PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE PERIOD April 2002 to March 2003

In the current year, the Project continued to grapple with drought conditions. At the best of times, the area receives around 500 mm. of rain in the year. In years of poor rainfall, the people have very little to fall back on barring the prospect of migration. While sustained investment in self help group development, watershed development and rainwater harvesting to augment sub-surface and groundwater recharge have yielded significant and visible results, the inherent difficulties of the area still keep its residents vulnerable and challenged.

Project Coverage

The Project is currently working in 3 mandals in Kadiri Taluk of Anantapur District (Kadiri, Nallacheruvu and OD Cheruvu) and one mandal of Kurnool District (Alur). It has plans to expand to one more mandal in Kadiri Taluk (Amadugur). Earlier, it was also working in Talapula and Gandlapenta mandals from where it has completely withdrawn after completing all the activities committed to. The Project currently has 9 staff.

Funding and Technical Assistance

The Project is receiving financial assistance from Novib, HOPE-Canada, CAPART, and the National and State Government. AME (Agriculture-Man-Ecology) is supporting it with a small finance-cum-technology package on groundnut experimentation. Technical assistance is also sourced from government departments based on need. Local people’s knowledge is respected and promoted, and the communities, through their own institutions are investing financially in many of the programmes.

Major Activities

Watershed Development

The Project has previously worked extensively on watershed programmes (16,500 acres), natural forest regeneration (660 acres), fodder development (945 acres), orchard development (182 acres), wastelands development (5,880 acres), tank desilting (23 tanks), and construction of checkdams (10 checkdams). This experience has enabled it to expand the approach to newer locations.
• With the support of CAPART (Government of India), it is working on 1,000 acres.
• With the support of the Governments of India and Andhra Pradesh, it is working in 17 watersheds in Anantapur (Kadiri, Nallacheruvu, OD Cheruvu, Amadagur) and Kurnool (Alur) Districts. Each micro-watershed covers approximately 500 hectares. They are variously supported under programmes like DDP, RIDF and APRLP.
• With HOPE-Canda’s support, 3,000 acres are being covered additionally.
• Novib was also supporting watershed development activities that drew to a close in the current year.
• Under the India Canada Environment Facility (ICEF), the Project was working in partnership with a network of 7 NGOs on watershed and forestry development. This programme ended in December 2002.
• With technical and (some) financial support from AME, as well as collaboration with APAU and ICRISAT, the Project is engaged in groundnut experimentation and participatory technology development. In the current year, the focus was on use of bio-fertilisers and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. The practices were introduced on 100 acres and multi-locational trials plots were also made on 16 acres. It is estimated that the spread effect of these trials has reached approximately 750 acres. The farmers procured 1,221 tonnes (95 lorry loads) of gypsum from the Government on subsidised cost for application on their lands.

Building Family Ties

With the support of HOPE-Canada, this programme started some years ago to link rural Indian families with families in Canada, with the latter providing support for the socio-economic development of the former. Funds are transferred in small instalments and the Project facilitates the use of these funds for house construction, income generation and health and educational inputs for the selected families. 240 families were thus supported in the previous years. 100 new families are currently being supported.

Local Level Institutions

The Project is currently working with 362 self help affinity groups, 24 watershed associations and 31 federations of self help groups (these numbers exclude the CBOs from which the Project has withdrawn). 258 groups have been linked to banks under the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme. The Project was earlier involved in the UNDP Programme for self-help group development through which 223 groups were financially assisted.

Recently, the Project has introduced the Community Resource Centre (RC) concept and 3 RCs have been formed at present.

Skill Training and Non Farm Income Generation

In the current year, 327 persons were trained in various income earning skills. Enterprises launched over the past years – including the current year – include pickle making, leaf-plate making, tamarind processing, driving, detergent and phenyl making, computer operating, tailoring, trading and service activities.

Health and Sanitation

The Project has been involved in a variety of health activities that include training of midwives and community health activists, conducting health camps, providing safe drinking water systems, bathroom construction, giving incentives for family planning, supporting poor families for operations and treatment, etc.

Participants	No. of Trainings	No. of participants
Self Help Affinity Group members	1,159	7,899*
Self help group book writers	68	620*
Federation members	228	1,651*
Training in vocational skills :                       Detergent and phenyl making                                                      Tailoring                                                        Driving                                     Computer operating
	1	45
	13	248
	1	22
	1	12
Watershed Association members	215	2,518*
Staff Training	27	25**
Community Volunteers	41	49**
Dais and Community Health Activists	62	400*
International Agencies, Bankers, Govt       Institutions & NGO Staff	94	2,818
Total	1,910	16,307

       * = repeat attendance separately counted ** = repeat attendance not counted.

Networking

Based on NGO collaborations established under the earlier Agro Forestry Programme and the recently concluded ICEF Programme, the Project has promoted a network of 19 NGOs that meets regularly to share knowledge, skills and information related to self help group development, common property resources management, livelihood promotion for the poor, and capacity building of local level institutions. In the forthcoming year, Novib is likely to provide support to the strengthening of such networks under the District Strategy approach developed and being fine-tuned by Myrada.

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