Gram Vikas is partnering with UNDP to support livelihoods rehabilitation in Cyclone Titli affected villages. A total of 1350 households across 55 villages in Gajapati and Ganjam districts of Odisha, will be helped to build resources that will aid long-term reconstruction. Women and livelihoods prioritised by them will receive primary support.

The severe tropical cyclone, Titli, hit Odisha on 11 October 2018 devastating land and water resource base and uprooting the lives of more than 16,000 people in Odisha. The estimated loss of income alone was ₹ 15 crore ($2 million). 

Gram Vikas is partnering with UNDP to support livelihoods rehabilitation in Cyclone Titli affected villages. The project will support 1350 households across 55 villages in Gajapati and Ganjam districts of Odisha to help build resources that will aid long-term reconstruction. The focus will primarily be on supporting women and livelihoods prioritised by them. 

The activities are in the areas of skill building, microenterprise development, horticulture, nutrition and environment. Unskilled workers, both men and women, in the construction sector will be upskilled through mason training to create secure and sustainable livelihoods. 

Off-farm in mushroom cultivation, bee keeping and non-farm activities in soap, incense stick and broom making; cashew processing, laddu making will create alternate livelihoods. Backyard nutrition gardens, in selected households with adequate wastewater, will enable nutrition security in addition to creating surplus produce for sale within the villages.

Replantation of mango and cashew orchards, in 200 acres of land, will benefit 500 households in 32 villages. Tree plantation, in 15 acres, in the catchment area of the springs will restore sustainability of drinking water sources damaged by the cyclone and landslides. 

Participatory consultations at the village level identified the villages and households that will benefit from the project. Village governance mechanisms, such as the Village Water and Sanitation Committees, facilitated by Gram Vikas, will coordinate the project activities. Self Help Groups of women, supported by the Odisha Livelihoods Mission, are a core part of the planning and implementation.