If there were a sustainable source of livelihood, communities would gain the voice to reach the right channels to advocate for themselves.

In Rajasthan’s Thar desert, an enterprise built around camel milk, traditional livestock practices and locally grown produce is attempting to create a new economic model for pastoralist communities by linking producers directly with premium markets.

Bahula Naturals, founded by Aakriti Srivastava, works with more than 4,000 households across Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Jaipur, developing food products while placing local communities, particularly women, at the centre of production and value creation.The idea for the venture began in 2017, when Srivastava travelled to Bajju, a village near the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan, while working on environmental documentaries and media projects.

She had been asked to cover the lives of 71 migrant families settled in the region.The journey from Bikaner into the desert exposed her to the challenges faced by communities living in a remote landscape, including limited access to resources, basic services and stable livelihoods.

The experience led her to examine how economic opportunities could be created in a region where traditional livelihoods remained vulnerable. Five years later, that effort developed into Bahula Naturals, described by the organisation as a community-owned and community-run enterprise.Srivastava, who grew up in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, pursued journalism before moving to Delhi.

Over several years, she documented the lives and challenges of desert communities through films, articles, research and policy work.Bajju, located in the Thar desert, has around 8,000 households that follow a dual housing system.

Families spend part of the year in the village and move for other periods with their livestock and households to settlements known as dhaanis, located near their agricultural land.This movement pattern has affected access to public services, education and government programmes, according to Srivastava’s observations from her work with communities.

She said the challenges included water availability, service delivery, education, women’s rights and access to information. Her research found that multiple institutions were working on these issues, including government agencies, academic organisations and philanthropic groups, but efforts often lacked long-term coordination.

The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for economic systems that could help communities sustain themselves, she said.Srivastava said pastoralist communities became the focus of her work because of the contrast between their cultural importance and economic position.

Camels, livestock and desert-based livelihoods are closely associated with Rajasthan’s identity, but many pastoralists have faced difficulties in gaining recognition and market access.The name Bahula comes from the Sanskrit word “Bahulata”, meaning plurality, according to the organisation.

The concept was based on bringing together communities, markets and institutions through a shared platform.Bahula Naturals operates through three broad stages. The first involves working with agro-pastoralist producers to support chemical-free farming and livestock practices. This includes access to seeds, animal feed and other inputs.

The enterprise has also introduced household biogas units, with the resulting slurry used as a natural fertiliser to reduce dependence on chemical alternatives.The second stage focuses on processing products across three categories: camel milk and related products, indigenous Rathi cow milk products, and agricultural produce.

The company produces camel milk products including artisanal cheese varieties and a freeze-dried camel milk nutraceutical supplement. It also sells products made from Rathi cow milk, including Bilona ghee and desi paneer prepared using traditional methods.Its agricultural product range includes black wheat flour, black wheat porridge, and cold-pressed mustard and groundnut oils.

Bahula’s largest business segment comes from premium business-to-business markets, where customers pay higher prices for products based on quality assurance, according to the organisation.The enterprise also supplies consumers directly through doorstep delivery in Bikaner and through online sales channels.

Its product range includes dairy items, oils and flour.The organisation operates from Bajju, with a separate office in Bikaner city handling warehousing and distribution. Around 95% of its team members are young people from villages connected to its operational network.Women’s participation is a central part of Bahula’s approach.

Srivastava said her decision to place women at the core of the value chain came from observing their role within rural households and production systems.Women are involved in different stages of the enterprise, from processing activities to community-level operations, creating opportunities for participation in income generation.

The model combines traditional desert livelihoods with market-oriented food production, aiming to improve the economic value of products originating from pastoralist communities.

Bahula Naturals continues to work with households across Rajasthan’s desert regions, focusing on building supply chains around locally available resources and connecting producers with consumers.

Phenyo Tanka’s experience in the labour market highlights a broader challenge facing Botswana as policymakers seek to reduce the country’s long-standing dependence on the diamond sector and create employment opportunities across a more diversified economy.

