An Assessment of European - aided Watershed Development Projects in India from the Perspective of Poverty Reduction and the poor

The paper assesses four Watershed Development Projects in India supported by European donors, namely Karnataka Watershed Development Project (Danida), Doon Valley Integrated Watershed Management Project (European Commission), Karnataka Integrated Watershed Management Project (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) and Karnataka Watershed Development Project (Overseas Development Administration/Department For International Development). The assessments are mainly with respect to the projects' role in poverty reduction. The paper is one of the results of a research project entitled 'A Comparative Study of European Aid for Poverty Reduction in India', carried out in 1997 by a group of four European and eleven Indian researchers. The projects have been beneficial in a number of respects, viz. improvements in crop yields and incomes as well as contributions to the conservation of natural resources. However, the benefits have tended to favour the landed groups, whereas the landless and Scheduled Castes and Tribes have benefited only marginally. [author]