Groundwater Recharge and Solar Micro Irrigation to Ensure Food Security and Enhance Resilience in Vulnerable Tribal Areas of Odisha: FP045

Project Outline

This project seeks to enhance groundwater recharge in community ponds through structural adaptation measures and use of solar pumps for micro irrigation, to ensure water security and food security in vulnerable areas of the state of Odisha. The following results are expected to be achieved by this project: (i) Augmentation of groundwater recharge to improve water table and water quality for health and well-being of about 5.2 million vulnerable communities through water security; (ii) Improved food security through resilient crop planning (through irrigation) by installation of groundwater recharge shafts (GWRS) in 10,000 tanks; and (iii) Use of solar pumps for irrigation to improve energy access and to contribute to the low emission climate resilient crop planning strategy of the state.

Country(ies) India
National Designated Authority (NDA) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
Accredited Entity (AE) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development: NABARD (Direct/National)
Executing Entity (EE) Groundwater Division of Department of Water Resources, Government of Odisha (Public)
Date of Final FP Submission
Estimated Project Duration 2017-2021
Target Sector Water Resource Management/Agriculture
GCF Financing 34.357 million USD (Grant) Medium
Co-financing
  • IBRD: 7.064 million USD (Senior Loan)
  • State convergence fund: 124.876 million USD (Grant)

Project Description

< Major Project Components>

  1. Installation of groundwater recharge shafts (GWRS).
  2. Renovation of community tanks.
  3. Integration of solar pumps for irrigation.
  4. Capacity building of stakeholders, monitoring, and knowledge management.
Contractual arrangements and fund flow structure
Contractual arrangements and fund flow structure
Ref: FP045 Groundwater Recharge and Solar Micro Irrigation to Ensure Food Security and Enhance Resilience in Vulnerable Tribal Areas of Odisha

Potential Indicators of Key Impacts

Expected total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries, disaggregated by gender (reduced vulnerability or increased resilience):

  1. Direct beneficiaries: 5,190,000 persons (50.1% of total beneficiaries will be female)
  2. Indirect beneficiaries: 10,780,000 persons
    12% of the state population
  3. Other relevant indicators:
    • There are 3.6 million households living below the poverty line (BPL), and 3.8 million marginal workers who mostly depend on agriculture and are highly vulnerable. About a third of cultivators lose their crops due to water scarcity. Of this total, 49% are female, lack food security, and are vulnerable. Groundwater in these areas will cater to 17.22 million people-40% of the total population of the state-of which 8.62 million are male and 8.63 million are female.
    • Food security for 5.1 million food-insecure households can be ensured through this project. Water quality in this area is likely to improve as access to drinking water improves. Currently, 4.1 million people have access to drinking water in these 15 districts.