The Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management (UPNRM) was implemented by NABARD, KfW Development Bank, and GIZ to address challenges faced by India's rural poor, including poverty, lack of long-term investment in agriculture, and insufficient natural resource management projects. UPNRM provides loans and technical support to financially viable and ecologically sustainable projects focused on reducing poverty, increasing farm incomes, and conserving natural resources. Since 2008, UPNRM has benefited over 300,000 rural Indians, expanded its portfolio to €61 million across 21 states, and supported sustainable agriculture techniques that have increased yields and conserved water.

1. SITUATION
Despite India’s rapid economic growth, nearly 354
million of its 1.2 billion population continues to live on
less than a dollar a day. Of these, 78% live in rural areas
and depend on agriculture and natural resources for their
livelihoods.
The Government of India’s National Environment
Policy states that “environmental degradation is a major
causal factor in enhancing and perpetuating poverty,
particularly among the rural poor”. Another challenge
faced by the rural poor is the share of long-term
investment credit in agriculture which is decreasing as
compared to short-term crop loans and hampering asset
creation in agriculture and allied activities. Furthermore,
there are still insufficient Natural Resource Management
(NRM) based projects, applied in agriculture and rural
areas, which are economically viable and ecologically
sustainable.
Thus to help the rural poor sustain their livelihood,
without compromising on natural resources, there is
need for greater investments in the NRM sector.
UMBRELLA PROGRAMME
FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (UPNRM)
Objective
To address some of these challenges faced by the NRM
sector and its financing requirement in India, the
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD), KfW Development Bank and GIZ are
implementing the Umbrella Programme for Natural
Resources Management (UPNRM) through a tripartite
arrangement.
The Indo-German programme brings in a paradigm shift
from grant to loan based financing in the NRM sector.
It aims at supporting financially viable and ecologically
sustainable business models to reduce poverty, increasing
farm incomes, strengthening agricultural value chains
and conserving natural resources, thus leading to
sustainable development.
APPROACH
UPNRM is guided by five principles which ensure
that the projects are pro-poor, promote environment
sustainability, practise good governance, promote
participation of communities and are integrated and
need-based.
Implemented by

2. UPNRM has developed an approach that provides a
mix of financial and technical support which comprises
capacity building, marketing, infrastructure as well as
developing risk mitigation strategies.
The UPNRM “credit plus” facility provides projects
and businesses a loan with an integral accompanying
measure or grant. The grant component is to build
the competencies and capacities of the implementing
agencies (channel partners), and to help the beneficiaries
in managing their rural business and livelihoods. Unlike
conventional financial products, UPNRM loans are
flexible and can be tailored according to the requirement
of projects.
UPNRM’s capacity building programme strengthens
the channel partner’s skills and efficiencies through
various types of interventions e.g. training, hand-holding
support, field visits and experience sharing workshops etc.
Furthermore, UPNRM promotes convergence with
public and private agencies. This helps to develop
technical and managerial competencies of community
based organisations by facilitating partnerships with
corporate and governmental agencies to strengthen agri-
value chains.
ACHIEVEMENTS
By January 2015, NABARD had supported around
270 projects with investments worth Euro 61 million
in 21 states and one union territory.
Since its inception in 2008, the UPNRM portfolio
has expanded rapidly. It has ensured the provision of
livelihood opportunities to India’s rural poor and has
benefitted more than 300,000 people.
78% of the beneficiaries whose livelihood have been
improved belong to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled
Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
44% of the total current beneficiaries are female and
46% of the total beneficiaries are extremely poor and
belong to the ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) category.
Project name Umbrella Programme for Natural
Resource Management (UPNRM)
Commissioned by German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Lead executing agency GIZ
Financial contribution by KfW
Partner
organisation
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD)
Duration 11/2008 – 12/2015 (TC)
Budget Technical Cooperation - Euro 8.5 million
Financial Cooperation - Euro 73.4 million
Webpage www.giz.de/en/worldwide/16606.html
Drip irrigation projects under UPNRM saved around
2.7 million cubic metres of water per annum.
UPNRM programme is also promoting sustainable
agricultural techniques such as sustainable sugarcane
initiative (SSI), and the System of Rice Intensification
(SRI), aimed at improving resource efficiency, as well as
at increasing productivity. These techniques have been
introduced on a large scale.
The programme has trained farmers and provided hand-
holding support to undertake SRI cultivation. Today,
over 20,000 hectares of SRI have saved around 89
million cubic meters of water, conserving almost 50 per
cent of ground water which is otherwise used for flood
irrigation in traditional paddy cultivation practices. All
these, along with a 60 per cent increase in paddy yield,
have boosted the food and nutritional security of the
farmers and their families.
In 2015, UPNRM was awarded the ‘Best Innovation in
Financial Services’ for its innovative and sustainable loan
financing model at the 5th Global Sustainable Finance
Conference held at Karlsruhe, Germany.
NABARD won the Banking Financial Services
Insurance (BFSI) Vision award for the category
‘Environmental Sustainability’, for their initiatives in the
field of NRM through UPNRM, Tribal Development
Fund (TDF) and Watershed Development Fund
(WDF) in 2014.
Ms Sabine Preuss
Programme Director
GIZ Natural Resources Management Programme
Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
A- 2/18, 2nd floor, Safdarjung Enclave,
New Delhi- 110029, INDIA
E: nrm.india@giz.de
T: +91 11 4949 5353
F: +91 11 4949 5391
W: www.giz.de/india
NABARD UPNRM Division
Dr. B. G. Mukhopadhyay
Chief General Manager,
Farm Sector Policy Department
5th Floor, ‘A’ Wing C-24, ‘G’ Block Bandra
Kurla Complex Bandra (East)
Mumbai - 400 051
P: +91 (0)22 2653 9232
E: dpd.fs@nabard.org
KfW Natural Resources Management
Programme
Ms Sangeeta Agarwal
Sector Specialist
21, Jor Bagh, New Delhi-110003
T: +91 (0)11 2464 1202
E: kfw.newdelhi@kfw.de
I: www.kfw.de
Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn:
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53113 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 228 44 60-0
Fax: +49 228 44 60-17 66
Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5
65760 Eschborn, Germany
Phone: +49 61 96 79-0
Fax: +49 61 96 79-11 15
Email: info@giz.de
Internet: www.giz.de