Implementing Homestead Plot Programmes
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LSP Working Paper 23 Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme Implementing homestead plot programmes Experience from India Robin Nielsen, Tim Hanstad, and Leonard Rolfes Rural Development Institute (RDI) 2006 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) An inter-departmental programme for improving support for enhancing livelihoods of the rural poor. Implementing homestead plot programmes Experience from India Robin Nielsen, Tim Hanstad, and Leonard Rolfes Rural Development Institute (RDI) 2006 Photograph by RDI This paper was prepared under contract with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The positions and opinions presented are those of the authors alone, and are not intended to represent the views of FAO. Implementing homestead plot programmes The Livelihood Support Programme The Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) evolved from the belief that FAO could have a greater impact on reducing poverty and food insecurity, if its wealth of talent and experience were integrated into a more flexible and demand-responsive team approach. The LSP works through teams of FAO staff members, who are attracted to specific themes being worked on in a sustainable livelihoods context. These cross- departmental and cross-disciplinary teams act to integrate sustainable livelihoods principles in FAO’s work, at headquarters and in the field. These approaches build on experiences within FAO and other development agencies. The programme is functioning as a testing ground for both team approaches and sustainable livelihoods principles. Email: [email protected] Access to natural resources sub-programme Access by the poor to natural resources (land, forests, water, fisheries, pastures, etc.), is essential for sustainable poverty reduction. The livelihoods of rural people without access, or with very limited access to natural resources are vulnerable because they have difficulty in obtaining food, accumulating other assets, and recuperating after natural or market shocks or misfortunes. The main goal of this sub-programme is to build stakeholder capacity to improve poor people’s access to natural resources through the application of sustainable livelihood approaches. The sub-programme is working in the following thematic areas: 1. Sustainable livelihood approaches in the context of access to different natural resources 2. Access to natural resources and making rights real 3. Livelihoods and access to natural resources in a rapidly changing world Land reform to broaden rural land access is still needed in India. The problems, however, will not be solved by relying solely on traditional land reform tools aiming to provide multiple acres for each land-poor household. There is a need to expand the number and type of tools in the land reform toolkit and prioritize improving land access for the most needy – those who have no land. Providing homestead plots to landless households serves both objectives. Experience from India TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 2. BENEFITS OF HOMESTEAD PLOTS........................................................................5 3. EXAMINATION OF PROJECTS IN SIX STATES....................................................9 3.1 An NGO Employee Housing Colony in Andhra Pradesh ..................................10 3.2 A mix of land-based projects in Gujarat.............................................................16 3.3 New village extensions in Karnataka .................................................................23 3.4 Land reform homesteads in Kerala ....................................................................33 3.5 Orissa Village Development Project ..................................................................38 3.6 West Bengal panchayat land housing colony project.........................................44 4. KEY ISSUES IN THE DESIGN OF HOMESTEAD PROGRAMMES ..................48 5. SUMMARY DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW PROGRAMMES IN KARNATAKA, WEST BENGAL, AND ANDHRA PRADESH...........................................................57 5.1 Karnataka’s Namma Bhoomi – Namma Thota (“My Land – My Garden”) Programme .........................................................................................................57 5.2 West Bengal’s Chash-O-Basobaser Bhumi-dan Prakalpa Programme (“CBBP”) (“Cultivation and Dwelling Plot Allocation Scheme”).....................58 5.3 Andhra Pradesh IKP Land Purchase Project Subcomponent .............................59 6. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INCORPORATING THE HOMESTEAD CONCEPT INTO GOI OR STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES ...........................................................................................................61 7. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................66 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................67 iii Implementing homestead plot programmes Acknowledgments RDI gratefully acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the Deccan Development Society staff: Mr. N. Jagannath Reddy (Joint Director), Mr. Jayappa (Deputy Director), and Suresh (Project Coordinator). In the Tumkur District, Karnataka, the gram panchayat and taluk panchayat officials assisted us in our work. In Gujarat, Pranay Sinha, Deputy Project Director (In Charge) Government of Gujarat, Rural Development/ADB-JFPR Project, shared his experience and expertise with us and traveled with us to multiple project sites. In Orissa, Joe Madiath of Gram Vikas. In West Bengal, the Santiniketan-based NGO, Krishti, and consultant Partha Majumdar have assisted with the homestead plot project. The research was conducted with the expertise of RDI’s India-based team, led by Dr. T. Haque, and assisted by S.B. Lokesh and Arun Muniyappa from the Bangalore RDI office. Glossary ADB Asian Development Bank. BPL Below poverty line. DDS Deccan Development Society, an NGO based in Andhra Pradesh. EWS Employee welfare association. A vehicle established by DDS to implement its employee housing project. GOI Government of India Gram panchayat/panchayath Village-level elected council. The lowest level of a three-tier local governance system. Hakku patra “Site title.” Issued in to beneficiaries of housing benefits in Karnataka. IAY Indira Awaas Yojana. The central government’s scheme, which includes a rural housing component. Kacha/kutcha Rural houses with thatched roofs, constructed of mud. Kudikidappukar/kudikidappukaran (pl.) Term for agricultural labourers in Kerala. Navagrama Ashraya Housing scheme New village extension scheme in Karnataka. Originated in 2001. NGO Non-governmental organization. Pacca/pakka/pucca Rural houses constructed with bricks or concrete. Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Quasi-governmental organization that has managed Karantaka’s housing programmes since 2000. SC Scheduled caste. Also called Dalits. Previously referred to as “untouchables” because of their low status and the belief among higher castes that they should not be touched. SHG Self-help group. Tahsildar Sub-divisional level government official responsible for land records, revenue, and taxation. Zilla panchayat District-level elected council. The highest level of a three-tier local governance system. iv Experience from India 1. INTRODUCTION This paper represents part of an area of work which examines ways in which the poor can use small amounts of land to establish homegardens to support their livelihoods. When land is scarce, access to even small plots can benefit families by improving nutrition, providing a source for additional household income, and enhancing the status of women. This paper builds on the LSP Working Paper 11: RDI. 2004. “Small homegarden plots and sustainable livelihoods for the poor”; and LSP Working Paper 12: RDI. 2004. “Land and Livelihoods: Making land rights real for India’s rural poor.” In 2002, India’s central government made a pronouncement that could ultimately prove to be a first step toward alleviating poverty for millions of rural Indians. In its Tenth Five-Year Plan, the government states: Access to even small pieces of land, which may not be sufficient for providing income to a family for subsistence, can significantly reduce poverty and food insecurity by providing an essential component in a diversified livelihood system.1 The Plan further recognizes: Ownership of even a small plot of land enables a family to raise its income, improve its nutritional status, have access to credit facilities and lead a more dignified life. Horticulture, floriculture and vegetable cultivation on small plots of land, including homestead land, have proved beneficial for the poor. Agricultural labourers, therefore, need to be provided access to land to improve their economic and social well-being.2 The central government’s statements reflect not only an understanding of rural realities, but a mature recognition of one of the limitations of the government’s previous land reform and more recent rural housing efforts. In the decades following Independence, most Indian states undertook significant programmes to address the problem of rural landlessness. Unfortunately, these efforts made few inroads, in part because of the persistence of the hackneyed assumptions underlying many earlier programmes: first, that land reform measures, by themselves, had to support a household at a subsistence