The Uttar Pradesh Sodic Lands Reclamation Project (UPSLRP) funded by the World Bank covers 10 districts in the state and aims to reclaim the 10 % of the total cultivable area that is salt-affected. The project aimed to involve communities/farmers at every stage - planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation - through the formation of farmer organisations at village level.
In this article the authors share their experiences from working with farmers' organizations, where a process, which reinforces human values, has helped farmers to keep themselves on the path of self-reliance. The Uttar Pradesh Sudhar Nigam (UPBSN) started up a sodic land reclamation project in 1993, where the main beneficiaries were small-scale farmers. Under the project, land has been reclaimed affecting 150,000 families. The project was initiated through the formation of farmer organizations at village level and the project was implemented in collaboration with local NGOs.