Learning from a livelihoods project - Environment and adaptation to climate change ESRC_briefing_paper_1

Learning from a livelihoods project

The Western Orissa Rural Livelihoods Project (WORLP) was designed to alleviate poverty and

reduce vulnerability in four of the most disadvantaged districts in Orissa, India. Using a Sustainable

Livelihoods Approach the project demonstrates important development impacts which are found also

to enhance climate change resilience and adaptation.

WORLP, a partnership between the Government of Orissa

and the UK’s Department for International Development

(DFID), started in 2000 and is still on-going. It has

had a substantial impact on poverty, with a 30 per cent

reduction in the number of poor households recorded in

the project districts. Approximately 15,000 households

or 72,000 people have moved above the poverty line.

Much of this success can be attributed to enhanced

levels of financial, human, natural and social livelihood

assets. Five successful strategies of the project can be

highlighted.

Project strategies and impacts

1. Empower the poor. Participatory approaches were

used to engage with poor and very poor people, to

empower and inform them. This created an enabling

environment for them to make informed choices for

their long-term well being.

2. Build human capacity. Substantial technical support

to increase skills in both farm and non-farm activities

helped people to strengthen and diversify livelihoods.

Crop yields increased significantly, often 50–100

per cent. Lean season food deficit days and stress

migration have significantly reduced.

3. Build institutions for the poor. Over 5,000 self-

help groups with over 65,000 members were

supported. The increased number and strength of

SHGs increased social cohesion, reduced people’s

vulnerability, and increased the opportunity for

collective action in case of climate-related shocks.

4. Provide access to resources. Ensuring appropriate

entitlements to land and water resources enabled

poor and very poor people to benefit from

opportunities and invest in their future.

5. Manage natural resources. Community water

harvesting technologies enabled better water

management, reduced fluctuations in, and raised,

the groundwater table and improved hydrological

conditions. This in turn enabled the expansion of

aquaculture and agriculture. The gross land area

cropped increased by around 16 per cent, with

cropping intensity up by 10 per cent.

The self help group ‘Maa kamalini’ is for widows

are better able to cope with anticipated hazards and

adapt to a changing environment.

Improved command over resources increases the

strategies available to prepare for climatic change, such

as soil and water conservation or investment in resistant

agriculture. Diversifying incomes increases resilience

to climate shocks through ensuring alternative sources

of food and income when the main source fails. SHGs

increase the opportunity for collective action to address

the impacts of climate change.

The project is also now incorporating new initiatives

to help build adaptive capacity to climate change,

principally through Climate Change Schools, based upon

the successful model of Farmer Field Schools.

In conclusion, there is much that can be learned

from the field of poverty alleviation about reducing

vulnerability to climate change and enhancing capacity

to adapt.

Author

Bryony Everett,

Natural Resources International,

Park House,

Bradbourne Lane,

Aylesford, Kent, UK.

Email: b.everett@nrint.org

Reducing vulnerability to climate change

Climate change risks in Western Orissa are considered

substantial, with increasing variability of rainfall,

extended dry spells and droughts, and flash floods

during the rainy season. Whilst WORLP was not

designed with any climate change adaptation objectives,

all the interventions described above helped reduce

vulnerability, by ensuring that poor and very poor people