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Water and Livelihood - Wakal River Basin

Rajasthan Bal Kalyan Samiti

AR.RBKS.WAL.0712

www.rbks.org

Parevi and Khardia Villages (2 of the villages in this programme)

In these two villages there are 494 families with a population of 2313.The villages are 90% tribal: these people used to earn their living from the forest but over the years there has been a  gradual degradation of the land from erosion and low ground water recharge. The people have turned to farming but low production from land and livestock leads to migration and break down of community.

Rainfall: 600mm over 30 days in three months of monsoon.

In this remote part of the Aravali Hills, the people are cut off from development interventions, making them very vulnerable –  economically, socially and culturally.

The community is mainly dependent on agriculture and livestock but the available resources are very limited.  Out of a total 1583 ha. 52 % is occupied by forest and pastureland. 24% is cultivable land but 23 % of this cultivable land is still not used productively. Cultivated land is divided into 21% rain fed and 3% irrigated. The land use pattern directly affects the livelihood of the community as many of them have only rain fed lands.

 

The situation can be summarized into the following main problems related to  livelihood:

Poor land base production resources due to high sloping land; erosion and moisture deficiency resulting in limited cultivable land, (see bottom picture on left) low investment capacity; poor exposure to improved practices.

Poor Animal Husbandry through poor land and lack of knowledge

Unemployment leading to migration

 

The project includes changes in practices and management of resources demanding in-depth interaction and motivation of  community Self Help Groups and Village Development Committees.

The Villagers work for 7 days and are paid for 6, the last day being their contribution to the project                                                                   

What do the women want?                                                                   

Livelihood skills: tailoring, dairy and fodder growing, incense and soap making, vegetable growing & horticulture,  education for children, adult education

 

The village headman told us:

“Following drought for 8-10 years, our main crop was lost in the floods of 2006, as well as many cattle. There is a high probability of migration to Gujarat for work. Conditions have been very difficult for us”.