Remoteness and Chronic Poverty in a Forest Region of Southern Orissa: a Tale of Entitlement Failure and State's Apathy
Amita Shah, Saroj Kumar Nayak and Bipin Das (2007)
CPRC-IIPA Working Paper
The recent labelling of Orissa as the poorest state in India has rung alarm bells among development planners, practitioners and international donors, and led to renewed calls for a big push on agricultural growth. While important, it is critical that the integration of growth with the forest sector is better understood if poverty is to be reduced. Some 40% of the state's population, and around half the poor, are forest dwellers. Existing development strategies have failed to conserve forest resources, and have not given forest dwellers either entitlements to manage these resources, or an equitable share of livelihood opportunities arising from their exploitation. This paper examines forest livelihoods and policy options for better linkages between development strategies and the forest sector for poverty reduction.