Our Progress

50,000 formerly poor landless families in Karnataka have already become landowners. Women’s names appear on all land titles in Karnataka.

Landesa’s Current Activities

• Landesa is working to link the national government’s housing program with the state government’s homestead program. This will allow poor landless families to obtain the assistance they need from the national government to build a home on the plots they receive through the state’s micro-plot scheme.
• Landesa is studying the impact and performance of the state’s old homestead program, with an eye toward improving and restarting the homestead program. We’ve found that micro-plot programs have the potential to boost family income, nutrition, health, security, and education.

Background

Landesa has been a pioneer in Karnataka, working in partnership with local NGOs and the state government to design a micro-plot program that has since become a model for micro-plot programs in other Indian states. There is significant need for such a program. The State of Karnataka has 53 million people, almost half live in poverty and half of all children are malnourished. Many of Karnataka’s farmers grow low value crops like rice, sugarcane, and tea to survive.

News: Rural Report by Landesa CEO, Tim Hanstad, on a field visit to Karnataka August 2, 2011. He interviews women about what differences they have seen since they became landowners.