The project “Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal communities" is a collaboration between the Government of India, Government of Odisha, Green Climate Fund, and the United Nations Development Programme. It is being implemented following an ecosystem-based and community-driven approach that would act as a proof of concept for mainstreaming climate change concerns into development plans and policies for both the public and private sector.
Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Mafalda Duarte was in Phangyul, Wangdue Phodrang district recently to see firsthand how a new climate-resilient piped irrigation, installed by the government in partnership with UNDP and GCF ended the community's longstanding water crisis, helping restore fallow lands and lost livelihoods. "It's really transformational,” she says of the changes brought about by the irrigation scheme.
The initiative integrates Indigenous knowledge in selecting the species to be planted and employs local women and young people to collect the seeds and cultivate productive plant mixtures. Once grown, the plants serve as fodder for livestock and sources of new seeds for the local communities. The new plants increase the pasture’s chances to survive periods of drought and help restore degraded areas and improve conditions for cattle raising.