BHUBANESWAR: The second phase of the Orissa Tribal Empowerment Livelihoods Programme of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was launched here on Tuesday.

The programme is aimed at helping approximately 75,000 rural households in south-west Orissa build their capacity to plan and manage their own development by improving their access to natural resources, financial services and markets and opportunities for non-farm enterprises.

The programme was formally launched in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and IFAD president Lennart Bage, who is on a visit to the country.

The first phase of the programme was implemented in Koraput, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Gajapati districts. The districts of Nawrangpur, Rayagada and Malkangiri will be covered under the programme in the second phase along with the previous four districts.

While the programme was implemented in around 400 villages in the first phase, a total of 1200 villages will be covered in the second phase during 2007-2011 by utilisation of a sum of $ 30 million.

The south-west region of the State is one of the most deprived regions of the country. It has a population of 1.4 million and three quarters of the people live under the below poverty line. Among the population, 50 per cent belong to tribal groups and 12 per cent to Scheduled Castes.

According Mr. Bage, the second phase of this ambitious programme will be implemented with the help of 12 voluntary organisations working in the State.

The villagers were being involved in implementation of various initiatives to make the programme useful for the community as a whole, Mr. Bage elaborated.

Better access

A need-based approach was being adopted to achieve the objectives of the programme to ensure that the tribals had better access to and management of natural resources, improved access to financial services and markets and the development of non-farm enterprises, he added.

IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialised agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves.

India has received more funding from IFAD than any other country in the world.

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