Govt of India, World Bank sign loan agreement of $115 million for implementation of REWARD Project

What is the news?

The Government of India,  State Governments of Karnataka and Odisha and the World Bank have signed a $115 million REWARD Project.

What is a REWARD Project?

REWARD stands for Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development Programme.

Aim: To help national and state institutions adopt improved watershed management practices to help increase farmers’ resilience to climate change, promote higher productivity and better incomes.

The project is being implemented in states such as Odisha and Karnataka.

What is the significance of the REWARD Project?

The Government of India has committed to restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 and doubling farmers income by 2023. 

For this, effective watershed management can help enhance livelihoods in rainfed areas while building a more resilient food system. 

In this context, the new program will help the participating state governments in their efforts to transform watershed planning and execution and adopt science-based planning that could be replicated across the country.It will also help the participating states to adopt new approaches to watershed development.

Source: This post is based on the article “Govt of India, World Bank sign loan agreement of $115 million for implementation of REWARD Project” published in PIB on 21^st February 2022.