This note reviews the role legal aid canplay as a catalyst to empower and strengthen the livelihoodsof the poor in a World Bank-funded project in the Indianstate of Andhra Pradesh (AP), the AP Rural Poverty ReductionProject. This note shows how land-related legal aidactivities can be implemented to support community-drivendevelopment project objectives. Initial evidence on thepositive impacts of legal aid on economic and socialadvancement of the project's target population in APsuggests that attention to the land rights of the poor cansignificantly enhance the impact of community-drivendevelopment projects in India. The note discusses howprojects being implemented in other states might benefitfrom adoption of a land-related legal aid component.