Umbrella Programme on Natural Resources Management

1. Rationale for an NRM Policy
   
   
2. Three Key Challenges
   
   
3. Purpose of NABARD’s Policy on NRM
   
   
4. Coverage of NABARD’s NRM Policy
   
   
5. Policy Goal and Objectives
   
   
6. Strategic Considerations

Rationale for an NRM Policy

Despite India ’s recent high economic growth rate, around 350 million out of its more than one billion strong population is still living below one dollar a day. Seventy-five percent (262 million) of India ’s poor are living in rural areas, primarily dependent on agriculture and natural resources for their subsistence. Acknowledging the rural distress, the Indian Government has declared the development of rural areas a top national priority (National Common Minimum Programme of the GoI, 2004).¹ The most critical elements here are the access to and equitable management of local resources in a viable and sustainable way.

Although there are several instances of increased policy direction towards greater investment for sustainable management of natural resources from the state and private channels, the policy governing sustainable management for rural livelihoods has not been well defined. Hence, it is imperative that a clearly defined NRM sector policy is evolved to give a focused and coordinated attention for management of natural resources for enhanced livelihood for the rural people on a sustainable basis.

Three Key Challenges

• Development of a suitable policy environment that promotes increased appreciation and investments for NRM activities.
• Increasing public as well as private investment in NRM sector.
• Building capacities of delivery system.

Purpose of NABARD’s Policy on NRM

NABARD, set up as an apex Development Bank with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture and integrated and sustainable rural development, has the mission of “Promoting sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development through effective credit support, related services, institution building and other innovative initiatives”. NABARDs pioneering and innovative work in the NRM sector through implementation of Wadi, Indo-German Watershed Development Programme (IGWDP), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Watershed Development Fund (WDF), Tribal Development Fund (TDF), SHG- Bank Linkage Programme and other related programmes, positions NABARD as the national agency which can influence not only the policy environment but also investment level and capacity building of stakeholders in livelihood based NRM .

With this policy on natural resource management (NRM),NABARD strives to reinforce its commitment to furthering agriculture development and rural prosperity on a sustainable basis and emerge as a thematic leader in the NRM sector in the country. Details of Portfolio of Coverage of NRM Sector in the context of this Policy

Coverage of NABARD’s NRM Policy

Policy Goal and Objectives

Enhancing livelihoods of the rural community for equitable and sustained enhancement in their quality of life through improved natural resource conditions.  

In this context, the more specific objectives are:

• To integrate NABARD’s existing and future NRM efforts into a streamlined approach of participatory interventions with the aim of mainstreaming holistic, and financially sustainable livelihood solutions into relevant public policy framework and financial instruments for improving the livelihoods of the rural poor.
• To support planning and promotion of rational use, conservation and improvement of natural resources essential to continuous and self sustaining livelihood opportunities.
• To support and stimulate new and innovative initiatives aimed at improving the stock, quality and productivity of the natural resource base and livelihood opportunities.
• To empower local communities to become equal and increasingly self-reliant partners in sustainable NRM.

The goals and objectives of the NRM policy are to be achieved through synergy and in consonance with various policies, programmes, missions, guiding principles, reform processes and decentralised management systems of Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and other Governmental agencies or Special Purpose Vehicles (like National Rainfed Area Authority) dealing in NRM sector.

NABARD’s activities in the NRM sector shall also take due cognisance of the National commitments under the relevant millennium development goals and NRM-related international conventions like United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), etc.

Strategic Considerations

NABARD would direct its NRM interventions towards achieving structuralimpact on the NRM sector for livelihood enhancement (poverty reduction) and ecological sustainability. One of the most important interventions in this direction would be t o integrate NABARD’s existing and future NRM efforts into a streamlined approach of participatory interventions with the aim of mainstreaming holistic and financially sustainable livelihood solutions into relevant public policy framework. This would necessitate:

- Establishing an independent NRM unit/ department and an institute of excellence in NRM within NABARD and consolidating NABARDs successful NRM oriented initiatives into a unified programme under this unit.

- Convergence of various programmes and resources for up-scaling the successful models to contribute towards greater efficiency of public investment schemes (macro-economic impact) and provide the rural population with viable livelihood opportunities, thereby reducing rural poverty.

- Building partnerships with various national and international funding/donor agencies and institutions to (i) broaden, replicate, and sustain the impact of NABARD’s efforts; (ii) mobilize additional knowledge and financial resources; and (iii) ensure coordination, avoid duplication, and maximize effectiveness in the use of scarce resources.

NABARD would make efforts towards facilitating higher level of investments in the NRM sector, for which it would support gradual shift from grant-based funding to loan-based funding in NRM sector in consonance with the recommendations of Working Group (on Watershed Development and Natural Resource Management) of Planning Commission. This would entail:

- Exploring new andinnovative modes of delivery for NRM programme implementation through various channel partners including state governments, PRIs, corporates, banks, mFIs and NGOs.

- Development of a wide range of alternative technical &financial NRM models /products to be tested and adapted in pilot phase supported by appropriate funding & technical agencies.

- Up-scaling the successful models into large public investment schemes.

In order to consolidate and to further reinforce its position as a leading credit agency in the NRM sector, NABARD would work towards strengthening the NRM sector at the National level through:

- Establishing a strong Information & Knowledge Management (IKM) platform /network and leverage IKM system and capacity building to raise the relative profile and positioning of NABARD in NRM sector.

- Achieving synergy within and among communities, state governments, PRIs, private sector, banks, mFIs and NGOs for sustainable NR management and utilization.

- Dissemination of learning to decision makers to guide national policies and public investment schemes in natural resource management sector.

NABARD considers it of utmost importance for the beneficiaries to be actively in a project throughout its life right from its inception through planning to implementation and post project management. An integral part of this would be to empower the local communities through improved accessibility to natural resources and related services, promoting and strengthening participatory community structures and enhanced livelihood security.

NABARD will encourage development of demand-driven integrated NRM projects which offer necessary flexibility for periodic readjustments. Focus would also be on i mproving quality of various aspects of NRM intervention including project design, planning, implementation and monitoring.