Wastelands Afforestation in Northern India by Cooperatives: A Socio-Economic Evaluation

India has an estimated area of 129 million ha of wasteland, which can be used for providing sustainable livelihood for millions of rural unemployed. An evaluation of enhancing income and employment generation and environmental externalities due to plantations on wastelands through cooperatives and self-help groups was done. The development process was set up in leased degraded lands in three north Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The capacity building processes like savings and micro-enterprise skills empowered resource-poor farmers. An internal rate of return of 11.5 to 17.0 % in the phase I of the project imply tangible economic benefits at the end of 17 years, which improved to 13.9 to 20.4 % by including environmental benefits like carbon sequestration, soil conservation, soil salinity reclamation, etc. By extrapolating the trend till the end of 30 years, the estimated IRR increased further. The incremental net return due to afforestation of wastelands ranged between Rs. 2283 and 9514 (US $51 -211) ha-1 yr -1 over the pre-developed status. The organization of stakeholders through cooperative societies for developing plantations on degraded lands and managing them for deriving benefits has demonstrated the viability of these models. The model can be replicated by dovetailing the same with the government schemes like food-for work programme and the recently enacted national rural employment guarantee programme.common pool resources, environmental evaluation, farmers, micro enterprises, self-help groups, Land Economics/Use,

Soil and Water Conservation Works through National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Andhra Pradesh — An Analysis of Livelihood Impact

The impact of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been studied on rural livelihoods and the nature of soil and water conservation (SWC) works. NREGS is under implementation in almost all the rural districts of the country with the major objective of enhancing livelihoods through productive works. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the three states leading in scheme implementation with a large number of works, expenditure and employment. In Andhra Pradesh, soil and water conservation (SWC) works have accounted for over 80 per cent. The share of labour wages under the scheme has been 80 per cent with only 20 per cent for material, which is well within the prescribed norm of 40 per cent for the latter. The field study in the Ananthapur district has indicated that almost two-thirds of the beneficiaries are farmers. The scheme has brought down the migration levels from about 27 per cent to only 7 per cent in the study villages. The linear regression function has brought out that the number of family members participating in the NREGS is significantly influenced by income from other sources, family size and landholding. The NREGS earnings are being used mainly for food, education and health security. Although the scheme provides opportunity for 100 days of wage guarantee, the actual average employment is only for 25 days per household. Ideally, this gap needs to be bridged at least in the distress districts. The study has observed that SWC works in agricultural lands, especially in the rainfed areas need to be continued. However, some works require structural modifications for a better impact.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Estimation of Economic Returns to Soil and Water Conservation Research – An Ex Ante Analysis

The economic returns to investment made in soil and water conservation research have been analyzed. Technologies such as conservation furrow, residue incorporation have been found to be economically viable under farmers’ conditions. The study has covered four locations, viz. Agra and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The economic surplus analysis has revealed that when adopted on a large scale, soil and water conservation technologies generate significant economic surplus as reflected in high NPV and BC ratio. The share of producer surplus has been found to be higher in the total economic surplus generated from technology adoption. Thus, investments in generation and transfer of soil and water conservation technologies have been found be justified in terms of economic benefits. However, various constraints that hamper adoption of these technologies are to be addressed so that the potential benefits could be realized by both farmer and consumer.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Wastelands Afforestation in Northern India by Cooperatives: A Socio-Economic Evaluation

India has an estimated area of 129 million ha of wasteland, which can be used for providing sustainable livelihood for millions of rural unemployed. An evaluation of enhancing income and employment generation and environmental externalities due to plantations on wastelands through cooperatives and self-help groups was done. The development process was set up in leased degraded lands in three north Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The capacity building processes like savings and micro-enterprise skills empowered resource-poor farmers. An internal rate of return of 11.5 to 17.0 % in the phase I of the project imply tangible economic benefits at the end of 17 years, which improved to 13.9 to 20.4 % by including environmental benefits like carbon sequestration, soil conservation, soil salinity reclamation, etc. By extrapolating the trend till the end of 30 years, the estimated IRR increased further. The incremental net return due to afforestation of wastelands ranged between Rs. 2283 and 9514 (US $51 -211) ha-1 yr -1 over the pre-developed status. The organization of stakeholders through cooperative societies for developing plantations on degraded lands and managing them for deriving benefits has demonstrated the viability of these models. The model can be replicated by dovetailing the same with the government schemes like food-for work programme and the recently enacted national rural employment guarantee programme

Estimation of Economic Returns to Soil and Water Conservation Research – An Ex Ante Analysis

The economic returns to investment made in soil and water conservation research have been analyzed. Technologies such as conservation furrow, residue incorporation have been found to be economically viable under farmers’ conditions. The study has covered four locations, viz. Agra and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The economic surplus analysis has revealed that when adopted on a large scale, soil and water conservation technologies generate significant economic surplus as reflected in high NPV and BC ratio. The share of producer surplus has been found to be higher in the total economic surplus generated from technology adoption. Thus, investments in generation and transfer of soil and water conservation technologies have been found be justified in terms of economic benefits. However, various constraints that hamper adoption of these technologies are to be addressed so that the potential benefits could be realized by both farmer and consumer

