• The Centre for Advanced Research & Development believes in Community-based Natural Resource Management approach to reduce rural poverty. The sustainability of this approach largely depends on the empowerment of the communities for sharing the costs and benefits at all levels. The strengthening mechanisms have thus been conceived as to revolve particularly around the income generating activities of the community, with judicious and systematic development of field-based portfolio of action steps and empowerment programme for the community generally and specifically for the women and the marginalized communities.

We are presently active in three experiments:

• Drought Mitigation experiment in Bhil predominant Western MP region on Watershed Management guidelines is in Jhabua district and on child focussed natural resource management in Dhar districts. The region is continuously facing the onslaught of desertification.
• Poverty initiatives in areas where there is high incidence of poverty (pockets of poverty) among scheduled castes and backward classes in feudal Malwa region. The CARD team facilitates the process of empowerment of Common Interest Groups (CIGs/SHGs) of marginalized communities in entrepreneurship development / livelihood promotion.
• The eastern region of Madhya Pradesh (Mandla and Dindori districts) and Bilaspur region of Chhattisgarh is rich in natural resources and inhabited by Gond tribe and its associate tribes like Baigas and Hill Korbas. Here CARD is actively involved in value addition to the local non-timber forest produce, through the self-help groups. Some of the Technology Management Packages (Honey, Natural Fibre, Medicinal Plants Conservation and Food Processing) have drawn regional/national recognition. The Centre is also addressing the issue of Good Governance through Self-help and Micro-enterprise.

These are our fields of experimentation for future strategy formulation and learning lessons for designing improved strategies and policies. Participation being its core value, CARD is acting as a facilitator rather then an implementer of development process.