NABARD has launched a livelihood project in Jhansi and Lalitpur districts of Uttar Pradeshfor assistance of 1,050 tribal families on cluster basis with total outlay of Rs 4 crore.

This programme aims at reducing the migration of tribal people to urban centres by providing them livelihood in the form of income and basic necessities like fuel wood, timber and cattle fodder.

The programme will assist tribal families in Babina block of Jhansi and Birdha block of Lalitpur by giving assistance to develop orchards and related activities.
What is meaning of Wadi?
“Wadi” is a Gujarati word that means small orchard which is actually a tree-based farming system that consists of fruit tree suitable to the area or a combination of trees with forestry species. Two or more tree crops are selected in Wadi model to minimise biological and marketing risks.
In five years, a poor village of 100 families can get converted into an orchard of a 100-150 acre producing hundreds of tonnes of fruits.

Note : 5 main shceduled tribes of UP are Tharu, Buksa, Bhotia, Jaunsari and Raji. Out of them Tharu is the major group constituting 77 per cent of the total tribal population.