Umbrella Programme on Natural Resource Management
The Government of India provides a large amount of funds (over 2% of GDP) for the development and management of natural resources through various public investment programmes. However, the financing needs of this sector are far greater than the resources available.
According to estimates, the total investment required in the ‘natural resources’ sector is about 11 billion euros against the current investment of five billion euros per annum. This cannot be achieved through grant-based government programmes alone. The Planning Commission of the Government of India has also emphasised the need for a gradual shift from the mode of grant and subsidies by increasing the people’s contribution to 50% by 2017.
Following the successful of the Indo-German Watershed Programme and the Adivasi Development Programme, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) approached the German Government to support development and finance of a loan-cum-grant based programme. The Umbrella Programme on Natural Resource Management (UPNRM) was to augment private investment in the sector and assist in developing a suitable policy environment.
The objective of UPNRM is to demonstrate the viability of loan-based, community owned approaches to natural resource management. It aims to achieve this by weaving holistic, participatory and financially sustainable livelihood solutions into public policies and making investments towards improving the livelihoods of the rural poor.
UPNRM will not only help in scaling up existing approaches (Watershed and Adivasi Development), but will also explore other sub-sectors like forestry, farming systems management, agro-processing, natural resource based livelihoods, and climate change adaptation. Introducing an innovative concept, the programme provides combined packages of loans and grants tailored to specific project needs in natural resource management. The core elements of the programme include designing, testing and scaling up loan-based economically viable models, extensive capacity development to enhance programme effectiveness and institutionalisation of an Information and Knowledge Management system.
