Water

Country Water Action: India A Case of Watershed Development in Andhra Pradesh, India Proponent Background What is Watershed Development? Findings and Recommendations Contact Full case study report [PDF]

This case study presents the interventions, insights and recommendations of the Rural Development Trust/ Accion Fraterna (RDT/AF) towards watershed development in Andhra Pradesh.

RDT/AF is one of the leading NGOs in the state. It works closely district and state governments, particularly in the areas of soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, vegetation development, horticultural development and dry land agriculture.

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Much of the future agricultural growth and poverty alleviation in India will have to take place in semi-arid, low resource and high-risk environments. Andhra Pradesh, an inland and drought prone district, is one such environment.

The case study attempts to understand the potential of watershed development in addressing poverty alleviation issues. Among such issues are

• Assessing linkages between watershed development and rural livelihoods and poverty
• Type and nature of benefit flows accruing to various section sof the community
• Challenges in making the watershed program pro-poor and sustainable in the long run

Andhra Pradesh is in the forefront as far as the watershed development is concerned. The state has so far initiated about 7000 watersheds covering about 3 million hectares. This accounts for roughly a third of the land that needs treatment and a fifth of the total rain-fed area in the state.

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Watershed development is a land-based technology consisting of various components aimed at land, water and tree conservation. Every piece of land is part of a micro watershed, which is a subset of a macro watershed. When micro and macro watershed is treated, land quality will improve, thereby increasing land productivity.

Watershed development is expected to improve the conditions of farmers and the poor through greater availability of water.

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Watershed development is necessary for strengthening the ecological resource base and improving the carrying capacity of the fragile environments. However, it is not sufficient to achieve the broader objective of poverty alleviation. Being a land-based technology, it is more beneficial to households with access to land and water. Nevertheless, it should be pursued as a major sectoral policy since agricultural development remains critical in the overall development of the region.

Watershed development can be an effective pro-poor program. Towards this, the study recommends the following:

• Continue and expand the process of experimenting with watershed development at grassroots level and ensure that lessons learned (weaknesses) are taken onboard in policy design
• Develop and test interventions that particularly benefit poor men and women, both through watershed development and complementary development activities
• Build up the capacity of the government agencies, NGOs and local institutions involved in watershed development and management
• Develop a package of poverty alleviation focused policies, including the watershed policy that is mutually complementary and reinforcing
• Minimize inequities through more egalitarian institutional arrangements and legislation.

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Y. V. Malla Reddy
Director, Ecology Centre
Accion Fraterna, Bangalore Highway
Anantapur 515002
Andhra Pradesh, India
E-mail: accionf@hd2.dot.net.in