The people in Bundelkhand region are predominantly engaged in agriculture and the activities allied to it like farm labour, and animal husbandry in dairying, goat rearing and fisheries. Employment in agriculture, as cultivators and agriculture labour, sustains an overwhelming portion of the population. The storage of water in Bundelkhand has a negative impact on all aspects of livelihood, which has to be addressed.

Population: The project area comprising of 28 villages have a population of 84,426 (20,836 households) with a sex ratio of 934. It comprises 24.62 % Scheduled Castes and 6.62% Scheduled Tribes population.

Occupations: Rainfed agriculture along with livestock rearing is the mainstay of rural economy of this region. Beset on light soils with low moisture holding capacity, agriculture suffered from vagaries of monsoons. A large population of cattle occupied the landscape, with the density of cattle population is one of the highest in India. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people in Bundelkhand. The project area comprises of47.52% agriculturists and 38.97% of labourers. Only 3.15 % of the population is engaged in services (salaried jobs) having regular income. There are 2,862 artisans in the project area, at an average of 102per village.

Land Holding Pattern: Land holding in the project area is low with 5,381 (38.9%) farmers belonging to the category of marginal farmers. There are 25.56 % households belonging to small farmers, and only 5.44% households belonging to large farmer category.

Rainfed agriculture along with livestock rearing is the mainstay of rural economy of this region.

Land holding in the project area is low with 5,381 (38.9%) farmers belonging to the category of marginal farmers.