The European Commission has approved a grant of Rs1.1 billion (Euro 25.5 million) to the Aga Khan Foundation in India to support community based rural development.
The grant will contribute towards a long-term programme to enhance and protect livelihoods of disadvantaged rural populations in resource-poor areas of central-west India, where nearly 100 million people depend on a rapidly degrading natural resource base for their livelihoods.
The programme, Sustainable Community-based Approaches to Livelihood Enhancement (SCALE), constitutes a continuation of a longstanding partnership between the European Commission and the Aga Khan Foundation.
During the next ten years, the Foundation's implementing partner, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), will conduct activities benefiting households in over 1,000 villages in Gujarat which continues to suffer from the effects of the 2001 earthquake.
The new programme, according to a press release from the Information Department of His Highness The Aga Khan at Aiglemont, will address emerging new problems such as depleting groundwater and recurrent droughts.
Over the long term, the aim is to contribute to an improved national and state policy environment by documenting and sharing the results of lessons learned. The support programme works in close partnership with local communities and governments to address natural resource problems.
All Material Subject to Copyright