Tanka, 39, graduated with a degree in agriculture in 2011, entering the workforce with qualifications in a field widely viewed as important to economic diversification efforts. More than a decade later, she says she has been unable to secure employment in the sector despite submitting numerous applications for positions related to her studies.

Her situation illustrates the difficulties faced by some graduates attempting to translate academic qualifications into formal employment opportunities in sectors that have yet to generate sufficient jobs to absorb skilled workers.

Botswana is internationally recognised for the role diamonds have played in transforming its economy since independence. Revenue generated by the mining industry has supported infrastructure development, public services and economic growth over several decades.

At the same time, policymakers have repeatedly identified economic diversification as a national priority aimed at reducing vulnerability to fluctuations in commodity markets and creating broader employment opportunities.Against that backdrop, agriculture has frequently been cited as one of the sectors with potential to contribute to economic expansion beyond mining.

However, Tanka’s experience reflects the challenges that can emerge when employment creation does not keep pace with educational attainment and workforce participation.After graduating in agriculture in 2011, Tanka sought employment in the field she had studied. According to her account, repeated applications failed to result in a job offer, leaving her outside the sector despite her qualifications.

The prolonged search for work eventually led her to pursue self-employment opportunities rather than continue relying exclusively on formal recruitment processes. While she has not secured a position in agriculture, she has continued to explore ways to generate income independently.

Today, Tanka operates a small business producing and selling homemade cakes. The venture represents an entrepreneurial response to limited employment opportunities and reflects a broader trend in which individuals seek alternative income sources through small-scale enterprise when formal jobs are difficult to obtain.

Her ambitions extend beyond her current business activities. Tanka said she hopes to establish a toilet paper manufacturing operation, signalling an interest in expanding into light industrial production and building a larger commercial enterprise.The transition from university graduate to entrepreneur was not part of her original career plan.

However, after years of unsuccessful job searches, self-employment has become her primary economic activity.Tanka said her entrepreneurial goals are also shaped by personal considerations, particularly her desire to provide an example for her children.“I have two girls and I want them to know that they can also be independent, as ladies,” she said.

Her comments reflect a focus on economic self-sufficiency and the role entrepreneurship can play in creating opportunities when conventional employment pathways prove difficult to access.The experience of graduates such as Tanka continues to draw attention to the relationship between education, labour market demand and economic diversification.

While higher education provides skills and qualifications, employment outcomes ultimately depend on the capacity of industries and businesses to create positions that match those skills.In economies seeking to broaden their productive base, the challenge often extends beyond training workers.

It also involves fostering investment, supporting business development and creating conditions in which new sectors can generate sustainable employment opportunities.For Botswana, efforts to diversify economic activity beyond diamonds have been a recurring policy objective.

The country’s development strategy has frequently emphasised expanding activity in sectors capable of contributing to growth, employment and economic resilience.Tanka’s experience provides a personal perspective on that broader economic challenge.

Despite obtaining a university degree in a sector considered important to diversification efforts, she has remained unable to secure employment in her field since graduating in 2011.Yet her response has not been to withdraw from economic activity.

Instead, she has pursued entrepreneurship through her cake business while planning future ventures that could potentially create additional income streams.More than a decade after completing her studies, she continues to seek opportunities to build a sustainable livelihood. Her efforts underscore the realities faced by some graduates navigating labour markets where the availability of skilled employment remains limited relative to demand.

As Botswana continues to pursue economic diversification, experiences such as Tanka’s highlight the importance of translating policy objectives into employment opportunities capable of absorbing qualified workers and supporting broader economic participation.

For Tanka, that process remains personal as well as economic. While her search for employment in agriculture has yet to yield results, she continues to pursue business opportunities and invest in plans she hopes will provide both financial independence and an example for the next generation.

“I have two girls and I want them to know that they can also be independent, as ladies,” she said.

A chance encounter at a Sydney restaurant in 2015 set in motion a series of events that would eventually lead entrepreneur Monika Ruggerino to leave her corporate career, launch her own business and marry the restaurant owner she first met while organizing a friend’s birthday celebration.

