Seattle – The Rural Development Institute (RDI), an international non-profit working to secure land rights for the world’s rural poor, has received a $6.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its “micro-land ownership” program in India to help landless
women and their families achieve food security and escape poverty through access to agricultural services on land as small as 1/10th of an acre.

“Women comprise a significant majority of India’s agricultural labor force, yet they rarely have rights to land and are often among the most vulnerable groups in India,” said Tim Hanstad, president and CEO of the Seattle-based NGO which has been working in India since the late-
1990s. Since then, RDI has worked closely with national, state and local governments to secure land rights for India’s rural poor by demonstrating that a little bit of land can yield enormous benefits in terms of food security, shelter, income and status.

“With this investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, RDI will be able to deepen its ‘micro-land ownership’ work,” Hanstad said. “Our work has demonstrated that you don’t need large family farms to provide meaningful access to land for the poorest. Even small plots of land provide enormous benefits to India’s poorest citizens, particularly women and girls as millions of female workers make their living as agricultural laborers.”

In India, poverty and hunger are primarily concentrated in rural areas where families rely on agriculture for their nutrition, income and status. With at least 15 million landless rural households in India, the majority of which are agricultural laborers earning less than $1 per day, the need for a program that demonstrates a practical solution that is both politically and financially feasible is paramount.

“Agricultural productivity has a significant impact on the livelihoods of the world’s poorest people,” said Rajiv Shah, director of the Agricultural Development program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Women provide the majority of agricultural labor but are underrepresented at every level of agricultural development. Helping these smallholder farmers get more from their land can increase their status, income, health, and ultimately empower them to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.”

The grant will allow RDI to focus specifically on helping women in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal to obtain ownership of small plots, and maximize the nutritional and incomeproducing potential of their land.

Hanstad said micro-land ownership in India has proven to be both politically and financially feasible for governments. “It was exciting for RDI, after three years of intensive research and assistance to state and national policy-makers, to see the national government embrace key RDI-proposed reforms through its 11th Five-Year Plan,” he said. “The current Five-Year Plan calls for expanding micro-land ownership across the country, giving it the potential to help five million people – or 1 million families – secure land over the next five years.”

But while the political will is there, RDI has determined that the state government programs are unlikely to reach that potential without external, private assistance to address several limitations.

This grant will allow RDI to assist local or state governments to obtain and analyze data needed to effectively plan and implement the programs; to monitor and evaluate the program processes or impacts; to train local officials charged with implementation; to help beneficiaries make the most effective use of their plots through high quality agricultural inputs and extension services, and to link beneficiaries with other government programs that could make the plots more productive.

About the Rural Development Institute (RDI)

RDI is an international non-profit working to secure land rights for the world's poor. Over the past 40 years, RDI has worked in more than 40 countries, helping more than 400 million people attain secure land rights. A global pioneer in using law to create land ownership opportunities, RDI’s collaborations with government partners create leveraged, sustainable and generational poverty alleviation. For every dollar contributed, on average, RDI has helped secure land rights for six families.

For more information, visit RDI

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the
direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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The above text has been directly adapted from the RDI Press Release. To access the press release, please download the following attachment.