APDAI A Pilot initiative on Climate resilience

Objective Enhancing drought adaptation capacity of affected communities and reducing their vulnerability to drought in the long-term through developing community manageable adaptation models extending appropriate policy support for rain-fed farming & sustainability of the models developed Project Coverage 2 predominantly rainfed districts : Anantapur and Mahabubnagar 3+2 Mandals 25 village organisations covering 43 villages

Area of intervention…  Production systems (Agril. and Livestock)  Natural Resource Management including groundwater management  Opening alternate livelihood options  Addressing fodder issues  Capacity building of community and Institutional support

Designing Pilot Initiatives Participatory Situation Analysis with stake holders Scaling up in beyond project villages Scaling up in project villages Conceptualisation, identify requirements and analyze gaps in the existing programs Evolving institutional mechanisms, processes, procedures, operational systems Testing policy options, larger systems, capacity building State Policy Options KEY ELEMENTS: -Building on existing mainstream programs and filling gaps from APDAI Pilot Funds -Convergence Operational strategy:

AP DAI Pilot Initiatives Initially started with several smaller pilots; later consolidated into.. a)Diversified farming systems b)Livestock Development Initiatives for DA c)Groundwater management for security of rainfed farms

1. Diversified Farming Systems (DFS) Soil, moisture and water conservation Enhancing soil organic matter and soil fertility Biomass development (fodder and green manure trees) Promoting inter crops and crop-diversification Promoting millets, horticulture & agronomic measures Maintaining buffer seed stocks Access to critical irrigation NPM – Non-Pesticide Management Making a block area of 100 ha resilient to climate change by integrated measures

2. Livestock Development Initiative for DA Reforms in the Sheep-Rearers Cooperatives Promoting more resilient local Deccani Breed of Sheep : Community Managed Livestock Insurance : With United India Insurance Company Ltd. For ram-lamb rearing Establishing Fodder Banks : Organise Common Interest Groups of fodder deficit households and establishing mechanisms for sourcing and improving fodder. Availing economic opportunities in Livestock rearing: – Promoting Back Yard Poultry (Chick rearing Centers) – Bull-calf rearing About 10,000 birds for backyard poultry & more than 30 cycles of Chick Rearing, 200 households involved in ram-lamb rearing, services to about 50,000 small ruminants...

3. Groundwater Management for Security of Rainfed Farms Process/ Strategy: A block of area with bore wells, irrigated land and rain-fed land is identified Farmers are encouraged to pool their bore wells – project promises to establish a Pipeline-Grid on cost sharing basis (grant + farmers’s share + loan), & source micro-irrigation infrastructure. Grants conditional on.. – Water available for protective irrigation for all the identified rain-fed area in the block covering even non-bore well owners – No new bore wells for at least 10 years Objectives: Securing larger rainfed areas through extension of protective irrigation

Intensive irrigation Irrigated Dry Extensive protective irrigation Area Approach:

5 borewells – pooled 5 farmers, 48 acres total land -No new borewells for at least 10 years -MOU signed by MRO -Rest-one BW every day (reduce usage by about 20%) Coverage of all rainfed lands Common operation Commissioned in 2007 CHELLAPUR, Daultabad, Mahabubnagar

72 farmers in 370 acres 33 borewells Entire village has agreed to collectivize - No new borewells -All rainfed land must be covered -non-borewell owners must also be covered -Cost sharing Gorantlavandlapalli: Nallacheruvu, Anantapur

Compost preparation

Out come and Achievements: Road map for pilot initiative & scaling up designs emerged Community Based Organizations (CBOs), women groups were strengthened to take up all these initiatives on their own Social capital in terms of various CIGs/SHGs were developed to be used as platform for various developmental programs

Out come and Achievements: New programs emerged in convergence & Integration - Enhancing Fish Production in Small Water Bodies with dept. of Fisheries, NREGS and SERP in 300 tanks in three districts - Common Property Resource management with NREGS in 200 villages - Scaling up of pilots in IWMP

LESSONS LEARNT Adaptation requires well functioning government structures and intensive and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders A strong synergy between natural resource management and livelihood development with a focus on diversification, conservation, regeneration and creation of resource buffers to develop climate resilience in dry lands. Economic viability for the individual farmer is important NREGS funds can be effectively used for drought adaptation