Empowering Poor Farmers for Climate Smart Water Management and Agriculture Production: Lessons from Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

This paper explores how participatory groundwater management initiatives undertaken in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in the last three decades have brought prosperity to small and marginal farmers while addressing environmental and climate change concerns. The outcomes of the pioneering Indo-Dutch APWELL Project (Andhra Pradesh Groundwater Borewell Irrigation Schemes, 1995–2003), in community-based groundwater management practices implemented in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh, which commissioned about 3500 group-owned borewell schemes benefitting nearly 15,000 families of small and marginal farmers owning 14,000 hectares of dryland are first discussed The paper further outlines the adoption and upscaling of lessons learned in sustainable water management practices piloted in the APWELL Project in subsequent projects such as the AP Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems (APFAMGS) Project and the Participatory Groundwater Management (PGM) component in the AP Community Based Tank Management Project (APCBTMP) (www.apmitanks.org). Similar initiatives under the APDAI Project and a number of NGO-sponsored community management of groundwater resources are also discussed. It further identifies the tasks ahead in harnessing participatory methodologies in increasing productivity of land and water through appropriate practices such as precision farming to rise to the challenges posed by climate change and water scarcity. The authors draw upon their vast experience in the design, implementation and management of natural resource management projects and use project documents and field visits to support the discussion.