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Project Name: Project Partners: Project Number: Website: |
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Drought Mitigation and Response - Wakal River Basin I Gram Manav Kalyan Samiti, Ogna AR.MKS.WAK1.0409 |
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This project has been targeting the six villages of Kukrakhera, Khera, Jambua, Kanthariya, Biliriya and Mundawali of the Kotra block of the Udaipur district in Southern Rajasthan. As in all Watershed area projects, work in the Wakal Catchment will increase the availability and accessibility of water within the villages through construction of various water-harvesting structures, soil and water conservation work and plantation activities. These measures will assist the poorest farmers by providing sufficient water for drinking, for the production of food grains and some cash crops. Many loose stone check dams and gully plugs have been erected across gullies to check soil erosion and water velocity. These allow the moisture content of the agriculture lands to be increased, helping crops to grow and raising the water table in the wells. 50 hectares of common pastureland is protected through staggered contour trenches and broadcasting of locally available grass seeds. This will increase the fodder and fuel wood availability in the villages. A number of wells have been renovate. The impact of the water harvesting coupled with good rains is clearly visible - on average, the water level in about twenty-five wells and hand pumps in the project villages has increased by 6 to 8 feet. As a result, the live of women has improved as there is no need to go far away to fetch water. In addition, land irrigation has increased by 20%. Moreover, around 150 families benefited from an increase in moisture in the land due to water harvesting works and villagers are cultivating mixed crops as well as two crops in the year. The impact of the water harvesting and conservation work has been seen in terms of a 25 % reduction in migration. Self Help Groups (SHG) are an integral part of the social activities in the six project villages. A total of twelve SHGs have been formed in the six villages. SHGs have been formed for both men and women. The main objective of these groups has been savings and credit. The groups facilitate internal loans at a good interest rate, which has helped them to compete with the local moneylenders. These SHGs have opened savings accounts in the bank. They all keep an emergency fund of Rs. 1000 in a village cash box, which is mainly used for medical emergencies. Throughout the year, SHG office bearers were also given training regarding the concept of Self Help Groups and their importance, opening bank accounts, financial management and how to maintain proper records, etc. Efforts are continuously being made to guide the SHGs towards greater independence and self-reliance. |
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Case Study - Champa Bai Champa Bai’s story is an example of the empowerment of women and the successful implementation of sustainable organic agriculture. She was like any other woman in the Bilariya village before our intervention. When the organization started working, she came into contact with us through the capacity development program. Champa Bai felt that she could assist her husband in agriculture, which is the only source of livelihood for the family. She actively took part in the Organic Agriculture Training conducted by the organization. In one of the trainings at Dharamitra- the Organic Agriculture training Centre of GMKS - she came and observed the effect of Vermin Compost manure in the Dharamitra agriculture field. She understood the whole process of preparation of Vermin Compost. She felt the desire to implement the same for their own agriculture field. After returning from the training she told of her experience and desire to produce Vermin Compost to her husband Keshu Lal- Bhaga Garasia. Hearing from his wife, Keshu Lal became interested and both of them decided to produce Vermin Compost to increase the fertility of their agriculture through organic manure.They constructed two manure beds 10 ft long, 2 ft wide and 2 ft deep. GMKS supplied them good quality Vermin and now they are producing Vermin Compost. The couple are confident that this will increase the agriculture yield of their field and will be cost effective. In addition, they are motivating other villagers to adopt the same for their respective families. They are giving on-site training to other villagers who did not attend any training in this regard. Champa Bai has shown that women can also take on a crucial role in the agriculture revolution in the region. Seeing Champa Bai’s active role, other women are also coming forward to take the same role in their respective families. Before, the GMKS interventions in these areas, farmers were mostly producing food grains such as wheat and maize. However, now they are shifting towards mixed cropping, where in part of the land they are sowing food grains, and elsewhere they are cultivating an organic cash crop. This will solve their cash shortage problem for which they used to rely on local moneylenders who used to charge exorbitant interest rates for lending. Case Study - Jarabi Bai Jarabi Bai the wife of Kesar Singh belongs to a poor family from Bilidya village and his family was unaware of the practice of SHGs and sustainable agriculture. Subsequently her husband was unable to earn a sufficient amount for their living expenses. She has six family members and five acres of non-irrigated, unfertile land. After attending several meetings in GMKS, she understood the importance of SHGs and sustainable agriculture. Before this she was doing labour work in her village and her husband was doing some agriculture work. After some days he joined a meeting which was organized by the GMKS in the village. The members of the SHG elected her as President . She also attended training on sustainable agriculture. She learned about the SHG, loan systems and about organic farming. She obtained her SHG membership and deposited the installment. Now she has started farming and sowing cash crops like sugarcane, gram, and wheat etc. and she is getting good returns from the land and investment. |
