Strategy

OPELIP has been designed to follow the successful bottom-up planning approach of OTELP. Success in OTELP was attributed to the fact that the implementation process was owned by tribal people. Putting tribal grass-roots institutions (such as SHGs and VDAs) in the driving seat ensured the project was trusted by the local community. With local community institutions at the heart of the project, the new design focuses on scaling-up activities that have already been tested and proven to be successful in Odisha. The programme adopts an integrated approach, involving support for improved access to land, natural resources, agricultural technologies, financial services, markets, productive and social infrastructure, and essential social services. Given the extremely severe malnutrition situation in PTG villages, the design has also piloted an approach of mainstreaming "nutrition sensitive agriculture" activities across all the proposed project components.