Soil and Water Conservation Works through National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Andhra Pradesh — An Analysis of Livelihood Impact

The impact of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been studied on rural livelihoods and the nature of soil and water conservation (SWC) works. NREGS is under implementation in almost all the rural districts of the country with the major objective of enhancing livelihoods through productive works. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the three states leading in scheme implementation with a large number of works, expenditure and employment. In Andhra Pradesh, soil and water conservation (SWC) works have accounted for over 80 per cent. The share of labour wages under the scheme has been 80 per cent with only 20 per cent for material, which is well within the prescribed norm of 40 per cent for the latter. The field study in the Ananthapur district has indicated that almost two-thirds of the beneficiaries are farmers. The scheme has brought down the migration levels from about 27 per cent to only 7 per cent in the study villages. The linear regression function has brought out that the number of family members participating in the NREGS is significantly influenced by income from other sources, family size and landholding. The NREGS earnings are being used mainly for food, education and health security. Although the scheme provides opportunity for 100 days of wage guarantee, the actual average employment is only for 25 days per household. Ideally, this gap needs to be bridged at least in the distress districts. The study has observed that SWC works in agricultural lands, especially in the rainfed areas need to be continued. However, some works require structural modifications for a better impact

Not Available

Not AvailableThe impacts of climate change are of particular concern to the coastal region of tropical countries like India, which are exposed to cyclones, floods, tsunami, seawater intrusion, etc. Climate-change adaptation presupposes comprehensive assessment of vulnerability status. Studies so far relied either on remote sensing-based spatial mapping of physical vulnerability or on certain socio-economic aspects with limited scope for upscaling or replication. The current study is an attempt to develop a holistic and robust framework to assess the vulnerability of coastal India at different levels. We propose and estimate cumulative vulnerability index (CVI) as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, at the village level, using nationally comparable and credible datasets. The exposure index (EI) was determined at the village level by decomposing the spatial multi-hazard maps, while sensitivity (SI) and adaptive capacity indices (ACI) were estimated using 23 indicators, covering social and economic aspects. The indicators were identified through the literature review, expert consultations, opinion survey, and were further validated through statistical tests. The socio-economic vulnerability index (SEVI) was constructed as a function of sensitivity and adaptive capacity for planning grassroot-level interventions and adaptation strategies. The framework was piloted in Sindhudurg, a coastal district in Maharashtra, India. It comprises 317 villages, spread across three taluks viz., Devgad, Malvan and Vengurla. The villages in Sindhudurg were ranked based on this multi-criteria approach. Based on CVI values, 92 villages (30%) in Sindhudurg were identified as highly vulnerable. We propose a decision tool for identifying villages vulnerable to changing climate, based on their level of sensitivity and adaptive capacity in a two-dimensional matrix, thus aiding in planning locationspecific interventions. Here, vulnerability indicators are classified and designated as ‘drivers’ (indicators with significantly high values and intervention priority) and ‘buffers’ (indicators with low-to-moderate values) at the village level. The framework provides for aggregation or decomposition of CVI and other sub-indices, in order to plan spatial contingency plans and enable swift action for climate adaptationNot Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableThe impacts of climate change are of particular concern to the coastal region of tropical countries like India, which are exposed to cyclones, floods, tsunami, seawater intrusion, etc. Climate-change adaptation presupposes comprehensive assessment of vulnerability status. Studies so far relied either on remote sensing-based spatial mapping of physical vulnerability or on certain socio-economic aspects with limited scope for upscaling or replication. The current study is an attempt to develop a holistic and robust framework to assess the vulnerability of coastal India at different levels. We propose and estimate cumulative vulnerability index (CVI) as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, at the village level, using nationally comparable and credible datasets. The exposure index (EI) was determined at the village level by decomposing the spatial multi-hazard maps, while sensitivity (SI) and adaptive capacity indices (ACI) were estimated using 23 indicators, covering social and economic aspects. The indicators were identified through the literature review, expert consultations, opinion survey, and were further validated through statistical tests. The socio-economic vulnerability index (SEVI) was constructed as a function of sensitivity and adaptive capacity for planning grassroot-level interventions and adaptation strategies. The framework was piloted in Sindhudurg, a coastal district in Maharashtra, India. It comprises 317 villages, spread across three taluks viz., Devgad, Malvan and Vengurla. The villages in Sindhudurg were ranked based on this multi-criteria approach. Based on CVI values, 92 villages (30%) in Sindhudurg were identified as highly vulnerable. We propose a decision tool for identifying villages vulnerable to changing climate, based on their level of sensitivity and adaptive capacity in a two-dimensional matrix, thus aiding in planning location-specific interventions. Here, vulnerability indicators are classified and designated as drivers' (indicators with significantly high values and intervention priority) and buffers' (indicators with low-to-moderate values) at the village level. The framework provides for aggregation or decomposition of CVI and other sub-indices, in order to plan spatial contingency plans and enable swift action for climate adaptation.Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra, under the UNDP's Program, Mainstreaming Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Conservation into Production Sectors in Sindhudurg Coast in Maharashtr