production in the agriculture sector. This is leading to large plantations and fewer rural employment opportunities. Next to this, many products made naturally before are now replaced by petroleum based products such as plastics and petroleum derived chemicals used in cosmetics. This is leading to rural poverty and rapid unsustainable urbanization.
India has one of the world's largest rural populations, wherein poverty is constantly increasing despite the nation’s impressive economic growth. Rural poverty is accompanied with rapid urbanization into slum areas without the basic necessities such as waste and sewage systems. This leads to uncontrolled pollution ending up in the environment. Urbanization is also a part of further fulling this change by taking the focus away from traditional, eco-friendly utilization of plant resources to materialistic mass production.
In contrast to the unsustainable development linked to urbanization, traditional rural knowledge could be used to create global sustainable growth. Rural populations can promote sustainable development through traditional knowledge of utilizing plant resources in an eco-friendly way, and they can adopt innovative new environmentally friendly techniques creating new labour opportunities in these areas. This way, rural areas can pave the way towards global sustainable consumption - with reduced pollution, decreased unsustainable urbanization and knowledge that help us establish a healthy balance with nature.
At Indo Naturals, we encourage the continued use of traditional handicrafts and the development of rural innovations. Our products come to life through new sustainable technologies mixed with handicraft skills passed down over several generations. This way, we use traditional raw materials to produce high quality products that fit into the modern everyday life.
