Rs 160-crore IFAD project for livelihood development

SHILLONG, February 1: A Rs 160-crore project jointly conceived by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Centre, has been aimed at improving the livelihood of vulnerable groups in the Northeast through management of resources that contribute to preservation and restoration of the environment, reports UNI. The ambitious "Northeast Region Community Resource Management Project" was founded with the aim to secure participation of village communities in planning and management of all development interventions by reinforcing the strength of community based organisation. Project co-ordinator and development strategist Toki Blah told reporters that major initiatives had been taken in six districts in Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur. Claiming that the project, declared effective in February, 1999, had yielded successful results, Blah said: "We do not have any target but at present we are helping the beneficiary villages to set up natural resources management and self-help group for development at the grassroots." "We are also working out options meant for households in the hilly areas, heavily dependent on shifting cultivation locally known as Jhum," he said, adding, the people living on top of the hills could not be asked to do away with the traditional method. "At the same time we cannot leave them to the age-old concept. What we are trying to do is make them learn how to apply new technology in jhum cultivation," he added.