DFID, London and APRLP, Government of Andhra Pradesh (Jointly in Collaboration with the University of Leeds, U. K and Rural development Trust, Anantapur)

The study will be carried out at the policy (macro, meso and micro) as well as implementation (empirical) levels. A policy framework will be developed based on the review of existing policies, for drawing testable insights from the empirical studies. Finally, the empirical analyses are used to verify the policy model and develop a more generalized and practicable framework for watershed based livelihoods approach. An intensive empirical work will be taken up at the village (watershed) level. The field study will have a more explicit action research character, with the research team working closely with a leading NGO (RDT) involved as a project implementation agency and widely regarded as an effective and credible PIA. The team will develop new approaches to the implementation of watershed policies more explicitly linked to an analysis of livelihoods dynamics and more effectively targeted to poverty eradication. This will include both support to the development of effective, egalitarian and sustainable processes within villages and the analysis of the policy and institutional processes needed to support these innovations in relation to their links to external institutions and wider social and economic processes.