Amrita Cooperates with Indian Government for Project WADI

1 September 2021

Funded by: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Finance, Government of India

With a broad vision to work with the farmers and landless people for the tribal communities in Odisha, the WADI project was formulated. In all its hues, the project is being implemented in the tribal hinterland in Hindol Block of Dhenkanal District, Odisha. The core approach is to strengthen income generation in a sustainable way by developing agri-horti-forestry in small underutilized plots of land, with a combination of fruits, forestry, and agriculture interventions, using the latest technologies to address the most complex challenges, such as frequent elephant and other animal attacks leading to the destruction of life and other resources, water scarcity. Through WADI, we take up a participatory approach to design and implement a programme based on the specific needs of the population by engaging some of the community youths in the project implementation.

In the context of community engagement, it is mandated under the project where the villagers are organized into UDYAN (UPVAN) VIKASH SAMITI (UVS) and the leaders of UVS are provided with capacity-building training, after which they are managing all the field activities like plantation, pit digging, care of the saplings, water resource development structures etc. independently. The UVSs keep a track of all the activities done and process the relevant payment for the services rendered by the beneficiaries of the project.

No. of Beneficiaries Covered:188

No. of Villages Covered: 7

No. of UVSs: 8

No. of Acres Covered: 136.2

The above information is from our ongoing intervention, which is likely to increase in due course of time.

SDGs Covered:

1. SDG 1: No Poverty: The poorest of the poor from the tribal community are the prime beneficiaries of the WADI project. Though of them own land, it is not being cultivated due to a lack of facilities/ options for irrigation and frequent wild animal attacks, especially by elephants. WADI not only enables them to develop successful orchards but will also engage to facilitate the marketing by forming Farmer producer organizations (FPOs).
2. SDG 2: Zero hunger: Along with the fruit crops Mango and cashew, intercropping is a key component of the WADI thus the beneficiaries are able to cultivate nutritious vegetables for their consumption and sale.
3. SDG 5: Gender equality: Along with horticultural components, WADI project promotes the participation of women in all sorts of WADI activities and encourages them to actively participate in decision-making processes. The project also has provisions to support the local women’s self-help groups.
4. SDG 6: Safe Water and Sanitation and SDG 13- Climate action: Mass afforestation is the core of the project as continue to we plant 77 fruit trees per acre along with other trees of forest species on the borders. Even after massive destruction by elephants at frequent intervals, we continue to transplant and take measures to protect the WADI areas by installing solar fences and taking up alternative methods to keep the elephants and other animals at bay. The project will also help in the formation of WRD structures to mitigate the issues of water scarcity and lack of irrigation.
5. SDG 15: Life on land: In the project, we are converting barren lands into fruit orchards, which will not only contribute to the nourishment and well-being of human beings in the region but also add up to benefit the entire biodiversity of the region.