This report summarises the research results of the title project. It is an annex to other research reports from the project, which aims to gain a comprehensive and sound understanding of household livelihood and coping strategies in semi-arid India in general, and in two focus districts in particular. Individual sections of the report: describe trends in rural poverty in India; present selected statistics on poverty and rural livelihoods in semi-arid areas in India; present the results from the project field studies; and discuss these results in relation to general economic trends, providing a descriptive and analytical model of household livelihood strategies.