Ruggerino’s story began when she assisted a friend in planning a 30th birthday party at Verde, a restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. Several weeks before the event, the pair visited the venue for a tasting session. It was there that Ruggerino first met Antonio, the restaurant’s owner and head chef.According to Ruggerino, the meeting left an immediate impression.

She recalled that both she and her friend noticed Antonio’s presence and charisma during the visit. While the interaction itself was brief, it marked the beginning of a connection that would later become significant.On the day of the birthday celebration, Ruggerino arrived early to help prepare the private dining space.

As she arranged decorations and flowers, an accident occurred that would become a memorable part of the story.While unplugging a lamp made from an old sambuca bottle, Ruggerino accidentally broke it. The damaged lamp, she later learned, was a favorite item belonging to Antonio.

Restaurant staff quickly removed the broken piece before informing the owner.Ruggerino recalled hearing a commotion from downstairs as Antonio reacted to the news. Expecting to confront whoever was responsible for damaging the lamp, he headed upstairs. However, when he discovered that Ruggerino was responsible, the situation unfolded differently than anticipated.

According to her account, Antonio’s frustration quickly gave way to humor and light-hearted conversation. What might otherwise have become an awkward interaction instead became another opportunity for the pair to speak.The following day, Ruggerino returned to the restaurant to collect decorations left behind after the event. During that visit, Antonio invited her to sit down for coffee.

Their conversation covered topics including her work in the luxury jewellery sector and a recent business trip to Italy.At the time, Ruggerino did not view the exchange as especially significant. Life soon moved in other directions.In the months that followed, she reached what she described as a turning point in both her professional and personal life.

Her existing relationship came to an end, prompting a period of reassessment and change.At roughly the same time, Ruggerino decided to leave her position in sales with luxury jewellery company Bulgari. The move marked a significant career transition after years working within an established global brand.

Following her departure from the company, she purchased an apartment in Sydney’s central business district and began pursuing plans to establish her own jewellery business. The period represented a broader shift toward entrepreneurship and independence.As those changes unfolded, Antonio re-entered the picture.Ruggerino said he contacted her unexpectedly after learning that she was no longer in a relationship.

While she believes a mutual acquaintance may have informed him of her changed circumstances, she does not know exactly how he became aware of the breakup.Once Ruggerino confirmed that she was single, Antonio asked her to dinner.Their first date took place at a restaurant in Potts Point, one of Sydney’s best-known dining precincts.

Ruggerino recalled feeling nervous as she arrived for the evening.According to her account, Antonio was already waiting at the table when she entered. The moment he looked up and smiled, she experienced a powerful sense of certainty about the relationship’s future.She described the feeling as one of familiarity and comfort rather than uncertainty, saying it felt as though she had arrived home.

Looking back, Ruggerino regards that dinner as the moment she realized she was in love.The relationship developed steadily in the years that followed. Four years after that first date, the couple married.Their shared connection to the restaurant where they first met remained an important part of their lives.

Ruggerino said the venue became the setting for several major milestones, including her hen’s party and baby showers.What began as a location associated with a friend’s birthday celebration gradually became linked to a growing number of family memories.

The significance of the site deepened further as Ruggerino’s professional ambitions evolved. The same function space where she first encountered Antonio eventually became the home of her jewellery studio, connecting her entrepreneurial journey with the place where her personal relationship began.

Today, the couple have two children and continue to view the sequence of events surrounding the broken lamp as an unexpected turning point.For Ruggerino, the incident serves as an example of how seemingly minor moments can influence the course of a person’s life.

At the time, the broken lamp appeared to be little more than an embarrassing accident during party preparations. In retrospect, she sees it as the beginning of a chain of events that reshaped both her personal and professional future.The story spans several major life transitions, including the end of a previous relationship, a departure from a corporate career, the launch of an independent business and the formation of a family.

While none of those developments seemed connected when they occurred, Ruggerino believes they ultimately formed part of the same narrative.More than a decade after first walking into the Darlinghurst restaurant, she remains struck by the unpredictability of the events that followed.

What started as a routine task helping a friend organize a birthday celebration evolved into a relationship, a marriage and a family life that she says would have been impossible to anticipate at the time.

