Richard Mahapatra

Managing Editor, Down To Earth. He has been associated with the fortnightly since 1997 and has written extensively on rural affairs and development matters

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Richard Mahapatra

A woman from the Baka tribe of the Central African Republic. Sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to many forest-dependent poor, has seen little change, with extreme poverty still close to 46 per cent.

How the world’s poorest remain insulated from their $1.5 trillion annual forest economy

Richard Mahapatra

13 May 2026

3 min read

"Refugees Welcome" placard placed on city hall building facade of Madrid in 2015, at the height of the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

Migrant workers are assets, development drivers

Richard Mahapatra

07 May 2026

3 min read

In Dangabanji village in Odisha’s Balangir district, most residents have mortgaged themselves for years. The village keeps a unique register (inset) recording details of the migrant residents and advances taken from labour contractors

Poverty’s own republic: “Who is poor”

Richard Mahapatra

01 May 2026

2 min read

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Down To Earth

www.downtoearth.org.in