For Ruggerino, the memory of accidentally breaking a lamp has become inseparable from the story of meeting her future husband, illustrating how unexpected encounters can alter the trajectory of a life in ways that only become clear years later.

Couples in long-term age-gap relationships are increasingly speaking publicly about the social scrutiny, financial assumptions and family resistance they face, as online discussions and social media visibility bring renewed attention to partnerships with significant age differences.

In interviews detailing their relationships, several couples described navigating criticism from relatives, internet users and broader cultural expectations while insisting their relationships are based on compatibility rather than financial or transactional motives.Alyssa Seremet, 32, said she became frustrated with dating men closer to her own age before meeting Mark Seremet, now 61, through an online dating platform in Miami eight years ago.

At the time, Alyssa was working as a nanny and raising her young son. She said many younger men she encountered projected what she described as “college kid type of energy”. Mark, a technology entrepreneur and divorced father, initially resisted the relationship because of their 29-year age difference, calling it “a bridge too far”.

The pair later married and now live together in Miami with their children and pets. Alyssa acknowledged that she prefers relationships in which male partners take financial responsibility for expenses such as rent and dining, adding that older men had more commonly met those expectations in her experience.Their relationship also generated criticism within Mark’s family.

He said his former wife opposed the relationship, while one of his daughters initially believed Alyssa was pursuing him for financial reasons.“She was like, ‘Dad, this woman is a complete gold digger,’” Mark recalled.Over time, he said, those attitudes softened as Alyssa became more integrated into the family. Alyssa argued that sustained interaction gradually changed perceptions about her intentions and personality.

A 2025 study examining wellbeing in age-gap relationships found younger women involved with older men reported greater perceived financial stability than women partnered with younger men. Researchers also found heterosexual men dating significantly younger women reported higher relationship satisfaction than men dating older women.

The same financial stability effect did not appear among younger men partnered with older women.Other couples described similar tensions involving family acceptance and public judgment.Moreno Woolfolk and Steven Woolfolk said they paid relatively little attention to their 13-year age difference when they began dating. Steven Woolfolk said he calculated the age gap early in the relationship and quickly dismissed concerns about it.

“When I told my family about her, I wasn’t like, ‘She’s 13 years older than me,’” he said.Moreno said some relatives viewed the relationship as impulsive, while her primary concern involved blending families. Both partners had children from previous relationships, and she questioned how the age difference would affect family dynamics, particularly because her son was only about a decade younger than Steven.

The increased visibility of age-gap relationships on social media has amplified both support and criticism. Couples interviewed described receiving negative online commentary ranging from accusations of exploitation to predictions about mortality and inheritance.Alyssa Seremet said one widely shared comment on social media mocked her marriage by suggesting her husband would die before she reached middle age.

She responded by publicly embracing the discussion rather than avoiding it.Public reactions became particularly intense for Tonya Cook, a Houston-based wedding and event curator who entered a relationship with Kemar Bonnick following the death of her previous husband.Cook later appeared on Heart & Hustle: Houston, a reality program focused on female entrepreneurs in Houston.

After the show aired, public attention toward the relationship increased significantly.Cook said she initially hesitated to make the relationship public but later created a shared social media account referencing the couple’s 17-year age gap. According to Cook, some critics accused her of moving on too quickly after becoming widowed, despite the death of her husband occurring five years earlier.

“People in my city were sending me hate mail,” she said, adding that she ultimately chose to block hostile users and focus on supportive followers online.Researchers studying relationship dynamics say public skepticism toward large age differences often centers on concerns about financial dependence, unequal power structures or differing life stages.

At the same time, some sociologists note that age-gap relationships have become more visible through digital culture, dating platforms and influencer-driven social media content.Despite criticism, the couples interviewed described their relationships as stable family arrangements rather than unconventional partnerships requiring justification.

Several said social attitudes became less hostile once relatives and friends observed the relationships over extended periods.Mark Seremet said he no longer worries about public perceptions surrounding the marriage.“Now, we’re married. We have a kid. We have an integrated family. We love each other. I don’t care any more.”